Ferdinand de Boisschot

Ferdinand van Boisschot (26 June 1570 – 24 November 1649), Baron of Zaventem, was a jurist and diplomat from the Low Countries who became chancellor of the Duchy of Brabant.[1]

Ferdinand de Boisschot
Boisschot in 1630
Chancellor of Brabant
In office 25 July 1625 – 24 November 1649
Monarch	Philip IV of Spain
Preceded by	Petrus Peckius Jr.
Succeeded by	François de Kinschot
Personal details
Born	Ferdinand van Boisschot 26 June 1570 Brussels, Duchy of Brabant, Spanish Netherlands
Died	24 November 1649 (aged 79) Brussels, Duchy of Brabant, Spanish Netherlands
Resting place	Notre Dame du Sablon
Spouse(s)	Anna de Camudio ​ (m. 1607)​
Alma mater	University of Cologne University of Leuven
Awards	Order of Santiago

Early life

Boisschot's father, Jean-Baptiste van Boisschot, was a member of the Council of Brabant and was killed in the early stages of the Dutch Revolt. His mother took refuge in Cologne, where Ferdinand was raised. He studied law at the University of Cologne and at the University of Leuven.[2]

Career

In 1592, Boisschot was appointed auditor general of the Army of Flanders, a post he held until 1611. From the beginning of 1611 until the end of 1615, Boisschot was the diplomatic representative in London of the Sovereign Archdukes Albert and Isabella. In 1615, Philip III of Spain made him a knight in the order of Santiago. He spent a further four years as resident ambassador of the Archdukes in Paris, and was appointed to the Privy Council and the Council of State in Brussels.

In 1621, Boisschot was raised to the peerage, being awarded the lordship of Zaventem, and he went on to acquire Fontaine Castle and Groot-Bijgaarden Castle, and the lordships of Nossegem, Sterrebeek and Sint-Stevens-Woluwe. In 1644, Boisschot became count of Erps. He was appointed Chancellor of Brabant, the highest civilian function in the duchy of Brabant, in October 1625, succeeding Petrus Peckius the Younger.

Personal life

Boisschot was married to Anna Maria de Camudio, countess of Erps. They had one son, François de Boisschot, Count of Erps, who married Anne Marguerite, countess de Lannoy. He had two granddaughters, from whom the counts of Konigsegg-Rothenfels-Erps descend.

Boisschot died in Brussels on 24 November 1649 and was buried in the Church of Our Lady on the Zavel (Notre Dame on the Sablon).

Van Dyck paintings

Anthony van Dyck painted a portrait of Boisschot’s wife, Anna Maria de Camudio, and is thought to have painted a now-lost portrait of Ferdinand de Boisschot himself. A copy of the Van Dyck portrait of Boisschot is on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York from the Earl of Warwick.[3]

Boisschot also commissioned from Van Dyck the painting Saint Martin and the Beggar, which he donated to the parish church of Zaventem after he was created Baron of Saventem.[4][5]

References

Footnotes

1. J. Lefèvre, "Boisschot, Ferdinand de", Nationaal Biografisch Woordenboek, vol. 1 (Brussels, 1964), 216–219.
2. Charles Victor de Bavay, Ferdinand de Boisschot, chancelier de Brabant (1851). Available on Google Books.
3. Susan J. Barnes et al., Van Dyck: A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings, New Haven and London, 2004, cat. no. III.A15, p. 406.
4. https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjecten/40889
5. Estelle M. Hurll, Van Dyck: A Collection of Fifteen Pictures and a Portrait of the Painter (1902). Transcription available on Project Gutenberg.

Bibliography

• Carter, C. H. (1964). The Secret Diplomacy of the Habsburgs, 1598–1625. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231897297.
• Delecourt, J. (1868). "Boisschot, Ferdinand de". Biographie nationale de Belgique (in French). 2. Académie Royale de Belgique. pp. 623–624. OCLC 256104854.

External links

• Works by Ferdinand de Boisschot at WorldCat Identities