Everything about Charles Cardinal Of Lorraine totally explained
» For homonyms, see Charles of Lorraine
Charles of Guise, Cardinal of Lorraine, (
February 17 1524 -
December 26 1574),
Duke of Chevreuse, was a
Cardinal and member of the powerful
House of Guise. He was known at first as the Cardinal of Guise, and then as the second Cardinal of
Lorraine, after the death of his uncle,
John, Cardinal of Lorraine (1550). He was the protector of
Rabelais and
Ronsard and founded the
University of Reims-Champagne-Ardenne(External Link
).
Biography
Born in
Joinville, Haute-Marne, Charles of Guise was the son of
Claude, Duke of Guise and his wife
Antoinette de Bourbon. His older brother was
François, Duke of Guise. His sister
Mary of Guise was wife of
James V of Scotland and mother of
Mary I of Scotland (Mary Stuart). He was made
Archbishop of Reims in
1541 or
1538 (?), Cardinal on
July 27,
1547 (the day after the coronation of king
Henry II of France, at which he'd officiated), and
Bishop of Metz on
May 18,
1550, in succession to his uncle. He resigned the see of Metz on
April 22,
1551.
The efforts of this cardinal to enforce his family's pretensions to the
Countship of Provence, and his temporary assumption, with this object, of the title of
Cardinal of Anjou were without success. He failed also when he attempted, in 1551, to dissuade Henry II from uniting the
Duchy of Lorraine to France. He succeeded, however, in creating for his family interests certain political alliances that occasionally seemed in conflict with each other. He coquetted for instance on the one hand with the Lutheran princes of Germany, and on the other his interview (1558) with the
Cardinal de Granvelle (at Péronne) initiated friendly relations between the Guises and the royal house of Spain.
Thus the man who, as the Archbishop of Reims, crowned successively Henry II,
Francis II and
Charles IX had a personal policy which was often at variance with that of the court. This policy rendered him at times an enigma to his contemporaries. The chronicler
Pierre de L'Estoile accused him of great duplicity;
Brantôme spoke of his "deeply stained soul, churchman though he was", accused him of skepticism and claimed to have heard him occasionally speak half approvingly of the
Confession of Augsburg. He is also often held to be responsible for the outbreak of the
Huguenot wars, and seems now and then to have attempted to establish the
Inquisition in France. Many libelous pamphlets aroused against him strong religious and political passions. From 1560 at least twenty-two were in circulation and fell into his hands; they damaged his reputation with posterity as well as among his contemporaries. One of them, "La Guerre Cardinale" (1565), accuses him of seeking to restore to the Holy Roman Empire the three former
prince-bishoprics of
Metz,
Toul and
Verdun, in Lorraine, which had been conquered by Henry II. A discourse attributed to
Théodore de Bèze (1566) denounced the pluralism of the cardinal in the matter of
benefices.
Under Charles IX, the Cardinal of Guise constantly alternated between disgrace and favour. In 1562, he attended the
Council of Trent, possessing the full confidence of his royal master. Louis de Saint-Gélais, Sieur de Lansac, Arnaud du Ferrier, president of the
Parlement of Paris, and Guy de Faur de Pibrac, royal counsellor, who represented Charles IX at the Council from 26 May, 1562, towards the end of the year were joined by the Cardinal Lorraine. He was instructed to arrive at an understanding with the Germans, who proposed to reform the church in head and members and to authorize at once Communion under Both Kinds, prayers in the vernacular and the marriage of the clergy.
In the reform articles which he presented (2 January 1563), he was silent on the last point, but petitioned for the other two.
Pius IV was indignant, and the cardinal denounced Rome as the source of all abuses. In the questions of precedence which arose between him and the Spanish ambassador, Count de Luna, Pius IV decided for the latter. However, in September 1563, on a visit to Rome, the cardinal, intent perhaps on securing the pope's assistance for the political ambitions of the Guises, professed opinions less decided
Gallican. Moreover, when he learned that the French ambassadors, who had left the council, were dissatisfied because the
legates had obtained from the council approval of a project for the "reformation of the princes", which the latter deemed contrary to the liberties of the
Gallican church, he endeavoured, though without success, to bring about the return of the ambassadors, prevailed on the legates to withdraw the objectionable articles and strove to secure the immediate publication in France of the decrees of the council; this, however, was refused by
Catherine de' Medici.
When in 1566
François de Montmorency, royal governor of Paris and his personal enemy, attempted to prevent the cardinal from entering the capital with an armed escort, the ensuing conflict and the precipitate flight of the cardinal gave rise to an outcry of derision which obliged him to retire to his diocese for two years. In 1570 he aroused the anger of Charles IX by inducing Duke Henri, the eldest of his nephews, to solicit the hand of
Margaret of Valois, the king's sister, and in 1574 he vexed the king still more when, through spite, he prevented the marriage of this princess with the
king of Portugal. His share in the negotiations for the marriage between Charles IX and
Elizabeth of Austria, and for that of Margaret Valois with the
prince of Navarre, seems to have won him some favor only briefly, for Catherine de' Medici knew only too well what a constant menace the personal policy of the Guises constituted for that of the king. Shortly after the death of Charles IX, the cardinal appeared before his successor,
Henry III, but died soon afterwards, at Avignon.
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