" Original engraving ( 17th c.), contemporary imprint. 18,3 x 13,7 cm, ample margins, The caption reads : ''Guilelmus Alanus S.R.E. Cardinalis S.T.D. Duac. Archiepus Mechlin. designatus; obiit Romae A° MDXCIV ''. Finely preserved engraving. William Allen destined to become the Canterbury archbishop after a successful invasion by the Spanish Armada was instead named as the first archbischop of Mechelen in the Low Countries ( actual Flanders). He hesitated to take up this post and after his death in 1594 Matthias Hovius became the first archbishop of the diocese Mechelen."