Jan van Brouchoven

Jan van Brouchoven , Count von Bergeyck (born October 9, 1644 in Antwerp , † May 21, 1725 in Mechelen ) was a statesman of the Spanish Netherlands and the Kingdom of Spain . He tried to reform the state administration and finance.

Jan van Brouchoven

Life

His father Jan-Baptist van Brouchoven was in the diplomatic service and married Hélène Fourment , the widow of Peter Paul Rubens . Later he was made the first Count of Bergeyck.

The son entered the civil service of the Spanish Netherlands and proved himself as a financial specialist. He was a member of the Finance Council and the State Council. At the time of the governorship of Maximillian II Emanuel of Bavaria , he became his right-hand man. In Spain he was considered too independent. When financial problems arose, he was deposed as head of financial administration in 1700.

Under the rule of the Bourbon King Philip V , he gained influence again. He rose to the de facto governor in Brussels, profoundly reformed the administration and reorganized the financial system. Due to the success of the Allies in the War of the Spanish Succession , he first had to move to Mons in 1706 and to Namur in 1709 . There he played only a minor role. After the Allies gained the upper hand in 1706, they reversed most of its reforms.

During the negotiations of 1709 he served Philip V as negotiator in Paris . In 1711 he was appointed to the Spanish government and also carried out reforms of public finances in Spain. These efforts were interrupted because he became the Spanish envoy for the Peace Congress in Utrecht . Upon his return, he found that his reforms had been blocked. He left the Spanish services in 1714 and went back to the now Austrian Netherlands .

literature

• Peter F. Sugar: Bergeyck, Jan van Brouchoven, Graaf van. In: The Treaties of the War of the Spanish Succession: An Historical and Critical Dictionary . Westport 1994, pp. 42-43.