He was made statholder (governor) of Flanders and Artois in 1559. Although he was a member of Philip II of Spain’s regency council, he opposed his sovereign’s policy of imposing Catholicism and Spanish government on the Netherlands, and helped to oust Cardinal Granvelle from his pre-eminent position in the government of the Netherlands (1564). In 1565 he withdrew from the council with Horn, but during the first phase of the Dutch Revolts he vacillated, and refused to join William I (the Silent) in armed resistance. He was seized by Alba in 1567, and beheaded on a charge of treason.