Charles Alexandre de Croÿ (1574–1624), Marquis of Havré, Count of Fontenoy, Knight of the Golden Fleece, was a military commander and memoirist from the Habsburg Netherlands and a murder victim.
Charles Alexandre de Croÿ | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Marquis of Havré | |||||||||||||||||||
 Portrait by an anonymous artist of the Flemish School | |||||||||||||||||||
| Other titles | Count of Fontenoy | ||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 1574 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 1624 Brussels | ||||||||||||||||||
| Buried | Chapel Church, Brussels | ||||||||||||||||||
| Noble family | House of Croÿ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Married | (1) Yolande de Ligne (1585–1611) (2) Geneviève de Lascaris d'Urfé (1597–1656) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Issue | Marie-Claire de Croÿ (1605–1664) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Father | Charles Philippe de Croÿ, Marquis d’Havré (1549–1613) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mother | Diane de Dammartin, Countess of Fontenoy (1552–1625) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | soldier | ||||||||||||||||||
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Life
editCharles Alexander was born in 1574, the son of Charles Philippe de Croÿ, Marquis d’Havré (1549–1613) and Diane de Dommartin, Countess of Fontenoy (1552–1625).
Pursuing a military career, he served in a relief column during the Siege of Amiens (1597). The following year he accompanied Archduke Albert on his journey to Spain to marry the Infanta Isabella, as a gentleman of the court.
In 1601 he became captain of an elite cavalry company serving in the Siege of Ostend, and in 1602 commandant of the fifteen Bandes d'ordonnance. He spent eleven months as a hostage of the mutineers during the Mutiny of Hoogstraten, during which time he started to write his memoirs, which were eventually published posthumously in 1642.
On 27 May 1605 he was appointed to the Archduke's Council of War. In 1606 he represented the Archduke at the wedding of the Duke of Lorraine's son and heir, Henry of Bar, and Margherita Gonzaga.
In 1617, on the occasion of his second marriage, he was invested as a knight of the Golden Fleece.
At the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War he was seconded to the imperial army and served in the Battle of White Mountain, but in 1624 he retired from military service to take up a position in civilian administration.[1] On the evening of 9 November 1624 he was shot through a window of his house in Brussels, dying of his injuries the following day, after receiving medical and spiritual aid in his final hours.[2]
Writings
editReferences
edit- ^ Biographie Nationale de Belgique, vol. 4 (Brussels, 1873), 555–558.
- ^ Louis Galesloot, "L'Assassinat de Charles-Alexandre duc de Croy, le 9 novembre 1624, à Bruxelles", Revue trimestrielle 39:3 (1863), pp. 69-103 on Google Books