Croy Castle - Aarle-Rixtel

To this day, it is unknown exactly when Croy Castle was built, but the origin of the name is clear. In 1472, Rutger van Erp owned a small castle with a farm on Strijp, measuring approximately 20 bunder. It is likely that the original castle consisted of the current north-south wing, with the round tower on the northwest corner.

In 1477 Rutger van Erp sold the castle to Jacob van Croy, a member of the famous Van Croy family, which was part of the Burgundian court nobility. Jacob was born in 1436 at Chimay Castle (Belgium) as the son of Jean II de Croy, Prince of Chimay. Jacob was, among other things, Domheer of Cologne and Bishop of Kamenrijk (present-day Cambrai, northern France). He only remained the owner of the castle for 17 years, because in 1494 he sold it to Cornelis I of Bergen.

It is probably Cornelis who had the castle expanded to its current size. He also had the impressive gatehouse built. After that, the castle was inhabited by various noble families. The last noble family to inhabit the castle was the Van der Brugghen family.