René van Renesse van Elderen

René van Renesse van Elderen (ca. 1580 – Liège, 17 April 1637) was a Dutch nobleman.

Life

He was the son of Willem van Renesse van Elderen. He was count of Warfusée, burgrave of Montenaken and lord of Gaasbeek. In 1615 he bought the estate of Heeze from Cleradius van Genève Lullin. In 1610 he married Alberta of Egmont and their children were Maria (c.1620-?), Florentine Margaretha (c.1620-?) and Alexander van Renesse van Elderen.

He was chairman of the Board of Finances in the Netherlands under Philip IV of Spain. He also commanded a royal regiment of Spanish troops, as well as travelling regularly to Holland to the States-General of the Netherlands. He was involved in the Conspiracy of Nobles (1632) and made efforts to convince France to invade the Southern Netherlands in support of a planned revolt against Spanish rule. Accused of abuse of his office before the plan came to fruition, he fled to Liège and issued a manifesto against the government in Brussels. Charged with high treason, he was sentenced to banishment and his property was confiscated. He soon sought reconciliation with the Spanish government. On 16 April 1637 he invited the anti-Spanish mayor of Liège, Sébastien de La Ruelle, to a banquet to be held in his house the next day. Once he had him as a guest in his house, he had him killed by hidden Spanish troops.^[1] Renesse was then lynched by an angry mob. He was the most notable member of the Maison de Renesse.

Memory

Renesse's conspiracy to murder the mayor of Liège formed the plot of a novel by Hendrik Conscience, Le Bourgmestre de Liège (1865).

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