Jean de Croÿ (14 November 1588—1640), count of Solre, baron of Molembaix and marquess of Renty,
knight of the Golden Fleece, was a nobleman from the
Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
who held high office under the
Spanish Habsburgs
Habsburg Spain is a contemporary historiographical term referring to the huge extent of territories (including modern-day Spain, a piece of south-east France, eventually Portugal, and many other lands outside of the Iberian Peninsula) ruled be ...
.
Life
Jean was born in 1588, the son of Philippe de Croÿ-Solre and Anne de Beaufort. After his mother's death, his father married Anne de Croÿ, widow of
Emanuel Philibert de Lalaing.
In 1608 Jean married his step-sister Jeanne de Lalaing, Anne de Croÿ's daughter from her first marriage. In 1614 he became a knight of the Golden Fleece, and in 1616 chamberlain to
Archduke Albert.
[
In the years 1619—1636 he undertook diplomatic missions in Poland, Germany and France on behalf of ]Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered f ...
, and in 1622—23 was acting high bailiff and captain-general of the County of Hainaut
The County of Hainaut (french: Comté de Hainaut; nl, Graafschap Henegouwen; la, comitatus hanoniensis), sometimes spelled Hainault, was a territorial lordship within the medieval Holy Roman Empire that straddled what is now the border of Belg ...
.[ In 1624 he was appointed captain of the royal guard in Spain, and a member of the Spanish council of state. In September 1627 he became a councillor on the Supreme Council of Flanders in Madrid. He died in Madrid in 1640.][
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Croy, Jean de
1588 births
1640 deaths