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One of the earliest known families in Holland. This family originated from the Castle and Abdij van Egmond.
An extensive book on the genealogy and history of the Heren and Graven van Egmondt published in 2002 and updated in 2012 is available electronically at
http://www.egmont-herenengraven.nl/egmondlowres.pdf
In that book the legendary part of the early history since about 500 AD of the Egmond family is covered. The known and undisputed genealogy which begins with Jan I van Egmond who married Guyote van Amstel van IJsselstein is described extensively.
Historical Fragments of the Egmont Family
The family of Egmont, prominent in Holland in the eleventh century, traced their descent from the Pagan kings. Their castle was on the North Sea, about three miles west of the city Alkmaar , and from 1423 to 1558, they were at the height of their power.
The family was divided into several branches and had in it 9 knights of the Golden Fleece.
Pre-eminent among all of the Egmonts was Lamoraal, Count of Egmont, Prince of Gavre, "one of the most brilliant characters in history," as one historian records. He was born in the castle of La Haimaide, in Hainault, Nov. 18, 1522. In 1542, at the death of his brother Karel, he succeeded to the title and estates of the family, which, besides those of Holland, comprised the principality of Gavre, seven or eight baronies and a number of seignories.
In his youth Lamoraal was page to the Emperor, Charles V, and when twenty-three years old he married Sabina of Luxembourg, Duchess of Bavaria and Countess Palatine of the Rhine, sister of the elector, Frederick III. Few royal weddings have been more brilliant. The Emperor, his brother Ferdinand, King of the Romans, with the Archduke Maximilian, all the Imperial Electors and a concourse of the principal nobles of the empire, were present on the occasion.
Lamoraal participated in various campaigns during the reign of Charles V, who when he was only twenty-six, invested him with the order of the Golden Fleece, and appointed him to several confidential missions, such as sending him to England to seek the hand of Queen Mary for Philip II. After the succession of Philip to the throne, Lamoral gained great distinction in many of the campaigns of that period. He incurred the hatred of the Duke of Alva at the battle of St. Quentin, which would not have been fought except for the violent persuasion of Egmont in opposition to the advice of Alva. It was a brilliant victory, and Lamoral was the principal figure in the affray. In the following year he distinguished himself in the battle of Gravelines, and with this became the idol of the people. As a reward for his services he was made in 1559, by Philip II, Stadtholder of the Provences of Flanders and Artois and a member of the Council of State for the Low Countries. At the conclusion of the war, by the treaty of Cateau Cambresis, Egmont was one of the four hostages selected by the French king, as pledges for its execution. The attempt made by Philip to convert the Netherlands into a Spanish dependency and govern it by Spanish ministers, excited the resentment of Egmont and other ministers of the Netherlands aristocracy. Though Egmont was a good Catholic, nevertheless he had no desire to see his native country in the throes of the Spanish Inquisition.
In January, 1565, he and others went to Spain to make known to the king the state of affairs and protest against the autocratic proceedings of Cardinal Granvella, the all-powerful minister of the regent Margaret of Parma, the latter having been appointed against the will of the Protestant party. He was received by Philip with ostentatious cordiality and flattered by the whole court, but the real object of his mission was evaded and he returned home without having accomplished anything for his people. The treacherous Philip, notwithstanding his fair promises to Egmont, sent instructions to the regent to abate nothing in the persecutions. Immediately after the arrival of the Duke of Alva in 1567, who had been sent as lieutenant-general of the Netherlands, Counts Egmont and Horn were seized and imprisoned in Ghent, afterwards being removed to Brussels, where they were tried by the "Council of Blood." Sentence was pronounced on the 4th of June, by Alva himself, in spite of the intercession of the Emperor Charles V, the elector Palatine, the Order of the Golden Fleece, the State of Brabant, and the piteous pleadings of his wife, who, with her eleven children, had by this time been reduced to want and had taken refuge in a convent.
He was beheaded the next day, June 5, 1568, in company with Count Horn, and in the storm of indignation which arose, they were glorified as martyrs to Flemish freedom. This memorable episode proved to be the prelude of the famous revolt of the Netherlands, which ended in independence. In 1865 a monument to Counts Egmont and Horn, by Fraiken, was erected at Brussels. Louis Gallait (1810-1887), a Belgian painter, has among his chief works, "Egmont Preparing for Death," "Alva Looking Upon the Bodies of Egmont and Horn," "The Last Moments of Count Egmont." Goethe made of this historical episode the theme of a tragedy.