Franciscus van der Burch

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]