Matthias, younger son of Maximilian II future HRE himself, was invited to the Netherlands in 1578 by a small moderate party in hopes of solving the religious and political unrest that had rocked the Spanish possessions. He arrived without the knowledge or consent of his uncle, Philip II of Spain and his position as 'governor' quickly deteriorated in the end accomplishing nothing other than to embarrass himself and alienate the rest of his family. Apparently in 1579 he withdrew from Brussels to Antwerp and on May 28th he participated in an Ascension Day procession. Tensions in the city were high and the Catholics were advised against a major procession but proceeded anyways. Radical protestants attacked and the procession including Matthias was forced to seek shelter. William of Orange, who was also present, was able to rally some forces to disperse the attackers and save the Catholics, two of whom died. So what if things got a little more out of hand, maybe William isn't able to intervene quickly enough. More Catholics are killed and Matthias sustains a fatal wound, dying that day or shortly after.
This would be after the Unions of Utrecht and Arras, and after the death of Don Juan and the Duke of Parma's assumed control of the Spanish forces but it would be before the Act of Abjuration. Would the death of an Archduke, one who arrived ostensibly to moderate the Spanish position and bring peace, discredit the rebels? Or the Protestants in general, given the religious dimension of the attack? Would that make the French or English leery of intervening to aid the rebels? It's pretty close to a regicide and monarchs were generally pretty averse to supporting a regicide even against an enemy. I imagine in Madrid there will be a lot of crocodile tears shed for Matthias. The Spanish were quite upset by his appearance in Brussels but I imagine he'd quickly be treated as poor martyr and mourned deeply and publicly by the Spanish court but could they use it to any practical advantage.
Obviously there's also some major impacts down the road in Austria if Matthias isn't around though I think it's hard to speculate there with so much potentially changing in the Netherlands.
This would be after the Unions of Utrecht and Arras, and after the death of Don Juan and the Duke of Parma's assumed control of the Spanish forces but it would be before the Act of Abjuration. Would the death of an Archduke, one who arrived ostensibly to moderate the Spanish position and bring peace, discredit the rebels? Or the Protestants in general, given the religious dimension of the attack? Would that make the French or English leery of intervening to aid the rebels? It's pretty close to a regicide and monarchs were generally pretty averse to supporting a regicide even against an enemy. I imagine in Madrid there will be a lot of crocodile tears shed for Matthias. The Spanish were quite upset by his appearance in Brussels but I imagine he'd quickly be treated as poor martyr and mourned deeply and publicly by the Spanish court but could they use it to any practical advantage.
Obviously there's also some major impacts down the road in Austria if Matthias isn't around though I think it's hard to speculate there with so much potentially changing in the Netherlands.
