Claude de Berlaymont, lord of Haultpenne was a Flemish military commander in Spain"s Army of Flanders during the Eighty Years" War.
Background
He was the seventh and last son of count Charles de Berlaymont (1510–1578) and Adriana de Ligne Barbançon. His father was a supporter and councilor to Margaret of Parma. He is reported to have referred to the Dutch citizens requesting the Compromise of Nobles as "geuzen" (beggars), an appellation the Dutch proudly adopted.
Career
Claude was lord of Haultpenne in Flémalle, a Walloon area in the bishopric of Liege. His nickname is derived from the name of the castle, an elegant medieval and renaissance structure. In 1581 Haultpenne was sent to fight Dutch rebels in the eastern province of Friesland, but the capture of Steenbergen on 12 August 1583 signalled the need for his return to the Brabant.
In 1581 he led the Siege of Breda, also known as the Haultepenne"s Fury.
Breda had been in the hands of William of Orange since the Pacification of Ghent in 1576. Haultpenne managed to enter the city by bribing a sentry, after which his troops sacked and plundered it, murdering more than 500 citizens.
The Duke of Parma had great confidence in Haultpenne"s abilities, and sent him to the Electorate of Cologne, which was rife with disorder arising out of conflicting claims by Calvinists and Catholics to the Electorate and its possessions. In the Cologne War, Berlaymount laid siege to Werl in 1586.
Although Martin Schenck von Nydeggen had a force of approximately 500 men, and Berlaymount over 4000 plus horse and cannons, Schenck succeeded in fighting his way out of the city and to safety.
While at Boxtel, Haultpenne received a call for aid from "sHertogenbosch. On his way there, he engaged an enemy army led by Philip of Hohenlohe at a redoubt at Engelen, and was mortally wounded in the throat. He was taken to "s-Hertogenbosch, where he died on July 14.
Views
He defended "s-Hertogenbosch, and reconquered Lier, Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Guelders, after which he became its Stadtholder from 1583–1585.
Membership
John of Berlaymont, Provost of the Saint Gervais, in Maastricht, and a member of the Cathedral chapter in Liege. He was a member of the council of states of the Seventeen Provinces, and he was captured in 1576 with his father.