Charles Eugène de Croÿ

19th-century drawing of de Croÿ's mummy at St. Nicholas' Church, Tallinn

Charles Eugène de Croÿ (pronounced [ʃaʁl øʒɛn də kʁwi]; Russian: Карл Евгений де Круа) (1651–1702) was a field marshal and duke from the House of Croÿ.

His father was Jacques Philippe de Croÿ-Roeulx (1614–1685), a descendant of Jean III of Croy-Roeulx, son of Antoine le Grand. His mother was Johanna Catharina van Bronckhorst, daughter of Field Marshal Johann Jakob, Count of Bronckhorst and Anholt.

He married Wilhelmina Juliana van den Bergh, daughter of Hendrik van den Bergh, who was 13 years his senior. They had no children. He participated in the 1676 Battle of Lund on the Dano-Norwegian side.

Later on, he fought with success in the Austrian army against the Ottoman Turks and participated in both the liberation of Vienna in 1683 and the attack on Belgrade in 1690. On October 18. 1692, he laid the foundation stone of the Petrovaradin Fortress and was promoted to Imperial Field Marshal for his services.

In 1697, he started serving the Russian Tsar, Peter the Great, and commanded his forces in Livonia (Livonia at this time formed part of Sweden and the Polish Commonwealth). He led the Russian forces in the Battle of Narva on 20 November 1700 when he surrendered and was taken prisoner by the Swedes.

He died in Reval (Tallinn) as a prisoner of war in 1702. On demand of his creditors, his body, which rested at St. Nicholas' Church, was not buried for more than 190 years, and, when mummified, was exhibited as a curiosity.

References

Bibliography

• Bushkovitch, Paul (2001). Peter the Great: The Struggle for Power, 1671-1725. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-80585-6.
• Schuyler, Eugene (2004). Peter the Great. Part One. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1-4179-7142-8.