Franciscus van der Burch | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop-Duke of Cambrai | |
 Portrait from Ghent Cathedral | |
| Diocese | Cambrai |
| See | Notre Dame de Cambrai |
| Installed | 12 May 1616 |
| Term ended | 23 May 1644 |
| Predecessor | François Buisseret |
| Successor | Joseph de Bergaigne |
| Other post(s) | Bishop of Ghent (1612-1616) |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 17 February 1613 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 26 July 1567 |
| Died | 23 May 1644 (aged 76) Mons, County of Hainaut, Habsburg Netherlands |
| Alma mater | Leuven University |
| Coat of arms |  |
Franciscus van der Burch (1567–1644) was a bishop of Ghent and archbishop of Cambrai.
Franciscus was born in Ghent on 26 July 1567, the son of Jan van der Burch, a member of the Council of Flanders, and Camille Marguerite Diacetto, a native of Florence.[1] His father would go on to become president of the Great Council of Mechelen in 1584 and of the Privy Council of the Habsburg Netherlands in 1592.[2]
Franciscus was educated partly in Utrecht, where his uncle Lambert van der Burch was dean of the chapter of St. Mary's Church,[3] and partly at the Jesuit college in Douai, before going on to study at Leuven University, where he graduated Licentiate of Laws.[1]
He became a clergyman and was appointed a canon of Arras Cathedral, vicar general of the diocese of Arras, and archdeacon of the archdiocese of Mechelen.[4] He resigned these offices to become a simple canon of the collegiate church in Mons.
In 1612 he accepted nomination as bishop of Ghent, receiving papal confirmation on 1 October 1612 and being consecrated bishop in Ghent Cathedral on 17 February 1613.[1] On 12 May 1616 he was instituted as archbishop of Cambrai, in succession to François Buisseret who had died in 1615. As archbishop he established a number of charitable foundations. The most important of these was the Maison de Sainte-Agnès, or Fondation Vanderburch, established in 1626,[5] which provided vocational education for poor girls between the ages of 12 and 18.[4]
He died in Mons on 23 May 1644.[4] Two streets in Cambrai were named after him.[4]
