Robert de Melun

Robert de Melun, 1573

Hélène de Melun

Signature of Robert de Melun on the Compromise of Nobles, 1566

**Robert de Melun** (born 17 April, 1550), also known as **Robert Longsword** (French: *Robert Longue-Épée*, Dutch: *Robert Langzwaard*), is a Walloon nobleman and soldier who was active in the opening stages of the Dutch Revolt and the flight of the royal court to France. Initially loyal to the States-General, Robert like many nobles, reconciled with the Crown following the Battle of Gembloux.

## Biography

### Youth

Robert was born at the Château d'Antoing on 20 April, 1550 to Hughes de Melun and Yolande de Werchin. His father was from an old French family that originated as viscounts of Melun near Paris, though had been settled in Antoing since the 14th century. His mother was a wealthy heiress who brought numerous fiefdoms to the family. The couple were well-known and respected for both name and wealth in Hainaut and beyond at the time of Robert's birth.

As the second son of the marriage, Robert would not inherit his father's patrimony, which would go to his elder brother Pierre, who had been born a year prior. However, as stipulated by his parent's marriage contract, Robert received his mother's properties upon his birth, and was thus styled as the Seigneur de Roubaix.

When he was three years old, Robert's father was killed in a hunting accident and thus his upbringing was entrusted entirely to his mother. As expected, Robert received a typical education of his rank. From the time that he was six and transferred into the care of men, he was entrusted to a governor, Arnaud de Leuze, a veteran of the campaigns of Charles V, and a Dominican friar from Ghent, Jan de Clercke. Robert was instructed in the subjects of history, geography, arithmetic, grammar, and theology. He was also taught Latin, French, and Dutch, though he would later gain a middling grasp of Spanish and Italian.

Robert's childhood passion were the martial subjects espoused by his caste. He was inspired by the classical heros like Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Hannibal Barca, and Scipio Africanus. Though he had an interest in strategy and devoted himself to games such as chess, he never gained more than an acceptable command of military strategy. However, Robert did excel at fencing and horsemanship, something which urged his mother to engage a fencing tutor from Aachen for him and his brother. In fencing Robert found his calling and would become a devoted student of his tutor and gain an appreciation for the German style of fencing over the Italian school, and would wear a longsword throughout his life, eventually gaining the sobriquet *'Longue-Épée'*.

From the the age of 11, Robert was entered into the Jesuit College in Tournai for his secondary education. There he was instructed in Latin grammar, rhetoric, logic, and other aspects of the humanities. Robert was completely uninterested in his classical education by this point and the same sentiments were reflected by his tutors, who regarded him as a lethargic and uninspired pupil. Robert spent more time fencing and galavanting in Tournai than he did studying, which he bore until he was 15, and his mother removed him from the College so he might go to Brussels and begin his military career.

### Adolescence

In 1565, Robert moved to Brussels whilst his brother Pierre remained in Antoing. In the royal city of Brussels, Robert quickly became associated with, and soon enough a part of the entourage of William of Orange, one of the wealthiest and most ostentatious noblemen in the city, who ran an open house from his magnificient Palais de Nassau. As a frequenter of the house of Orange, Robert became a witness to the politics that had entangled the city. William of Orange was of the party opposed to the Cardinal de Granvelle and his harsh government, and Robert soon became critical of his policies as well, which included the increasingly unfair taxation of nobles and towns, abuse of local privileges and rights, and an unrealistic policy for addressing the growing Protestant movement.

Robert was one of the hundreds of signatories of the Compromise of Nobles in April 1566, and marched with them through Brussels to the royal court at Coudenbourg. The iconoclasm movements that overtook much of the country in the latter half of the year made Robert wary of the Protestants, which Robert began to see as much more of a real threat, and thus became chiefly concerned with the protection of the rights and privileges of the nobility. This issue cleaved Robert from the party of William of Orange in 1567 as violence began to take hold across the country and after William departed the city in April of that year, Robert hurried himself into a royal commission as an enseigne in the Tiers Royal de Bourgogne.

### Dutch Revolt

With the flight of William of Orange and the arrival of the promised Spanish aid to the crown, which came in the form of the Duc d'Albe at the head of 5,000 men, the situation in the Low Countries deteriorated. Robert was appalled at the Council of Troubles run by Albe and Granvelle, though he decidedly remained loyal to the king. The following year, Robert protested, along with many others, the execution of the Comte de Egmont and the Comte de Horn, who were executed as part of a retaliation by Alba against Louis of Nassau's victory at Heiligerlee. Not long after, Robert had his first taste of battle at Jemmingen, serving under the Tiers Royal de Bourgogne in the Duc d'Albe's army.

