Robert de Croÿ

Robert de Croÿ (1500–1556) was a Prince-Bishop of Cambrai in the Holy Roman Empire.

Robert de Croÿ
Portrait of Robert de Croÿ (aged 56)
by Willem Key
ChurchCatholic
DioceseDiocese of Cambrai
SeeNôtre Dame Sainte Marie de Cambrai
Elected15 December 1519
Installed5 August 1529
PredecessorWilliam de Croÿ
SuccessorMaximilian de Berghes
Personal details
Born1500
Died(1556-08-31)31 August 1556
Cambrai, Cambrésis, Habsburg Netherlands
BuriedOld Cambrai Cathedral
ParentsHenry de Croÿ and Charlotte de Châteaubriant
Alma materLeuven University

Life

Robert was the third son of Henry de Croÿ and Charlotte de Châteaubriant. His uncle, William de Croÿ, Lord of Chièvres, was one of the most trusted councillors of the future Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. When Robert's older brother, William, resigned the see of Cambrai to mollify Castilian opposition to his appointment as an absentee Archbishop of Toledo, dynastic politics led to Robert's election as successor, even though he was not yet of canonical age.[1]

Croÿ was elected on 15 December 1519,[2] but had to complete his education before he could assume his functions. He was tutored by the Spanish humanist Juan Luis Vives, and then studied at Leuven University, partly residing at the castle of his oldest brother, Philippe, in Heverlee.[3] He only made his solemn entry into Cambrai on 13 June 1529,[3] to be installed as bishop on 5 August 1529, the day that the Treaty of Cambrai that ended the war between France and Spain was proclaimed.[1]

From 8 June to 25 August 1546 he personally participated in the deliberations of the Council of Trent.[3] In 1550 he called a synod, at which he published the Augsburg Interim in his diocese.[1] He died in Cambrai on 31 August 1556, and was buried in his cathedral.[2]

References
  1. Général Guillaume, "Croy (Robert de)", Biographie Nationale de Belgique, vol. 4 (Brussels, 1873), 566-567.
  2. Honoré Fisquet, La France pontificale (Gallia Christiana): Cambrai (Paris, Étienne Repos, 1864), pp. 230-237 on Google Books.
  3. Gérard Moreau, "Robert de Croy", in Contemporaries of Erasmus: A Biographical Register of the Renaissance and Reformation, edited by Peter G. Bietenholz and Thomas Brian Deutscher (University of Toronto Press, 2003), vol. 1, pp. 369-370.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
William de Croÿ		 Bishop of Cambrai
1519–1556		 Succeeded by
Maximilian de Berghes
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