Charles de Ligne, 2nd Prince of Arenberg

Princely Count Charles of Arenberg, duke of Aarschot (jure uxoris), baron of Zevenbergen, knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, (22 February 1550, in Vollenhove – 18 January 1616, in Enghien) was the second Princely Count of Arenberg[1] and a leading aristocrat of the Habsburg Netherlands, who served as a courtier, soldier, minister and diplomat.

As his mother was the sister and sole heiress of Robert III von der Marck-Arenberg, the marriage contract of his parents stipulated that he would bear the title, name and arms of Arenberg.

In 1566 he set out on a grand tour, visiting Paris, Lyon, Venice, Rome, Naples, Palermo, Malta, Florence and Strasbourg and studying law at the University of Bologna.

In 1570 he joined Archduchess Anna of Austria and her two brothers, the Archdukes Albert and Wenceslaus on their journey to the court of Philip II.

On his way back from a pilgrimage (1573) to Rome and Loreto, Charles of Arenberg accompanied the widowed Elisabeth of Austria from Nancy to the Imperial Court in Vienna (1575–1576).

The following year, he was among the delegation that met with the envoys of Queen Elizabeth I at Bourbourg in 1587, in a feigned attempt to end hostilities between England and Spain.

[8] In June 1603 Charles of Arenberg was sent on an embassy to congratulate King James VI and I upon his accession to the English throne.

[9] The mission was meant to pave the way for an end to the Anglo-Spanish War, but almost backfired when Arenberg was wrongfully accused of involvement in the Main and Bye Plots.

When his brother-in-law, Charles III of Croÿ, 5th Prince of Chimay, 4th duke of Aarschot, died without issue in 1612, most of his titles and estates passed to Anne and her descendants.