Dynasty and Piety

Archduke Albert (1598-1621) and Habsburg Political Culture in an Age of Religious Wars

Luc Duerloo

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781317147275
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Early Modern History
• Index: History

The youngest son of Emperor Maximilian II, and nephew of Philip II of Spain, Archduke Albert (1559-1621) was originally destined for the church. However, dynastic imperatives decided otherwise and in 1598, upon his marriage to Philip's daughter, the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, he found himself ruler of the Habsburg Netherlands, one of the most dynamic yet politically unstable territories in early-modern Europe. Through an investigation of Albert's reign, this book offers a new and fuller understanding of international events of the time, and the Habsburg role in them. Drawing on a wide range of archival and visual material, the resulting study of Habsburg political culture demonstrates the large degree of autonomy enjoyed by the archducal regime, which allowed Albert and his entourage to exert a decisive influence on several crucial events: preparing the ground for the Anglo-Spanish peace of 1604 by the immediate recognition of King James, clearing the way for the Twelve Years' Truce by conditionally accepting the independence of the United Provinces, reasserting Habsburg influence in the Rhineland by the armed intervention of 1614 and devising the terms of the Oñate Treaty of 1617. In doing so the book shows how they sought to initiate a realistic policy of consolidation benefiting the Spanish Monarchy and the House of Habsburg. Whilst previous work on the subject has tended to concentrate on either the relationship between Spain and the Netherlands or between Spain and the Empire, this book offers a far deeper and much more nuanced insight in how the House of Habsburg functioned as a dynasty during these critical years of increasing religious tensions. Based on extensive research in the archives left by the archducal regime and its diplomatic partners or rivals, it bridges the gap between the reigns of Philip II and Philip IV and puts research into the period onto a fascinating new basis.

1

Wet Paint

On 13 July 1598, the inhabitants of Hal, a small town some 16 kilometres from Brussels, and the pilgrims who had come there to venerate the renowned Black Madonna, witnessed an unusual ceremony. The previous day, Cardinal-Archduke Albert had arrived in the town, accompanied by all the pomp and circumstance due to an archbishop of Toledo, primate of Spain, papal legate and grand-inquisitor of the kingdom of Portugal. That morning, however, Albert went to mass dressed as a secular prince and girded with a sword. In the course of the service, the archduke solemnly deposited his cardinal’s robes on the altar of the Lady Chapel.1 Thus he marked his resignation from the clergy and his return to the laity. It was a highly symbolic act, performed at an equally symbolic place.

Our Lady of Hal was held in high esteem among Catholic princes. The reportedly miraculous Black Madonna had come to Hal via Sophia of Thuringia, duchess of Brabant, who had in turn received it from her mother, St Elizabeth of Hungary. The future Louis XI of France and even England’s Henry VIII had once sought her heavenly intercession. In recent decades Our Lady of Hal had acquired the reputation of being a staunch supporter of the Catholic cause in its fight against Protestantism.2 None other than the learned Justus Lipsius would in a few years extol her miraculous interventions in his elegant Latin prose.3 Archduke Albert had a particular devotion for the Madonna of Hal.4 He came to pray at her shrine before his first solemn entry into Brussels in February 1596 and returned at the outset and at the end of his first military campaigns in the Netherlands. Now he had come to make the Madonna witness to the most dramatic turn of his career. After he left Hal, he settled matters at the court in Brussels while preparing for his journey to Spain.5 There he was to marry the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia and then return as joint successor of King Philip II as ruler of the Netherlands. The date was not a coincidence either – 13 July is the feast of the saintly Emperor Henry II. According to tradition he was a prince who would have preferred to abandon his worldly titles and possessions in order to become a monk. Yet he took on the burden of ruling the Holy Roman Empire out of a sense of obligation towards the Church and his subjects. This life Archduke Albert now set out to emulate. He surrendered one of the most prestigious titular churches in Rome and the largest ecclesiastical incomes in both Spain and Portugal. Henceforth he would live the life of a secular prince, defending Catholicism and fighting its enemies. The symbolism of the date went ever further, for it indicated that Albert might one day assume a role in the government of the Holy Roman Empire.

The Education of an Archduke

Archduke Albert was profoundly aware that he ‘descended of many emperors and kings’.6 He considered it his birthright to partake in government. He was born in Wiener Neustadt on 13 November 1559. His father was Emperor Maximilian II, his mother the Infanta Maria, the sister of King Philip II. Both his grandfathers had been emperor: Ferdinand I and his elder brother Charles V. The imperial couple had an unusually large family. Even though six of their 16 children died in infancy, they were still left with six boys and four girls to provide for. Albert was the tenth child and the fifth of the surviving sons. No dynasty had a script for such numerous offspring. This meant that Albert’s future was, to say the least, by no means clear from the start.

The marriage of Maximilian and Maria was the first in a series of unions between the Spanish and the Austrian branches. It set a precedent that would determine Habsburg matrimonial policies for the remainder of the sixteenth and into the seventeenth centuries. The match proved a happy one, although the partners were of a very different temperament and convictions. Maximilian was thoroughly bred in humanist culture and openly showed sympathy for Lutheranism. His criticism of Spanish policies in the Netherlands, reservations about the decrees of the Council of Trent, insistence on taking the communion in both kinds and refusal to receive the last sacraments on his deathbed may have eased religious tensions in the Holy Roman Empire. They certainly both annoyed and worried Madrid and Rome. Maria, on the other hand, brought with her all the fervour, splendour and credulity of Spanish Catholicism.7 She also proved a committed patron of the Jesuit Order, the vanguard of the Catholic Reformation.

