Ferdinand van Spoelberch

Ferdinand van Spoelberch (1596–1675), Knight of the Order of Christ, Lord of Lovenjoul, was an officer in the Army of Flanders during the Eighty Years' War

Life[edit]

Van Spoelberch was born in Brussels on 13 August 1596, the son of Jan Baptist van Spoelberch and Maria Magdalena Garet.^[1]

In April 1621 he accompanied Ferdinand van Boisschot on a diplomatic mission to France.^[2] On 12 January 1626 he married Anna de Grimaldi of Morazane (died 6 January 1634), daughter of Simon de Grimaldi, secretary to the Privy Council of the Habsburg Netherlands.^[1] A portrait of the couple has been attributed to Gaspar de Crayer.^[3] They had four children: Anna Maria (1627-1627), Maria Magdalena (1628-1635), Karel Frans (1630-1692) and Christoffel (1633-1707).

Van Spoelberch became lord of Lovenjoel on 17 July 1630,^[1] and by letters patent of 23 February 1633 was appointed meier of the ten villages subject to the aldermen of Lubbeek (now in Flemish Brabant).^[2] He played a significant part in the defence of Leuven (1635), in recognition of which Philip IV of Spain on 31 March 1649 made him a lord in his own right.

On 10 February 1662 Pope Alexander VII appointed van Spoelberch a Knight of the Order of Christ. He was invested by Andreas Creusen, Archbishop of Mechelen, on 13 April 1662.^[1]

Van Spoelberch died in Leuven on 8 February 1675, and was buried in the family vault in the church of the Recollects.^[1]

The work Brusselschen Blom-hof van Cupido (Brussels, 1641) was dedicated to him by the author, Willem van der Borcht.^[1]

References[edit]