In voicing the wishes of the people the province of Brabant, with the capital, Brussels, the metropolitan see, Malines, and the university, Louvain, took as decided a lead as the Parlement of Paris did in France.

The estates of Brabant demanded that Orange be made their governor.

The nobles began to remember that they were legally a part of the Empire.

The marriage of Orange, on August 26, 1561, with the Lutheran Anne of Saxony, was but one sign of the _rapprochment_.

Though the prince continued to profess Catholicism, he entertained many Lutherans and emphasized as far as possible his position as vassal of the Empire.