Charles de Berlaymont

He was an important counselor of Margaret of Parma, Grand Huntsman of Brabant and generally sided with Spanish politics in the early years of the Eighty Years War.

Berlaymont was knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, senior hunting master of Brabant, Flanders and Namur, member of the Council of State, hereditary chamberlain of finances and bailiff of the county of Namur.

The nobles had come to Brussels with a petition for Margaret of Parma, governess of the Netherlands, hoping to stop the persecution of Protestants.

When Margaret asked who these people were, Berlaymont supposedly answered with "Ce ne sont que des geux" (they are but beggars) after which the Dutch rebels promptly adopted the name Geuzen as their own.

He was married to Adriana de Ligne Barbançon and had these children:[1]