Ernst Bogislaw von Croÿ

Ernst Bogislaw von Croÿ (26 August 1620, Finstingen (Fénétrange) – 6 February 1684, Königsberg) was a Lutheran Administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Cammin and official in the service of Brandenburg-Prussia.

Ernst Bogislaw was born in Finstingen as the son of Ernst von Croÿ (1588–1620), prince and duke of Croÿ, and Anna of Pomerania (1590–1660), daughter of Bogislaw XIII, Duke of Pomerania. Ernst was the son of Charles Philippe de Cröy, Marquis d’Havré (1549–1613), who was the only son of Philippe II of Croÿ by his second wife, Anna of Lorraine.

Although the House of Croÿ was Roman Catholic, his parents marriage contract called for a Protestant education for their children. A few weeks after Ernst Bogislaw was born, his father fell ill and died on 7 October 1620 near Oppenheim while campaigning during the Thirty Years' War for Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor. Hostile to her husband's family, Anna fled with Ernst Bogislaw to Stettin (Szczecin), the capital of the Duchy of Pomerania.

Ernst Bogislaw began studying at the University of Greifswald in 1634. His uncle, Bogislaw XIV, Duke of Pomerania, granted him lordship over Naugard (Nowogard) and Massow (Maszewo). When Bogislaw XIV, the last duke of the House of Pomerania, died in 1637, Ernst Bogislaw inherited the late ruler's personal possessions.