Achille de Harlay de Sancy, CO (1581,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

26 November 1646), the son of

Nicolas de Harlay, seigneur de Sancy Nicolas de Harlay, seigneur de Sancy (1546–1629) was a French soldier, diplomat, and gem collector. Life Although de Harlay belonged to the Protestant branch of the family of Harlay, he adopted the Catholic religion in 1572 during the massa ...

, was a French diplomat and

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...

who was noted as a linguist and orientalist. He entered Church service, becoming the

Bishop of Saint-Malo The former Breton and French Catholic Diocese of Saint-Malo ( la, Dioecesis Alethensis, then la, Dioecesis Macloviensis, label=none) existed from at least the 7th century until the French Revolution. Its seat was at Aleth up to some point in th ...

Life

Harlay was educated for a career in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, but, though he remained a friend to his fellow pupil Armand-Jean du Plessis, who became Cardinal Richelieu, he resigned his vocation to become a soldier after the death of his elder brother in 1601. For several years, from 1610 to 1619, he was

French Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire France had a permanent embassy to the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1535, during the time of King Francis I and Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. It is considered to have been the direct predecessor of the modern-day embassy to the Republic of Tu ...

, where he amassed a fortune of some 16,000 sterling by doubtful means, and was

bastinado Foot whipping, falanga/falaka or bastinado is a method of inflicting pain and humiliation by administering a beating on the soles of a person's bare feet. Unlike most types of flogging, it is meant more to be painful than to cause actual injury ...

ed by order of Sultan Mustafa I for his frauds. One of his secretaries, named Lefevre, wrote a manuscript ''Voyage de M. de Sancy, ambassadeur pour le Roi en Levant, fait par terre depuis Raguse jusques à Constantinople l'an 1611''. On his return to France, Harlay joined the

French Oratory The Congregation of the Oratory of Jesus and Mary Immaculate (french: Société de l'Oratoire de Jésus et de Marie Immaculée, la, Congregatio Oratorii Iesu et Mariæ), best known as the French Oratory, is a society of apostolic life of Cathol ...

and became a priest. When

François de Bassompierre François de Bassompierre (12 April 157912 October 1646) was a French courtier. The son of Christophe de Bassompierre (1547–1596), he was born at the castle of Haroué in Lorraine. He was descended from an old family which had for generations ...

was sent to England in 1627 to regulate the differences between Queen

Henrietta Maria of France Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She wa ...

and her husband King

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after hi ...

, Harlay de Sancy was attached to the queen's ecclesiastical household, but the king secured his dismissal. Harlay was named the Bishop of Saint-Malo in 1631, for which he was consecrated in January 1632. He served in this post until his resignation on 20 November 1646. He died six days later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harlay De Sancy, Achille 1581 births 1646 deaths Clergy from Paris French nobility Linguists from France French orientalists Ambassadors of France to the Ottoman Empire 17th-century French diplomats French Oratory Bishops of Saint-Malo 17th-century French Roman Catholic bishops French male non-fiction writers