A Noble Nomad?

The Residential System of Charles of Croÿ (1560-1612)

Maekelberg, Sanne

Charles III of Croÿ, Duke of Aarschot, was one of the highest noblemen of the Low Countries and a foremost patron of the arts and architecture, a military commander and heir to the illustrious Croÿ dynasty. In 1595 he inherited a vast collection of domains and residences, for which he developed extensive and ambitious renovation plans. Using a wide range of sources specific to architectural history and history of the nobility, combined with tools from the digital humanities, this book presents for the first time an in-depth study of Charles of Croÿ’s patronage and architectural programme and how these were used to express status and pageantry to the contemporary observer.