Albert of Austria

ALBERT OF AUSTRIA. - Cardinal, son of Emperor Maximilian II, born at Neustadt in 1559, died at Brussels in 1621. He was sent early to the court of Philip II of Spain, so that he might be educated there in the genuine Habsburg tradition and might keep the ties between the two branches of the House closer. A candidate for the purple on the part of his father and of his great cousin, he was invested with it by Gregory XIII in 1577. He was archbishop of Toledo, an excellent prelate for integrity of morals and for activity in reform. Since Philip II had set his eyes on him to make him the head of the Netherlands, which needed pacification and reorganization with the thought of restoring them, at least nominally, to the longed-for independence, he was released from his ecclesiastical vows and given as husband to Isabella of Habsburg, lady of those countries. He contended with France, from which he wrested Calais, Amiens and other important strongholds, then fought against Holland and finally attempted to reconcile his State with that country. Under his orders Ambrose Spinola fought in the Netherlands. He was an excellent head of state; but he did not succeed in granting independence to the kingdom of Belgium, as he should have and as the people expected of him, not so much because he left no direct descendants, as because, by inclination and by will, he kept Belgium as a fief of Spain. He should not, however, be judged, as is usually done, by the ideas of the 19th and 20th centuries, that is, as a reactionary.

Luigi Berra