After the brief conflict of 1568, the war calmed as William of Orange had fled the country once more, however internal issues continued to create tension as Spanish troops continued to suck money from the royal coffers, additional taxes alienated city after city from the Burgundian government. In 1570, Robert was granted a commission by the Regent to raise a company of gendarmes, though the appointment was suspended following a duel in which Robert slew Philippe de Mansfeld, the son of the eminent Comte de Mansfeld. The duel was instigated by Philippe, who had a reputation for being quarrelsome, though Robert still fled from Brussels to avoid retaliation by his father. The duel was a briefly popular topic of conversation and Robert's killing thrust by his longsword was described by Maximilien Morillon as being "*sine cruce sine luce"* (without the cross, without light).

Following his flight from Brussels, Robert spent his time between his brother's castle at Antoing and his own property at Roubaix. Eventually, the Abbé de Saint-Ghislain approached Robert seeking to mediate between him and the family of Philippe de Mansfeld, looking to end the feud between them, to which ends he was successful, and the two parties agreed against further retribution or violence, however no great love was sprouted between them.

### Renewed Revolt

Following the renewal of hostilites after the capture of Brielle by the Watergeuzen in 1572, the war reached a new, decisive scale and Robert accompanied the royal army under the Duc d'Albe. Louis of Nassau had taken Valenciennes and Mons in the County of Hainaut, so the Duc sent his son Don Fadrique at the head of a Spanish vanguard of 4,000 to besiege Mons whilst he took the majority of the royal army, of which Robert was a part, and besieged Valenciennes, which fell almost immediately. Meanwhile, Jean de Hangest with 10,000 fresh soldiers from France joined forces with William of Orange to form an army of nearly 30,000. They fell on Don Fadrique's army besieging Mons and decicively defeated him, sending him routing towards Valenciennes with what little remained of his army to rejoin his father. On September 10, the two armies fought near Mons at the plains of Saint-Ghislain. A brutal battle ensued, with the rebel cavalry attacking the flanks of the Spanish-Burgundian force with such a ferocity that, in the words of the Duc de Medinaceli, *"Like a butcher, the Prince of Orange severed head from carcass."* Robert himself was unhorsed and captured by the forces of William of Orange in the middle of battle, and the royal forces were forced to retreat from Mons in the direction of Brussels, leaving William to relieve his besieged brother.

Despite the rebel victory, William's army suffered thousands of casualties and his army, having gone into battle on the brink of mutiny from lack of pay, melted away around him as he marched to Nivelles and then to Mechelen Most of the Huguenots under Jean de Hangest deserted as well following news of St. Bartholomew's massacre, leaving the rebels with a pyrrhic victory, though Mons would remain as a stronghold of Walloon Protestantism. Robert was soon freed by William as he returned to Holland and Robert returned to Brussels to find that Don Fadrique had been sent on campaign north with the Spanish army along with much of the Burgundian army to pacify the rebellious cities and provinces to the north. The resulting pillaging and massacres at cities such as Mechelen, Zutphen, Haarlem, and Maastricht horrified Robert and a majority of the nobility and broader population of the country, polarizing the ranks of the royalists and completely alienating the Spanish.

As royal bankruptcy in Spain and Burgundy worsened, and the Révolte des Chiffons escalated in Royal Burgundy, putting further strain on Burgundian finances, troops went unpaid for months and as a result, the mercenaries under the pay of the Spanish and royal government continued to ransack villages, towns, and cities, collectively known as the Spanish Fury, though the atrocities were carried out by Germans, Walloons, Flemings, Burgundians, as well as Spaniards. In 1573, the Duc d'Albe was recalled from Spain, however the Spanish troops remained in the Low Countries. In response the States General met, without the inclusion of the rebel provinces of Holland and Zeeland, and proposed legislation to counter the Spanish mutiny. The worst atrocity yet, the Sack of Antwerp, accelerated the States General into a decisive decision with delegations from the rebel provinces. The pact made in Ghent was known thus as the Pacification of Ghent and declared that the provinces would be at peace with one another until the Spanish threat had been removed from the country.

### Serving the States-General

Robert had been distancing himself from the royal cause and thus eagerly accepted the solicitations of the States General and full-heartedly subscribed to the Pacification. As a reward, he was made general of the cavalry for the States-General and was involved in raising an army around Mechelen, alongside Philippe de Lalaing, Comte de Lalaing, who was general of the infantry, and Valentin de Pardieu, Seigneur de La Motte, who was general of the artillery. Robert was also made Stadtholder of Artois by the States-General, however he was rejected by the city of Arras in favor of Oudart de Bournonville who had control over the city and much of the province, who had been maintaining the city for Charles II.

