Robert of Lynden
Robert von Lynden (* approx. 1535 in Liège ; † September 16, 1610 in Theux ) was an officer in the service of the Spanish Habsburgs , the Genoese Admiral Giovanni Andrea Doria and the Prince-Bishop of Liège and the Elector and Archbishop of Cologne .
Life
As a member of the van Lynden family , belonging to the aristocracy of the Duchy of Geldern , his military career took him to changing theaters of war: first in the service of Charles V against Henry II's France in the Artois and Italy ( Italian wars ), then in the service of the Republic of Genoa against the Ottoman Empire and the barbarian states in the Mediterranean ( Turkish wars in the Mediterranean). He later went to the Spanish Netherlands , where he was captain and superintendent of Culemborg (1568–1574) and Düren . On behalf of the Prince-Bishop of Liège, he was then governor of Charlemont and Franchimont in the Ardennes , then chief steward and artillery general of Cologne's Archbishop Ernst of Bavaria in the Truchsessian War , and later envoy to the court of Philip II of Spain . Lynden was a knight of the Order of Santiago and named himself Seigneur de Stoumont after the rule he had acquired , and he also received the baronate for his Froidcourt castle there .
Italian wars
At a young age Lynden took up the profession of the military and entered the service of Charles V. From 1552 he took part in the Italian wars of the emperor for supremacy in Europe, in the occupations of Thérouannes (1553) and Hesdins , in the attack on Porto Ercole (June 1555) and the siege of Otranto (April 1556).
Turkish wars in the Mediterranean
After this time Lynden entered the service of the imperial admiral Giovanni Andrea Doria , who fought the corsairs of the barbarian states during the Turkish wars . Doria gave him command of a galley . The galley was sunk in a clash with the famous Ottoman pirate Turgut Reis . Lynden fell into Turkish captivity, from which Philip II bought him free.
In 1560 Robert von Lynden commanded 300 German soldiers in the naval battle of Djerba . He was wounded, captured again and deported to Istanbul .
Released for a ransom, he returned to the service of the Republic of Genoa. Here he was in 1565 under the command of García Álvarez de Toledo to Malta to come to the aid of the besieged by the forces of Suleiman the Magnificent was.
Eighty Years War
After the death of his father Dietrich ( Thierry ), Lynden returned to his homeland, which was already embroiled in political and religious tensions on the eve of the Eighty Years' War and shortly afterwards got caught up in the power struggle between the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands and Spain . At the court of the governor-general of the Spanish Netherlands, Margaret of Parma , he accepted a position of trust as a member of her council. After Margaret's departure, he was then on behalf of the Duke of Alba from 1568 to 1571 governor of Culemborg , then of Düren , where he was captured a third time. The ransom then paid to William I of Orange-Nassau cost Lynden a considerable part of his fortune.
In the service of prince and archbishop
In 1578 the prince-bishop of Liège, Gerard van Groesbeeck , appointed him governor of the margravate Franchimont. Gerard's successor, the Cologne elector and Archbishop Ernst of Bavaria , brought Lynden to the Rhine as his chief steward and general of his artillery. In these functions Lynden took part in the Truchsessian War , through which the Electorate of Cologne remained Catholic.
In 1588 Lynden was sent as ambassador to the court of Philip II of Spain . This made him knight of the Order of Santiago , as well as governor of the city and castle of Charlemont .
Lynden died on September 16, 1610 and was buried in Theux . His brother Hermann (1547–1603) was also a soldier and statesman in the service of the Elector of Cologne.
literature
- Alberdingk Thijm: Aspremont Lynden, Robert, Mr. von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, p. 621 f.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ See also French-language Wikipedia: Château de Froidcourt
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lynden, Robert von |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Aspremont-Lynden, Robert von |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | officer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1535 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Liege |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 16, 1610 |
| Place of death | Theux |