Egmont, LAMORAL, COUNT OF, PRINCE OF GAVRE, was born in the castle of La Hamaide, in Hainault, in 1522, and inherited his property and titles on the death of his elder brother Charles. He accompanied Charles V. on his expedition against Algiers in 1541 and in all his later campaigns, married with great splendour the sister of the Elector Palatine at Spire in 1545, was invested with the Golden Fleece, and in 1554 was sent to England in an embassy to ask for Philip the hand of Mary. He led the cavalry with brilliant courage at St Quentin (1557), and next year at Gravelines, for which he was nominated by Philip governor of Flanders and Artois. He now entered into alliance with the party in the Netherlands that were dissatisfied with the Catholic policy of Philip, and from a courtier became all at once a hero of the people. His proud, imperious character, however, and his subsequent conduct, have led some historians to suppose that in this he was less actuated by high motives than by self-interest, or at least by disappointed ambition. Yet the more common opinion is, that he was a humane and virtuous patriot, who, although indifferent to Protestantism as a religion, was anxious to do justice to all the members of that oppressed faith. When Margaret, Duchess of Parma, against the will of the Protestant party, was made regent of the Netherlands, Egmont and the Prince of Orange entered the council of state, and held the command of the few Spanish troops. At first he sided with the party who were discontented with the infringement of the liberties of the provinces and the introduction of the Inquisition; but when insurrections took place, he at last broke with the patriotic Prince of Orange and the 'Beggars' League,' as it was called. He seemed to have restored order, and to be maintaining it, when, in April 1567, the Duke of Alba was sent as lieutenant-general to the Netherlands. The Prince of Orange and other chiefs of the insurrection left the country; Egmont, wishing to save his private property, remained, thinking his return to the policy of the court had secured his safety. When Alba entered Brussels, 22d August, Egmont went to meet him, and sought to secure his favour by presents. He appeared to have gained his confidence, when suddenly, after a sitting of the council, he and Count Horn were treacherously seized, and carried to the citadel of Ghent. The states of Brabant sought to withdraw Egmont from the Bloody Tribunal, as it was called, instituted by Alba, and Egmont himself, as a knight of the Golden Fleece, denied its competency. But neither this nor the pleading of his wife—the mother of eleven children—could move the stony heart of Alba. Egmont was charged with over eighty counts of accusation; and as he persisted in protesting against the incompetency of the court, and thus left many points unanswered, he was held guilty of contumacy, and along with Count Horn, condemned to death. On the following day, June 5, 1568, although Egmont hoped for pardon to the last, and intercession was made for him from the highest quarters, they were both beheaded in the marketplace of Brussels. He met his death with the most heroic courage. All his faults were forgotten in the cruel injustice of his fate, and his memory has gone down into history glorified with the aureole of the patriot and the martyr. A monument to him was erected at Brussels in 1865; a more enduring memorial is Goethe's noble tragedy.
See Correspondance de Marquerrite d'Autriche, Duchesse de Parma (1842), and Correspondance de Philippe II. sur les Affaires des Pays-Bas (1848-52); Juste, Le Comte d'Egmont et le Comte de Hornes (1862); and Motley's Rise of the Dutch Republic.