Charles Eugène de Croÿ
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(January 2017) |
Charles Eugène de Croÿ | |
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 19th-century drawing of de Croÿ'smummyatSt. Nicholas Church, Tallinn. | |
| Born | 1651 Le Rœulx,County of Hainaut,Austrian Netherlands,Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 30 January [O.S.20] 1702 (aged 50-51) Reval,Swedish Estonia,Swedish Empire (in present-day Tallinn,Estonia) |
| Allegiance |  Denmark-Norway Holy Roman Empire Electorate of Saxony Tsardom of Russia |
| Service/ | Royal Danish Army(1675–1682)Imperial Army(1682–1699)Royal Saxon Army(1699)Peter I’s Army(ru)(1700–1702) |
| Years of service | 1675–1699 1700–1702 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-General(Royal Danish Army) Field Marshal(Imperial, Saxon and Peter I’s armies) |
| Battles/wars | Scanian War |
| Spouse(s) | Wilhelmina Juliana Gräfinvan den Bergh |
Charles Eugène de Croÿ(pronounced[ʃaʁløʒɛndəkʁwi];German:Herzog Carl Eugen de Croÿ;Russian:Карл Евгений де Круа,tr.Karl Evgenij de Krua;1651 – 30 January [O.S.20] 1702) was aGermanandRussianField Marshaland nobleman from theFrench nobleHouse of Croÿ.[1]
Biography[edit]
His father was Jacques Philippe de Croÿ-Roeulx (1614–1685), a descendant of Jean III of Croy-Roeulx, son ofAntoine le Grand.His mother was Johanna Catharina van Bronckhorst, daughter of Field MarshalJohann Jakob van Bronckhorst.
In 1681, he married Wilhelmina Juliana van den Bergh (born January 20, 1638 in Zutphen, Gelderland, Netherlands; † October 1714), daughter ofHendrik van den Bergh(1573–1638) and his second wife Hieronyma Katharina Countess von Spaur (1600–1683). They had no children.
Croÿ joined the Danish army during theScanian Warand was first a volunteer officer but was relatively quickly made a colonel for his bravery. He participated in the 1676Battle of Lundand thesiege of Malmöin June 1677 when he was seriously wounded. In November of that same year, he had recovered from his injuries and was nominated governor of the city ofLandskronawhich was the main Danish stronghold during the entire war. Unfortunately, he became quite unpopular because of his grand, continental manners and was replaced byHans Wilhelm von Meerheimless than a month later.[2]
Later on, he fought with success in theAustrianarmy against theOttoman Turksand participated in both the liberation of Vienna in 1683 and the attack onBelgradein 1690. On October 18. 1692, he laid the foundation stone of thePetrovaradin Fortressand was promoted toImperialField Marshal for his services.
In 1697, he started serving the Russian Tsar,Peter the Great,and commanded his forces inLivonia(Livonia at this time formed part of Sweden and the Polish Commonwealth). He led the Russian forces in theBattle of Narvaon 20 November 1700 when he surrendered and was taken prisoner by theSwedes.
He died inReval (Tallinn)as a prisoner of war in 1702. On demand of his creditors, his body, which rested atSt. Nicholas Church,was not buried for more than 190 years, and, when mummified, was exhibited as a curiosity.[3]
References[edit]
- ^Bushkovitch 2001,p. 225
- ^N P Jensen,Den skaanske krig, Copenhagen 1900 p.320
- ^Schuyler 2004,p. 489
Bibliography[edit]
- Bushkovitch, Paul (2001).Peter the Great: The Struggle for Power, 1671-1725.Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.ISBN0-521-80585-6.
- Schuyler, Eugene (2004).Peter the Great. Part One.Kessinger Publishing.ISBN1-4179-7142-8.
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