The Household of Archduke Albert of Austria from His Election as Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands until His Investiture as Sovereign Prince of the Low Countries (1595-1598)

Archduke Albert of Austria was one of the most important figures in the Spanish monarchy of the Austrias during the reigns of his uncle, Philip II, and his cousin Philip III. However, his figure has not been studied really in-depth until these last years, allowing us to understand much better many points concerning the histories of Portugal, the Habsburg Netherlands, the Holy Roman Empire and the Spanish Monarchy in the last decades of the XVIth century and the first ones of the XVIIth. This essay is focused on the study of his royal household from 1595, when he was elected as governor of the Netherlands, until 1598, when he was invested as Sovereign Prince of the same lands. It complements the one that we made from 1570 until 1595, allowing us to examine the political background during his upbringing, the people that surrounded Albert during those years and the function of his household as an integrator of territorial elites in the different places he served.