Henry, Count of Bréderode
Encyclopedia
Henry Lord of Bréderode (December 1531 – February 15, 1568) was born at Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

. He was a member of the dutch noble
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...

 family Van Brederode
Van Brederode
The lords of van Brederode were a noble family from Holland that played an important role during the Middle Ages. The earliest documented members appear in the 13th century in the region of Santpoort, at Castle Brederode.-History:...

 and an important member during the Eighty years war. He was named the "Grote Geus" or the "big beggar".

Biographie

Hendrik van Brederode became a convert to the Reformed faith and placed himself at the side of the prince of Orange
William the Silent
William I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of...

 and Count of Egmont in resisting the introduction of the Spanish Inquisition and Spanish despotism into the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. In 1566 he was one of the founders of the confederacy of nobles who bound themselves to maintain the rights and liberties of the country by signing a document known as the Compromise of Nobles
Compromise of Nobles
The Compromise'of Nobles was a covenant of members of the lesser nobility in the Habsburg Netherlands who came together to submit a petition to the Regent Margaret of Parma on 5 April 1566, with the objective of obtaining a moderation of the placards against heresy in the Netherlands...

.

On April 5 of that year Brederode accompanied to the palace a body of 300 Knights, for whom he acted as the spokesman, to present to the regent, Margaret of Parma
Margaret of Parma
Margaret, Duchess of Parma , Governor of the Netherlands from 1559 to 1567 and from 1578 to 1582, was the illegitimate daughter of Charles V and Johanna Maria van der Gheynst...

, a petition setting forth their grievances. It was at a banquet at the Hotel Culemburg on April 8, presided over by Bréderode, that the sobriquet of les Gueux, or "the Beggars," was first given to the opponents of Spanish rule. Bréderode, the "Grote Geus" or big beggar, was banished from the Netherlands by Alva, and died in exile shortly afterwards at the early age of thirty-six.

In March of the year 1567, backed by his friend Lenaert Jansz de Graeff
Lenaert Jansz de Graeff
Lenaert Jansz de Graeff , was a member of the family De Graeff and the son of Jan Pietersz Graeff, a rich cloth merchant from Amsterdam...

 and a large part of the bourgeoisie Brederode became the Generalcaptain of the city of Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

. But in the next month Brederode and De Graeff departure and the Spanish General Philippe de Noircarmes
Philip of Noircarmes
Philip of Noircarmes, whose full name was: Philippe René Nivelon Louis de Sainte-Aldegonde, Lord of Noircarmes was a statesman and soldier from the Habsburg Netherlands in the service of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Philip II of Spain...

 became the military leader of Amsterdam.

Hendrik was the descendant of an ancient family active in the affairs of war and peace, which had for some centuries been settled in Holland Northwest of the village of Santpoort at Brederode Castle and after 1418 at Batenstein Castle in Vianen.
In 1557 he married Amalia of Neuenahr
Amalia of Neuenahr
Amalia of Neuenahr was the daughter of Gumprecht of Neuenahr and Cordula of Holstein Schauenburg.Her first husband was Hendrik van Brederode, who played an important part in the events leading up to the Eighty Years' War...

, daughter of Gumprecht of Neuenahr.

See also

  • Castle Brederode
    Castle Brederode
    Castle Brederode, also called the Ruïns of Brederode, is located near Santpoort-Zuid.The castle was founded in the second half of the 13th century by William I van Brederode . William was a descendant of the lords van Teylingen, who were related to the counts of Holland...

  • Batestein Castle
  • Battle of Oosterweel
    Battle of Oosterweel
    The Battle of Oosterweel took place on March 13, 1567, and is traditionally seen as the beginning of the Eighty Years' War. The battle was fought near the village of Oosterweel, north of Antwerp. A Spanish professional army under General Beauvoir defeated an army of radical Calvinists rebels under...

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