Jan van der Burch (died 1595) was an office-holder in the

Habsburg Netherlands Habsburg Netherlands were the parts of the Low Countries that were ruled by sovereigns of the Holy Roman Empire's House of Habsburg. This rule began in 1482 and ended for the Northern Netherlands in 1581 and for the Southern Netherlands in 1797. ...

Life

Van der Burch was the son of Adrien van der Burch, president of the Council of Flanders. He himself became a member of the Council of Flanders, and on 10 November 1569 was appointed master of requests to the

Great Council of Mechelen From the 15th century onwards, the Great Council of the Netherlands at Mechelen (Dutch: ; French: ; German: ) was the highest court in the Burgundian Netherlands. It was responsible for the Dutch-, French- and German-speaking areas. In Luxembourg ...

. General Guillaume, "Burch (Jean Vander)", ''

Biographie Nationale de Belgique The ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'' (; ) is a biographical dictionary of Belgium. It was published by the Royal Academy of Belgium in 44 volumes between 1866 and 1986. A continuation series, entitled the ''Nouvelle Biographie Nationale'' (, ...

''
vol. 3
(Brussels, 1872), 160-161. The

Duke of Alva Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ...

also appointed him a commissioner of the

Council of Troubles The Council of Troubles (usual English translation of , or , or ) was the special tribunal instituted on 9 September 1567 by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, governor-general of the Habsburg Netherlands on the orders of Philip II o ...

, responsible for identifying fugitives who had participated in the early stages of the

Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Reformation, centralisation, exc ...

and sequestering their property. When the city of

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...

fell to the rebels in 1572, van der Burch was imprisoned, his house plundered and his servants killed. He was released and restored to his position when Alva retook the city. During the English Fury at Mechelen, in 1580, he was able to escape the city. On 12 December 1584 he was appointed president of the Great Council, then Councillor of State, and finally, on 16 June 1592, president of the

Privy Council of the Habsburg Netherlands The Privy Council or Secret Council (, ) was one of the three "collateral councils" (along with the Council of Finance and Council of State) that together formed the highest government institutions of the Habsburg Netherlands. Based in Brussels, i ...

. He died in Brussels on 5 July 1595.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:van der Burch, Jan Year of birth unknown 1595 deaths Presidents of the Privy Council of the Habsburg Netherlands Presidents of the Great Council