He had a long record of distinguished service to both Emperor Charles V and Philip II of Spain but, as a member of the regency council in the Netherlands (1561–65), he followed a similar opposition course to that of his colleague, Lamoral Egmont. In 1566 he aligned himself with the Calvinists at Tournai, but then obeyed the regent’s command to return to Brussels. Late in that year, he rejected William I (the Silent)’s plan for armed resistance to the Spaniards, and withdrew to his home in Weert. In 1567 Alba found him out, had him convicted of treason and heresy by the Council of Troubles, and he was beheaded.