Philip II had reasons to be concerned about Maximilian’s convictions. As head of the House of Habsburg, he realized the dangers of religious division among his kinsmen. He also wished to protect the reputation of the dynasty as the champion of Roman Catholicism. Most of all Philip was worried that Maximilian’s Protestant leanings might contaminate the next generation of the Austrian branch. When the physical and mental health of Don Carlos deteriorated after his accidental fall in April 1561, these worries gained particular urgency.8 Don Carlos was at that stage the king’s only child and heir. In the event of his death, the Spanish possessions would, under the present circumstances, be inherited by the children of Maximilian and Maria. Therefore Philip deemed it essential to ascertain that these potential heirs would remain loyal members of the Catholic Church. In order to do so, Philip invited the two eldest sons of the imperial couple, the Archdukes Rudolf (born in 1552) and Ernst (born in 1553), to come and complete their educations at the Spanish Court. Maximilian was against the idea; Maria supported it. She overcame her husband’s reluctance and the boys travelled to Spain during the winter months of 1563–64.9

The following June the four remaining sons of Maximilian and Maria – the Archdukes Matthias (born in 1557), Maximilian (born in 1558), Albert and Wenzel (born in 1561) – were taken from their nurses and given their own establishment. Some two years later, care for their education was entrusted to Ogier Ghislain de Busbecq.10 Busbecq was a native of the county of Flanders and a humanist cast in the Erasmian mould. He entered the service of the Austrian Habsburgs in 1554 as a member of the delegation that journeyed to England to congratulate Philip II and Mary Tudor on their marriage. Later that year Ferdinand I sent Busbecq to the Ottoman Court, where he was to serve as imperial ambassador until 1562. True to his humanist calling, Busbecq used this mission to collect Latin and Greek manuscripts and to record the inscriptions that he discovered on ancient monuments. His interests went further though. Being a keen botanist, he was instrumental in introducing tulips, horse-chestnuts and lilac trees in Western horticulture. The lengthy letters that he sent to his friend Nicholas Michault related his journeys in the Balkans and Anatolia, and were full of sharp and unusually balanced observations about Ottoman institutions and society. These letters were first published by the Plantin press in 1581 and went through several editions and translations.11 Albert would come to honour his former tutor. After he became governor-general of the Netherlands, he saw to the execution of Busbecq’s last wish – to have his heart entombed in the family mausoleum in Bousbecque.12

By the time Albert celebrated his tenth birthday, the dynastic situation had changed in a number of ways. Maximilian II had succeeded his father Ferdinand I as emperor in July 1564. It was therefore time to prepare for the next generation.13 The three main pillars on which the power of the Austrian Habsburgs rested – Hungary, Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire – were elective monarchies. A smooth transition of power could only be assured by formally electing an heir. Political wisdom held that this should be done sooner rather than later. In each case the electorate was part Catholic, part Protestant. This meant that it would be hard to find a majority in favour of a prince living at the uncompromisingly Catholic court of Philip II. The Estates of Bohemia had voiced their discontent about the Spanish education of Archduke Rudolf twice already and Protestants in Hungary and the Empire were likely to feel the same.14 Hence it was imperative that he would return to Vienna. As a result of the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis, Philip II had married Elizabeth de Valois, a daughter of the French King Henry II and Catherine de’Medici, in 1559. She was his third wife and 18 years his junior. After a number of miscarriages, the couple was blessed with two daughters, the Infantas Isabella Clara Eugenia (born in 1566) and Catalina Michaela (born in 1567). Yet another miscarriage caused the queen’s death in October 1568. A few months earlier, in late July, the unfortunate Don Carlos had also died. So in less than three months, Philip II had lost his male heir and his third wife. A new marriage was needed to secure the future of the Spanish branch. It was decided that Philip would marry the Archduchess Anna, the eldest daughter of Maximilian and Maria, who had formerly been promised to Don Carlos. With this match, the age gap separating the spouses widened to 22 years. It would be the second of the marriages between the two branches of the House of Habsburg, making Philip not only the cousin and brother-in-law of Maximilian, but also the son-in-law.15

Part of the arrangement was that two of the younger archdukes would accompany their sister to Spain and take the places of Rudolf and Ernst. Initially Albert and his elder brother Maximilian were to go, but Maximilian fell ill shortly before Anna was to depart. Apparently a lottery then determined that Wenzel would take his place.16 Under the supervision of Busbecq, the party set out on 1 August 1570 to Speyer, where Anna and her brothers said farewell to their father. They then followed the Rhine towards the Low Countries. At Nijmegen they were greeted by the Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, duke of Alva, who had seemingly restored order in the Netherlands. The journey continued to Bergen-op-Zoom, Antwerp, Middelburg and Flushing. From there the company sailed to Spain, landing in Santander on 7 October. During the following weeks it travelled slowly to the heart of Castile. At Valladolid Anna and her brothers were r...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Figures
• Preface
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1 Wet Paint
• 2 Rural Pursuits
• 3 Burning Lamps
• 4 Lewd Instruments
• 5 Calculated Ambiguities
• 6 Family Matters
• 7 Fatal Ambitions
• 8 Old Masters
• 9 Unfolding Legacies
• 10 Cometary Turmoil
• 11 Virgin Victorious
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index