View source for Charles Alexandre de Croÿ, Marquis d'Havré

{{Infobox noble
| name              = Charles Alexandre de Croÿ
| title             = Marquis of Havré
| image         = Charles-Alexandre de Croÿ Marquis d'Havré and Duc de Croÿ..jpg
| caption       = Portrait by an anonymous artist of the Flemish School
| CoA               =
| more              = no
| succession        =
| reign             =
| reign-type        =
| predecessor       =
| successor         =
| suc-type          =
| spouse            = (1) Yolande de Ligne (1585–1611)<br>(2) Geneviève de Lascaris d'Urfé (1597–1656)
| spouse-type       = Married
| issue             = Marie-Claire de Croÿ (1605–1664)
| issue-link        =
| issue-pipe        =
| full name         =
| other_titles      = Count of Fontenoy
| noble family      = [[House of Croÿ]]
| house-type        =
| father            = [[Charles Philippe de Croÿ, Marquis d’Havré]] (1549–1613)
| mother            = Diane de Dammartin, Countess of Fontenoy (1552–1625)
| birth_date        = 1574 <!-- {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} -->
| birth_place       =
| christening_date  =
| christening_place =
| death_date        = 1624 <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} -->
| death_place       = [[Brussels]]
| burial_date       =
| burial_place      = [[Chapel Church]], Brussels
| religion          =
| occupation        = soldier
| memorials         =
| module            = {{Infobox military person
| allegiance    = Spanish Habsburg
| branch        = [[Army of Flanders]]
| serviceyears  = 1597–1624
| rank          = cavalry commander
| unit          = [[Bandes d'ordonnance]]
| commands      =
| battles       = [[Siege of Amiens (1597)]]<br>[[Siege of Ostend]] (1601)<br>[[Siege of Oldenzaal (1605)]]<br>[[Battle of White Mountain]] (1620)
| battles_label =
| awards        = [[Order of the Golden Fleece|Knight of the Golden Fleece]] (1617)
| memorials     =
| laterwork     = [https://books.google.com/books?id=0L9bAAAAQAAJ ''Memoires geurriers''] (Antwerp, 1642)
| signature     =
| signature_size =
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}}}}
'''Charles Alexandre de Croÿ''' (1574–1624), Marquis of [[Havré]], Count of Fontenoy, [[Order of the Golden Fleece|Knight of the Golden Fleece]], was a military commander and memoirist from the [[Habsburg Netherlands]] and a murder victim.
==Life==
Charles 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 [[Albert VII, Archduke of Austria|Archduke Albert]] on his journey to Spain to marry the [[Infante|Infanta]] [[Isabella Clara Eugenia|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 [[Charles III, Duke of Lorraine|Duke of Lorraine's]] son and heir, [[Henry II, Duke of Lorraine|Henry of Bar]], and [[Margherita Gonzaga, Duchess of Lorraine|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.<ref>''[[Biographie Nationale de Belgique]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20170206103450/http://www.academieroyale.be/academie/documents/FichierPDFBiographieNationaleTome2045.pdf vol. 4] (Brussels, 1873), 555–558.</ref> 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.<ref>[[Louis Galesloot]], "L'Assassinat de Charles-Alexandre duc de Croy, le 9 novembre 1624, à Bruxelles", ''Revue trimestrielle'' 39:3 (1863), pp. 69-103 [https://books.google.com/books?id=1XlUAAAAQAAJ on Google Books]</ref>
==Writings==
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=0L9bAAAAQAAJ ''Memoires geurriers de ce qu'y c'est passé aux Pays Bas, depuis le commencement de l'an 1600 iusques a la fin de l'année 1606''] (Antwerp, [[Hieronymus Verdussen II|Hieronymus Verdussen]], 1642), Available on [[Google Books]].
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:1574 births]]
[[Category:1624 deaths]]
[[Category:House of Croÿ|Charles Alexandre]]
[[Category:People of the Eighty Years' War]]
[[Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece]]
[[Category:Military writers]]