All About Royal Families

Princess Marie was born in London on 26 November 1875 as the daughter of Prince Alfred Emmanuel de Croÿ and his wife Elizabeth Mary Parnell.  She was thus a member of the House of Croÿ .  Duty When the First World War broke out in 1914, the princess was visiting a friend, Violet Cavendish-Bentinck, at the home of her mother, Mrs Louisa Scott; she immediately set out for France. She worked as a nurse, at the family home of Chateau de Bellignies, which was in use as a hospital and assisted Edith Cavell in helping allied servicemen to escape to Britain via the Netherlands.  For this she was arrested in 1915 along with Nurse Cavell and a number of others, but escaped the death penalty. At their trial in October, she asked for clemency for her fellow prisoners, claiming that she and her brother were solely responsible. She was condemned to ten years' hard labour, and sent to a prison at Siegburg in Germany.  The Kaiser, Wilhelm II , offered to free her, but she declined b...

When Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, founded in 1430 the Order of the Golden Fleece, he granted members of his court the title knight. One of them was Antoine I de Croÿ, Count of Porcéan. This Antoine I de Croÿ, also called Antoine le Grand, was the eldest son and heir of Jean I de Croÿ. The de Croÿ family became important during the rule of the Burgundian Dukes. They were actively involved in the difficult politics of France, Spain, Austria and of course the Low Countries. A noble history Jean I de Croÿ Jean served two dukes of Burgundy:  Philip the Bold and  John the Fearless . Jean I de Croÿ married a wealthy heiress: Marie de Craon. In 1397 Jean acquired the lordship of Chimay, which would become the main seat of the de Croÿ family. Later he was appointed governor of Artois. He was Grand Bouteiller of the King of France. Jean and two of his sons were killed at the  Battle of Agincourt on 25 October 1415. Antoine I Le Grand...