Charles de Croÿ was a bishop of the See of Tournai

Roman Catholic Diocese of Tournai

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tournai, also called , is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in Belgium. The diocese was formed in 1146, by the splitting of the diocese of Noyon and Tournai that had existed since the 7th century. It is now suffragan of the archdiocese of...

 in present-day Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 from 1524 until 1564.

Charles was born in 1506 as a member of the House of Croÿ

House of Croÿ

The House of Croÿ is an international family of European mediatized nobility which held a seat in the Imperial Diet from 1486, and was elevated to the rank of Imperial Princes in 1594...

. He was a nephew of William de Croÿ

William de Croÿ

William II de Croÿ, Lord of Chièvres , later Duke of Sora and Arce, Baron of Roccaguglielma William II de Croÿ, Lord of Chièvres (1458 – 28 May 1521) (also known as: Guillaume II de Croÿ, sieur de Chièvres in French; Guillermo II de Croÿ, señor de Chièvres, Xevres or Xebres in Spanish;...

, Lord of Chièvres (1458-1521) and a brother of William de Croÿ, Archbishop of Toledo (1498-1521). He matriculated at the University of Louvain

Catholic University of Leuven

The Catholic University of Leuven, or of Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. The university was founded in 1425 as the University of Leuven by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull by Pope Martin V.During France's occupation of Belgium in the...

 in 1523. Among Charles' teachers were Adrianus Barlandus

Adrianus Barlandus

Adriaan van Baarland or Adrianus Barlandus was a Dutch historian of merit. He was born in the village of Baarland, from which he took his name. He studied at Ghent and Leuven, at which latter place he was elected professor of eloquence in 1526, after a stay of some years in England...

, Jacobus Latomus

Jacobus Latomus

Jacobus Latomus was a Flemish theologian, a distinguished member of the Faculty of Theology at the Catholic University of Leuven. Latomus was a theological adviser to the Inquisition, and his exchange with William Tyndale is particularly noted...

, and Johannes Driedo.

A biography of Pierre Cotrel, vicar-general of the Diocese of Tournai from 1497 to 1545, mentions Charles, as do materials describing a château he built in the village of Moorsel

Moorsel

Moorsel is a village in the Denderstreek in the province East Flanders in Belgium, a deelgemeente of the city of Aalst. The village belongs to a league of neighboring villages, which call themselves the Faluintjesgemeenten...

 in 1546.

He was Abbot of Affligem Abbey

Affligem Abbey

Affligem Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in the municipality of Affligem, Flemish Brabant, Belgium, twelve miles to the north-west of Brussels...

between 1521-1564.