Education
Collège Stanislas de Paris.
Collège Stanislas de Paris.
Born in Maastricht, Merode"s father was mayor of Brussels during the period in which modern Belgium formed part of France. Under the First French Empire, Merode lived in Paris. Merode settled in the southern part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands—modern Belgium—and was one of the leaders of the Belgian Revolution of 1830.
He served in the Provisional Government of Belgium and in the Belgian National Congress which was elected in November 1830.
Merode was proposed as a candidate for the throne of the newly created Belgium, but refused to be considered as he was not a prince, merely a count. Merode"s brother Frédéric was killed during the fighting against the forces of King William I following the revolution.
He formed part of the delegation to Paris which sought to have Louis, Duke of Nemours, second son of King Louis-Philippe, accept the throne, but this approach was rebuffed by the French king. Merode was a confidant of the eventual king, Leopold I, and was made a Minister of State in 1831.
He served as Foreign affairs, War, and Finance minister in the 1830s.
He resigned from office in 1839 as he was unwilling to sign the Treaty of London ceding Belgian territory to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
