William de Croÿ (archbishop)

William de Croÿ (also known as Guillaume de Croÿ in French and Guillermo de Croÿ in Spanish;)(1497–January 7, 1521) was Archbishop of Toledo from 1517–1521. He was appointed at the young age of twenty thanks to the favor of his powerful uncle William de Croÿ, one of the most important advisers to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Charles was also young in 1517 (Seventeen years old), and dependent on his advisers to run the kingdom. The appointment of the Flemish William as a Spanish archbishop proved controversial, however. The outrage at this act of patronage would be one of the many sparks of the Revolt of the Comuneros in 1520.

Death

William was injured by a fall from his horse while in Emperor Charles V's train on January 6, 1521. The Emperor's court had been at Worms, Germany at the time, and William died the next day. The news was concealed for a time while the royal authorities considered what to do, and as a result the death was only announced January 11. This date was incorrectly used as his death date when initially announced.

William de Croÿ's death provoked a clamor back in Spain, which his death was known by January 25. Antonio Osorio de Acuña, bishop of Zamora and comunero rebel, dropped his campaign in the North of Castile around Palencia to head south to Toledo and attempt to succeed William as Archbishop. The comuneros were eventually defeated, though, and Alonso III Fonseca became the new Archbishop of Toledo in 1523.

References

*cite book |last=Haliczer |first=Stephen |authorlink=Stephen Haliczer |title=The Comuneros of Castile: The Forging of a Revolution, 1475-1521 |year=1981 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |location=Madison, Wisconsin |pages=p. 138 |isbn=0-299-08500-7 |ref=Hal81
*cite book |last=Seaver |first=Henry Latimer |title=The Great Revolt in Castile: A study of the Comunero movement of 1520-1521 |origyear=1928 |year=1966 |publisher=Octagon Books |location=New York |pages=p. 234 |ref=Sea28