biography
| name: |
Horne or Hoorne, Philip of Montmorency, Count of
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pronunciation:
[hohrnuh]
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1524–68)
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| biography:
| Leading Southern Netherlands aristocrat and soldier, the son of Joseph of Montmorency and Anne of Egmont, born in Nevele, NW Belgium. He married Walburgis of Nieuwenaar in 1546 and succeeded to the County of Horne by the will of his stepfather. He was a page and courtier to Charles V, distinguished soldier and captain of the future Philip II of Spain's bodyguard, Stadtholder of Gelderland, and in 1556, with William of Orange, made Knight of the Golden Fleece. He fought at St Quentin under Egmont, was in 1559 appointed admiral by Philip II, which meant he had to resign his stadtholdership, and in 1561 a member of the Council of State. He had differences with Granvelle and was against the ‘plakkaten’ (placards). With Orange and Egmont he was a leader of the League of Nobles, who worked successfully for Granvelle's recall. His mother had become a Lutheran and his wife a Calvinist, but he showed no inclination to adopt the new religion. He took part in 1566 in the Breda meeting of the League of Nobles which led to the Compromise petition, but kept the Governess (Margaret of Parma) informed of what the League was doing. When told to restore order in Tournai after the Iconoclasm he was moderate and aimed for a peaceful solution, which did not please the governess or the king. In 1567, against Orange's advice, he hesitated to take the new oath of allegiance to Philip II, but had second thoughts, followed Egmont and took the renewed oath; Alva had him arrested six months later. With Egmont he appealed in vain that he was a Knight of the Golden Fleece and in spite of protests to Philip II by Margaret of Parma and the Emperor Maximilian II he was condemned to death by the Council of Blood for his lack of enthusiasm in punishing rebels, and publicly executed, with Egmont, in the Grande Place in Brussels. |
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