EGMONT (Egmond), Lamoral, Count of, Prince of Gavre (1522-1568), was born in Hainault in 1522. He was the younger of the two sons of John IV., count of Egmont, by his wife Francisca, princess of Gavre, and succeeded to the title and estates on the death of his elder brother Karl, about 1541. In this year he served his apprenticeship as a soldier in the expedition of the emperor Charles V. to Algiers, distinguishing himself in command of a body of cavalry. In 1545 he married Sabina of Bavaria, sister of the Elector Palatine, and the wedding was celebrated with great pomp at Spiers in the presence of the emperor. Soon afterwards Egmont was invested with the order of the Golden Fleece. He accompanied the emperor in the various campaigns and progresses of the following years, was with him at the unsuccessful siege of Metz (1553), and in 1554 was sent to England as head of an embassy to seek the hand of Queen Mary for Philip (II.) of Spain. He was present at their marriage solemnized shortly after at Winchester. In the summer of 1557 Count Egmont was appointed commander of the Spanish cavalry in the war with France; and it was by his vehement persuasion that the battle of St Quentin was fought. The victory was determined by the brilliant charge which he led against the French. The reputation which he won at St Quentin was raised still higher in 1558, when he encountered the French army under De Thermes at Gravelines, on its march homewards after the invasion of Flanders, totally defeated it, and took Marshal de Thermes and many officers of high rank prisoners. The battle was fought against the advice of the duke of Alva, and the victory made Alva Egmont’s enemy. But the count now became the idol of hi3 countrymen, who looked upon him as the saviour of Flanders from ...devastation by the French. He was nominated by Philip stadtholder of the provinces of Flanders and Artois. At the conclusion of the war by the treaty of Cateau Cambrésis, Egmont was one of the four hostages selected by the king of France as pledges for its execution. As stadtholder he now showed some sympathy with the popular discontent excited by the Spanish Government, and particularly by Cardinal Granvella, minister to the regent Margaret. As a member of the council of state he joined the prince of Orange in a vigorous protest addressed to Philip (1561) against the proceedings of the minister; and two years later he again protested in conjunction with the prince of Orange and Count Horn. He was invited by Philip to go to Spain to confer with him on the subject of the remonstrance, but he declined. Egmont, however, who was a strict Catholic, afterwards spoke in less hostile terms of the minister; and, at the same time that he was courting the favour of the middle classes, he was becoming more a favourite at the court of the regent. In January 1565 he accepted a special mission to Spain to make known to Philip to some extent the state of affairs in the Netherlands and the demands of the people. At Madrid the king gave him an ostentatiously cordial reception, and all the courtiers vied with each other in lavishing professions of respect upon him. But earnest discussion of the real object of the mission was evaded by the king, and Egmont had to return to the Netherlands loaded only with fine words of flattery and promise. At the very same time instructions were sent to the regent to abate nothing of the severity of persecution, and the Inquisition was reestablished. Egmont was indignant, and the people were in a state of frenzied excitement. In 1566 a confederation of the nobles (Les Gueux) was formed, the document constituting it being known as the Compromise. Egmont then withdrew to his government of Flanders, and showed himself, after some vacillation, an unscrupulous supporter of the Spaniards and fierce persecutor of heretics. In the summer of 1567 the duke of Alva with an army of veterans arrived in the Netherlands, to supersede the regent Margaret, and to crush with the strong hand the popular opposition. One of his first acts was the treacherous seizure of Counts Egmont and Horn, who were imprisoned at Ghent. A sham process was begun against them, and after some months they were removed to Brussels, where sentence was pronounced by Alva himself on the 4th June 1568. Egmont was declared guilty of high treason and condemned to death. It was in vain that the most earnest intercessions had been made in his behalf by the emperor Charles V., the order of the Golden Fleece, the states of Brabant, the electors of the empire, and the regent herself. Vain, too, was the pathetic pleading of Egmont’s wife, who with her eleven children was reduced to want, and had taken refuge in a convent. Egmont was beheaded at Brussels the day after the sentence was pronounced, June 5. He met his end with calm resignation; and in the storm of terror and exasperation to which this tragedy gave rise Egmont’s failings were forgotten, and he and his fellow victim to Spanish tyranny were glorified in the popular imagination as martyrs of Flemish freedom. This memorable episode proved to be the prelude to the famous revolt of the Netherlands, the issue of which was independence. Goethe made it the theme of a tragedy. In 1865 a monument to Counts Egmont and Horn, by Fraiken, was erected at Brussels.
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