The primatial see was placed at Malines (Mechlin), having under it Antwerp, Hertogenbosch, Roermond, Ghent, Bruges, and Ypres constituting the Flemish province; the second archbishopric was at Cambray, with Tournay, Arras, St Omer, and Namur, - the Walloon province; the third at Utrecht, with Haarlem, Middleburg, Leeuwarden, Groningen and Deventer, - the northern (Dutch) province.
Farnese first won by promises and blandishments the confidence of the Walloons, always jealous of the predominance of the " Flemish " provinces, and then proceeded to make himself master of Brabant and Flanders by force of arms. In succession Ypres, Mechlin, Ghent, Brussels, and finally Antwerp (17th of August 1585) fell into his hands.
There is a 16th-century Jesse window from Mechlin in St George's, Hanover Square, London.
He married (1) Sophia, heiress of Mechlin, and (2) in 1331 Eleanor, sister of Edward III.
The Hollanders were much aggrieved by the establishment of a high court of justice for the entire Netherlands at Mechlin.