Jacobus Maes


Jacques or Jacobus Maes was a lawyer and public servant in the Habsburg Netherlands.

Life

Jacobus was born in Antwerp in 1505, the son of Joannes Maes and Gommaire van Merle. After serving as pensionary to the city of Antwerp, he was appointed a member of the Brussels Privy Council by Mary of Hungary. He unsuccessfully opposed the rigour of the new edicts against heresy issued in 1550. At Charles V's abdication on 25 October 1555, Maes spoke on behalf of the Emperor's subjects. He married Aleyde de Tassis, of the Thurn und Taxis family, and together they had four children: Engelbert, who became president of the Privy Council; Charles, who became bishop of Ypres and later bishop of Ghent; Jean-Baptiste, a member of the Council of Brabant; and Philippe, greffier to the States of Brabant, who from 1610 to 1618 represented the Archdukes Albert and Isabella at the papal court.
Jacobus Maes died in Brussels in 1569.