François de Clermont-Tonnerre (1629 – 15 February 1701) was a French aristocrat and cleric. He served as the Count of Noyon,

Bishop of Noyon The former French Catholic diocese of Noyon lay in the north-east of France, around Noyon. It was formed when Saint Medardus moved the seat of the bishopric at Vermandois to Noyon, in the sixth century. For four centuries it was united with the ...

, a

pair de France The Peerage of France (french: Pairie de France) was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 in the Middle Ages. The prestigious title and position of Peer of France (french: Pair de France, links=no) was ...

and a member of the Conseil d'État.

Early life

Jean François de Clermont-Tonnerre was born in 1629.Académie française: Biography of François de Clermont-Tonnerre
/ref> He was the younger son of comte François de Clermont-Tonnerre (1601-1679) and Marie Vignier de Saint-Liebaut. He received a doctorate at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

after studying under the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Vocation

In 1694, he was appointed to replace Barbier d'Aucour at the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

and in 1695 became president of the

Assembly of the French clergy The assembly of the French clergy (''assemblée du clergé de France'') was in its origins a representative meeting of the Catholic clergy of France, held every five years, for the purpose of apportioning the financial burdens laid upon the clergy ...

. He also wrote some religious works, including a ''

Rule of Saint Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' ( la, Regula Sancti Benedicti) is a book of precepts written in Latin in 516 by St Benedict of Nursia ( AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Ru ...

'' (1687). At the time of his death, he was working on a ''Commentaire mystique et moral sur l'Ancien Testament''. He was summoned to the court of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

, who wanted to amuse himself with his excessive vanity. Clermont-Tonnerre founded a prize for poetry of 3,000

francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...

, whose topic was always to be an elegy on Louis XIV and his deeds.

Death

He died on 15 February 1701.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clermont-Tonnerre, Francois De 1629 births 1701 deaths

Members of the Académie française Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

Francois de Bishops of Noyon 17th-century peers of France 18th-century peers of France