Jean II de Croy

The seventh son of Jean I de Croix and Maria de Crans, and the fourth of the survivors.

He began military service in the reign of the Burgundian Duke Jean the Fearless , as the squire of Philip the Good ^{[1] [2]} .

In 1422, on behalf of the Duke, he took over the city of Saint-Ricchier ^[1] . In 1429, together with the sirs of Brimot and Châtillon, unsuccessfully defended the Chateau-Thierry from the troops of Joan of Arc . He was knighted by the Duke of Bedford on the Battlefield of Senlis, where he distinguished himself and was wounded in the leg ^[3] .

When creating the Order of the Golden Fleece in January 1430 in Bruges , together with his elder brother Antoine de Croy, he was among the first 24 knights ^{[3] [2]} .

In the same year, together with his brother and a detachment of 8,000 people, he repelled an attack by liars on Namur, where he then became governor ^[3] .

In 1433 he was honored, along with Count Neversky and Agnes Burgundy, Countess de Clermont, to be the recipient of the baptism of the son of the Duke - the future Karl the Brave ^[2] .

In the same year, he commanded the vanguard of the Burgundy army, who marched from Flanders to Burgundy, to stop the advance of the forces of Charles VII , devastating the duchy ^{[3] [2]} .

In 1433/1434, Jean de Croix succeeded Guillaume de Lalen as great bali and captain-general Hainaut ^{[4] [5]} .

On October 21, 1435, the Épernay garrison surrendered the city to him for 2,000 gold salutes ( saluts d'or ), which Jean de Croix forced to pay the inhabitants of Reims ^[3] .

The following month, he was sent by the ambassador to the French king to ratify the Arras Treaty , held on December 11 in Tours ^[3] . Prior to this, he participated in preliminary negotiations with the French in Nevers ^[2] .

The horrors of war led to popular outrage in Amiens , which was brutally crushed by de Croye. The following year, the duke gathered an army to besiege Calais , but the Flemish militias refused to serve longer than they were supposed to, and went home, ignoring Philip's requests. At the same time, they accused de Croig, one of the inspirers of this campaign, contrary to the interests of Flanders, in receiving money from the British. As a result, Jean had to flee from the angry soldiers and secretly make his way to his governorship in Hainaut ^[6] .

Soon he had to convene all the nobility of the province, and all military men liable to repel the attacks of the flayers , who marked their predatory raids by devastations and fires. With great difficulty, thanks to the reinforcements sent by the Duke of Burgundy, by 1439 it was possible to block the path of the robber armies ^[7] .

In 1438, after the capture of Crotoy , Jean de Croix, together with the lords de Brimoeux and de Noyel, collected the ban and the arjerban of Picardy for the siege of the citadel, where the British settled. Having erected a bastide opposite the fortress, he placed six or seven hundred shooters there, but the communal militia fled at the news of the approach of a significant English army, which John Talbot led from Rouen . Three Burgundian lords hastily lifted the siege and fled the camp with the remnants of the troops ^[3] .

In 1448 he participated in the embassy to the king in Paris, to settle the differences between France and Burgundy ^[7] . In May 1451, together with Jacques de Lalen, he was sent as ambassador to the kings of France and Aragon to discuss plans for a crusade against the Turks ^[3] .

Upon returning from the mission, he took, together with the Count de Saint-Paul , command of the troops of the counties of Namur and Luxembourg, assembled in 1452 to fight the Ghent uprising ^[8] .

In the campaign of 1453, the city of Grammon was stormed, then released the besieged rebels of Oudenaarde . Commanding heavily armed horsemen and shooters of the county of Hainaut, he made a significant contribution to the victory in the bloody Le Havre battle on July 22, 1453 ^[7] .

In the same year he replaced Cornelius of Burgundy , who died in this battle as governor of the Duchy of Luxembourg, conquered by the Burgundians in 1443. He organized the defense against attacks undertaken by the garrison of Thionville , one of the cities of the King of Sicily ^{[3] [7]} .

In 1454, he was among the seniors who swore a pheasant . Going to the Reichstag in Regensburg , Philip the Good left Jean as part of the council attached to the young Count de Charolais ^[9] .

In 1456, he expelled detachments of German mercenaries who plundered Luxembourg ^[4] . In the same year, Jean de Croy, who began to be called Senor de Chimet around this time, was sent to France at the head of the embassy, ​​who presented the duke's explanation of the asylum to Dauphin Louis on November 27 in Saint-Semfortien d'Ozon and tried to reconcile the king with his son ^{[10] [9]} .

Another similar mission was carried out in 1458, as a representative of the Duke of Burgundy in Vendome at the trial of the Duke of Alanson , in the pardon of which Philip the Good was very interested ^{[4] [9]} .

In 1459, together with the Duke and Lady von Ravenstein, he was a baptist at the baptism of Joashen of France, the eldest son of the Dauphin, who was born on July 27 in Namur . At this time, he returned from the embassy to Italy to the Mantua Cathedral , where he traveled with the Duke of Cleves and other lords to discuss the crusade and conflicts with France ^{[4] [2]} .

