François de La Rochefoucauld (8 December 1558 – 14 February 1645) was a French

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

and an "important figure in the French

Counter Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

church".Yale University Press review of Bergin's book

Life

François de La Rochefoucauld was born 8 December 1558, the second of four sons of Charles de La Rochefoucald, Count of Randan, and Fulvie Pico della Mirandola, and the nephew of Jean de La Rochefoucald, abbot of Marmoutier. When François was three years old, his father was killed at the Siege of Rouen and the family returned to the household of Queen Caterina de Medici of France. La Rochefoucauld attended the Collége de Marmotier, in Paris and then the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

Collège de Clermont In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

(later renamed Lycée Louis-le-Grand by

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 ...

) in Paris from 1572–1579. In 1569 he was named Vicar general to Cardinal Louis de Lorraine de Guise in the abbey of Tournus.

Bishop

On 29 July 1585 he was appointed

bishop of Clermont The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Clermont (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Claromontana''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Clermont'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the department of Puy-d ...

, though he needed special

Papal The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

dispensation for not meeting all the usual

canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical example ...

criteria. On 27 September 1585, he received the minor orders was ordained a priest, and consecrated bishop on 6 October 1585.

Cardinalate

La Rochefoucauld was elevated to

in 1607. He was appointed Cardinal-Priest of

San Callisto San Callisto ( en, Saint Callixtus, la, S. Calixti) is a Roman Catholic titular church in Rome, Italy, built over the site of Pope Callixtus I's martyrdom (c. AD 222). The original building dates from the time of Pope Gregory III (r. 731–741), w ...

on 1 February 1610 at the age of 51,"Cardinals Created by Paul V"
GCatholic.org shortly before moving to the See of Senlis. From September 1618 until 6 February 1632 he was Grand

Almoner An almoner (} ' (alms), via the popular Latin '. History Christians have historically been encouraged to donate one-tenth of their income as a tithe to their church and additional offerings as needed for the poor. The first deacons, mentioned ...

of France, and during this period was named papal commissioner for the reform of the old religious orders in France on 8 April 1622. He was President of the Royal Council from 1622 until his replacement by Cardinal Armand Richelieu in 1624. He served as

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

Sainte-Geneviève Saint Genevieve or Sainte-Geneviève may refer to: * Saint Genevieve (419/422–512), the patron of Paris * Saint Geneviève de Loqueffret (10th century), a local saint from Loqueffret, Brittany Buildings * Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, a li ...

between 1619 and 1644. In February 1619,

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

appointed de La Rochefoucauld to Sainte-Geneviève in an effort to mitigate the effects of previous

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

s. The canons had been lax and Cardinal Rochefoucauld selected Charles Faure to follow out his wishes for reform. By 1635, La Rochefoucauld had tired of the cardinalate, and perhaps of the politics of the Church at that time, and wished to end his life not as a cardinal but as a simple member of the Jesuits. He communicated his desire to resign the cardinalate and enter the Jesuits to the current General of the Society, Father Muzio Vitelleschi. Vitelleschi obtained the consent of

Cardinal-Nephew A cardinal-nephew ( la, cardinalis nepos; it, cardinale nipote; es, valido de su tío; pt, cardeal-sobrinho; french: prince de fortune)Signorotto and Visceglia, 2002, p. 114. Modern French scholarly literature uses the term "cardinal-neveu'". ...

Antonio Barberini Antonio Barberini (5 August 1607 – 3 August 1671) was an Italian people, Italian Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Reims, Archbishop of Reims, military leader, patron of the arts an ...

, but

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As po ...

turned down the request. La Rochefoucauld remained a cardinal until the end of his life at 86 years of age, on 14 February 1645, at his old abbey at Sainte-Geneviève. Father Vitelleschi took the cardinal's Jesuit vows on his deathbed. La Rochefoucauld was buried in a Jesuit habit in the chapel of Saint Jean-Baptiste, but his heart was deposited in the church of a Jesuit college. In his testament, the cardinal had left not only his books but also his heart to the Collège de Clermont.

References

Sources

Review of ''Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld:Leadership and Reform in the French Church'', by Joseph Bergin

External links

St. GenevièveHistory of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Rochefoucauld, Francois de 1558 births 1645 deaths Bishops of Clermont Bishops of Senlis Counter-Reformation 17th-century French cardinals Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni French Jesuits 16th-century French Roman Catholic bishops