Meanwhile, as the royal forces had gone back on the offensive since fleeing Brussels in 1573 for the royal strongold of Namur, the States-General reacted with panic and invited William of Orange into Brussels with executive powers and accepted Archduke Matthias of Austria as the Governor-General in the stead of the Regency for Charles II. Following the promulgation of the Union of Brussels in January of 1574, which ratified the Pacification of Ghent, the States presented a united response to the royal threat. The army of the States-General moved towards Namur to defeat the royal army decisively, which had the remainder of the Spanish troops that had not mutinied, 4,000 Lorrainers, as well as Luxembourgers, Walloons, and Burgundians. The entire army totaled some 20,000 men and was under the command of the Comte de Mansfeld. Meanwhile, the States-General had a force of 25,000 though it was a stew of Dutch, Flemish, English, Scottish, Walloon, German, and French, with both devout Catholics and staunch Calvinists. Furthermore, much of the army had been ravaged by disease, and many of its leaders, including Robert among others such as, George de Lalaing, Philip de Lalaing, Robert de Melun, and Valentin de Pardieu were in Brussels for the wedding of the Baron de Beersel and Marguerite de Mérode. Many of them, including Robert had qualms about attacking the royal army and were concerned with the designs of the Prince of Orange, who had converted back to Lutheranism.

The two armies met north of Namur at a town called Gembloux, where the States army under Antoine de Goignies was decicively defeated, with the rebels hardly putting up a fight after the initial charges of the royal cavalry. Additional calamity such as the explosions in the artillery battery caused panic and the army split apart in a rout, despite heroic actions by many of the Dutch Calvinists and Henry Balfour, commander of the Scottish mercenaries, to rally a defensive rearguard. Dozens of noblemen and officers were captured by the royal army, including Antoine de Goignies himself, along with thirty-four flags and banners.

### Return to the Royal Camp

Following news of the defeat, William of Orange fled from Brussels, and the States-General and Council of State fled to Antwerp. It seemed as if the King's luck had turned. Brussels opened its gates for his royal entry and the royal army was split in order to retake and reinforce nearby fortresses. Meanwhile, Robert had remained in Brussels and helped ensure that the city would open itself to the King, his army, and court. For his part in handing over Brussels, Robert was made a Knight of the Golden Fleece.

The royal victory was not to be enjoyed long by Robert, however. As the States-General split apart with the divisions that would eventually form the Unions of Arras and Utrecht, and the city of Ghent rose up and proclaimed a Calvinist republic, foreign money poured into the coffers of William of Orange, and before long he had raised an army around him bolstered by foreign soldiers from the Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, Elizabeth of England, and more Huguenots under François de la Noué. Philip II of Spain recalled his remaining troops in the Low Countries and the royal treasury was once again at the point of bankruptcy.

The rebels engaged the royal army at Rijmenam, north of Brussels on 31 July, 1574. The rebel force of 23,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry once again outnumbered the royal army of 12,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry. The States army had made extensive defensive works in front of the village and Mansfeld, once more leading the royal forces, drew up his army in front of them, hoping the rebels would come out into the open and face them on open ground. When they did not, he sent the Prince de Sulmona at the head of three companies of musketeers and Robert with three companies of cuirassiers around the rear of the village from the royal left wing. A skirmish ensued with the English infantry, though neither side pressed any further. When this failed, Mansfeld sent Don Fadrique de Toledo at the head of the infantry directly at the fortified village. Don Fadrique, pike and pistol in hand, forced his way into the village against the English infantry under Sir John Norris. After Norris counterattacked and set fire to some houses in the village, Mansfeld mistook this for the Dutch setting fire to their baggage and retreating, and so the entire army rushed into the village, with Robert and Sulmona crashing into the States left flank and pushing into the village. Once at the center, however, the army discovered that the actual States line had been drawn behind the village, with more defensive works and the majority of their artillery facing the village. Before the village, the Scottish soldiers had stripped to the waist and loosed themselves on Toledo's infantry whilst singing psalms. The ensuing counterattack by the States devolved into a bloody mêlée in the village. Robert was wounded after his horse was killed under him, though he continued to fight, longsword in hand.

As it became clear that the royal soldiers in the village were going to be cut off and surrounded, the remainder of the army fled, despite valiant attempts to save the sitation by Mansfeld. In the end, the royal army suffered upwards of 3,000 casualties, whilst the States army had only suffered around 400. The soldiers fighting in the village were only saved by a rearguard action by the Prince de Sulmona, which allowed many to flee. Following the battle, the royal army was plagued by desertion and mutiny, and Mansfeld was forced to abandon the gains of the recent months, and the King and his court followed him back to Namur. Arriving in Namur at the end of August, negotiations with the King of France, Henry III for asylum in France were made shortly after and the court of Charles II crossed into France in early September 1574. A garrison was posted at Namur and the remainder of the army was sent to garrison Luxembourg.

## Titles, Styles, and Honors

### Titles

Sénéchal Hereditaire de Hainaut, Seigneur de Roubaix, de Cysoing, de Herselles, de Walincourt, de Malincourt, du Biez, de Wieres, de Thyle, de Chasteau

**Styles**

20 April, 1550 – Present: *Sa Seigneurie, Seigneur de Roubaix*

**Honors**

10 March, 1574 – Present: *Chevalier de la Toison d'or*