In 1462, he was sent to Louis XI complaining about the usurpation of sovereign rights committed by this king (Louis demanded that all vassals, including the Duke of Burgundy, provide assistance against Edward IV , and Philip, who refused to bring homage for his possessions, protested this claim) ^[9] .

According to Georges Châteletin , the French king threw seigneur de Chimet in the heat of the day: “What kind of man is he, this duke of Burgundy? Is he of a different nature, or of a different metal than all the other princes and lords of the kingdom? ”Jean de Croy, whom the Burgundian chronicler calls“ an eloquent and wise knight, ”answered this:“ Yes, sire, he is from another metal, for he defended and supported you against the will of King Charles, your father, and against the opinions of all those who opposed you in the kingdom, and not a single prince or seigneur dared do anything about it ” ^{[4] [11]} .

Louis was unable to object to this and retired to his chambers. The Count of Dunois , surprised by the similar liberties of the speeches of the Burgundian envoy, asked de Croy how he dared to speak to the sovereign in this way? Senor de Chimet found an answer to this, saying: “If I were even fifty leagues from here, and knew that the king only intended to turn such words to me, he would hasten to return and would say the same to him” ^{[ 12]} .

In 1464, after the death of Pius II , who called into question the Crusade, Jean de Croy spoke against the expedition on the advice of the Duke, and his opinion outweighed the arguments of Bishop Tourne, who insisted on the collection of troops ^[13] .

In 1465 he was appointed atel and governor of Ata .

With the advent of Karl the Bold, almost the entire de Croy family fell into disgrace, as the new duke accused the clan of treacherous relations with France. In addition to the role that Jean and Antoine played in concluding an agreement that returned the cities of the Somme to the king of France, there were rumors that Senor de Chimet did not mind changing the position of governor of the county of Namur to the sovereign ruler of this province ^[11] .

Antoine the Great, Jean de Croy and his son Philippe de Chievren fled to France, but the next year, Senor de Chimet was forgiven. In 1473, in Bruges, Karl the Courageous elevated the land of Chime to the rank of county, acquired by Jean from the lord de Maureuil. The letter of accusation stated that this was done in reasoning of his actions during the period of exile ^{[14] [13] [11]} .

Jean de Croy died in Valenciennes, and was buried in Chime in a collegiate church, in the chapel of Saint Barbara ^{[14] [13]} .

Wife (11/20/1428): Maria de Lalen (1405–20.01.1474), Dame de Chievren, daughter of Simon III (VI) de Lalen, Senor de Chievren, and Isabo de Barbanson

Children:

• Philippe de Croy (11.1434-18.09.1482), Count de Chimet. Wife (contract 9.02.1453): Walburga von Moers und Saarveden (1440-1483), Countess von Moers, daughter of Count Vincent von Moers and the Palatine Graf Anna Anne von Simmern
• Jacques de Croy (c. 1436-15.08.1516), Bishop and 1st Duke of Cambrai
• Michel de Croy (d. 4.07.1516), seigneur de Sampi. Wife: Elizabeth van Rotselar (d. 1529), Mrs. Van Perveis and Duffel, daughter of Jan van Rotselara and Clemence de Buschaux
• Olivier de Croy (up. 1465). John Knight
• Jacqueline de Croy . Husband (10/7/1463): Jean IV de Nelle, senor d'Opémon (d. After 1475)
• Isabo de Croy . Husband (10/7/1463): Philippe de Wavren (d. 1500)
• Jeanne de Croix , abbess at the Cordelier Monastery in Paris
• Catherine de Croy . Husband (formerly 08.15.1475): Adrien de Brimoeux (d. 1515), son of Guy de Brimoeux . Killed by Marignano
• Antoine de Croix (d. Minors)
• Charles de Croy (d. Minors)
• Jean de Croy (d. Juvenile)
• Jeanne de Croy (d. Juvenile)

• Bury Adels-Torn. Maison de Croy, étude héraldique, historique et critique. - Bruxelles: Société belge de librairie, 1894. [1]
• Courcelle J.-B.-P., de . Croy // Histoire généalogique et héraldique des pairs de France. T. VIII. - P .: Arthus Bertrand, 1827. , pp. 53-56 [2]
• Guillaume H. Croy (Jean de) // Biographie nationale de Belgique. T. IV. - Bruxelles: H. Thiri, 1873. , coll. 559-562
• Nobiliaire des Pays-Bas et du comté de Bourgogne. TI - Gand: F. et T. Gyselinck, 1865. , p. 576
• Père Anselme . Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de France. TV - P .: Companie des Librairies, 1730. , p. 651
• Vegiano J.-Ch.-J. de. Supplement au Nobiliaire des Pays-Bas et du comté de Bourgogne, 1420-1555. - Louvain: Jean Jacobs, 1775, p. 164 [3]

• Armorial des Chevaliers de la Toison d'Or (Fr.) . Date of treatment July 5, 2016.
• CHEVALIERS DE LA TOISON D'OR - MAISON DE BOURGOGNE (HOUSE OF BURGUNDY) (French) . Date of treatment July 5, 2016.