In 1566, the Habsburg Netherlands experienced several political upheavals, which culminated in the iconoclastic fury of that year. In response, Philip II of Spain, the ruler of the Habsburg Netherlands, sent Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba as governor-general to the Netherlands with an army of Spanish mercenaries, to restore order the following year. Philip soon replaced the most important advisors to former regent Margaret of Parma, either by summarily executing those such as the counts of Egmont and Hoorn, or by driving them into exile, as he did to William of Orange. Philipe de Croÿ, Duke of Aerschot, however, remained in favor as leader of the royalist faction.