Pedro Coloma, Baron of Bornhem

Don Pedro Coloma (Nájera, 16 August 1556 - Brussels, 27 December 1622[1]), Baron of Bornhem (currently Bornem) and Lord of Bobadilla, was a Spanish officer in the Army of Flanders who established a noble line in the Habsburg Netherlands, a branch of the famous House of Coloma.

[2] In 1585 he married Jeanne l'Escuyer, Viscountess of Dourlens (currently Doullens), with whom he had three sons: Alexander, a captain of light cavalry, who succeeded him but died childless in 1625; Diego, who served as a gentleman in the household of Philip III of Spain; and Pierre, who continued the line.

[2] Coloma arrived in the Low Countries in 1577, to fight against the Dutch Revolt, and in 1586 bought the lordship of Bornhem in Flanders.

He built a manor house on the site of Bornem Castle.

[3] He also restored and improved the medieval duck decoy[3][4] on the estate, and in 1603 founded a religious community that is now Bornem Abbey.

Statue of Pedro Coloma in front of Bornem Abbey
Tomb in Bornem church