Nassau Palace, Brussels

The presence of the counts of Nassau in the vicinity of the Palace on the Coudenberg—the residence of the then rulers of the Burgundian Netherlands, the House of Valois-Burgundy—greatly contributed to the growth of their political influence in the 15th and 16th centuries.

[2] In 1520, the palace was visited by the German painter Albrecht Dürer, who mentioned a "well-painted" work by Hugo van der Goes in the chapel (probably The Seven Sacraments, a lost altarpiece).

Dürer also mentioned, like De Beatis, the large bed, which according to him accommodated 50 people, and he was shown the meteorite that supposedly fell next to Henry III in a field.

The Brussels palace was seized, and the newly arrived Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba took up residence there.

He was in Brussels in 1612 and remembered, in his unpublished manuscript Itinéraire germano-belgique, especially the ubiquitous slogans in the palace: the proud Ce sera moy Nassau and the actual motto, a sailing ship with Tardando progredior ("I advance by delaying").

Upon Philip William's death, the palace was awarded to John VIII, Count of Nassau-Siegen (1583–1638), who once considered by the Habsburg governors as the head of the House of Nassau.

[3] At the start of the 18th century, the palace served as the residence of governor Marquess Isidoro de la Cueva y Benavides (1652–1723).

It was sold for a small sum and almost completely demolished (except for the chapel) to make way for a neoclassical residence for the governors-general of the Austrian Netherlands (see Palace of Charles of Lorraine).

The Nassau Chapel, dedicated to Saint George in Brabantine Gothic style, is the only part of the palace that remains.