Arnold von Keppel

Arnold Joost van Keppel

Holland, 1669-1718

Første jarl af Albemarle. Nederlandsk general.

Denain, 1712

Arnold Joost van Keppel, 1st earl of Albemarle, and lord of Voorst in Gelderland (c. 1670 - May 30, 1718), son of Oswald van Keppel and his wife Anna Geertruid van Lintello, was born in Holland about 1670. He became page to William of Orange, accompanied him to England in 1688, and became groom of the bedchamber and master of the robes in 1695. On 10 February 1696/7 William made van Keppel earl of Albemarle, Viscount Bury and Baron Ashford.
In 1700 William gave him lands of enormous extent in Ireland, but parliament obliged the king to cancel this grant, and William then bestowed on him £50,000. The same year he was made a knight of the Garter. Meanwhile he had served both with the English and Dutch troops, was major-general in 1697, colonel of several regiments and governor of 's Hertogenbosch.

Handsome and engaging, he rivalled Portland, whose jealousy he aroused in the royal favour, possessed William's full confidence and accompanied him everywhere. In February 1702 William, then prostrated with his last illness, sent Albemarle to Holland to arrange the coming campaign, and he only returned in time to receive William's last commissions on his deathbed.

After the death of William III, who bequeathed to him 200,000 guilders and some lands, Albemarle he returned to Holland, took his seat as a noble in the States-General, and became a general of horse in the Dutch army. He joined the forces of the allies in 1703, was present at the Battle of Ramillies in 1706 and at Oudenaarde in 1708, and distinguished himself at the siege of Lille. He commanded at the siege of Aire in 1710, led Marlborough's second line in 1711, and was general of the Dutch forces in 1712, being defeated at Denain after the withdrawal of Ormonde and the English forces and taken prisoner. He died on 30 May 1718, aged 48.

Albemarle married Geertruid, daughter of Adam van der Denijn, by whom, besides a daughter, he had a son, William Anne, who succeeded him as 2nd earl of Albemarle.