Michel de l'Hôpital (or l'Hospital) (1507 – 13 March 1573) was a French statesman.

Biography

De l'Hôpital was born near Aigueperse in

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label= Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Au ...

(now

Puy-de-Dôme Puy-de-Dôme (; oc, label= Auvergnat, lo Puèi de Doma or ''lo Puèi Domat'') is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the centre of France. In 2019, it had a population of 662,152. His father, who was physician to the Constable de Bourbon, sent him to study at

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

. At the age of eighteen he was driven to leave Toulouse for

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

by the poor fortunes of the family patron. He studied law and letters for about six years in Padua, after which he joined his father at

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...

. He also studied law in Bologna. When Charles of Bourbon died, he went to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in the suite of

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

. For some time he held a position in the papal court at Rome, but about 1534 he returned to France, and became an advocate. His marriage, in 1537, procured for him the post of counsellor to the

parlement A ''parlement'' (), under the French Ancien Régime, was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 parlements, the oldest and most important of which was the Parlement of Paris. While both the modern Fr ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. He held this office until 1547, when he was sent by Henry II on a mission to Bologna, where the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described a ...

was sitting; after sixteen months of wearisome inactivity there, he chose to be recalled at the end of 1548. L'Hôpital then held the position of chancellor to the king's sister,

Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry Margaret of Valois, Duchess of Berry (French: ''Marguerite de Valois'') (5 June 1523 – 15 September 1574) was Duchess of Savoy by marriage to Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy. She was the daughter of King Francis I of France and Claude, Duche ...

. In 1553, on the recommendation of the Cardinal of Lorraine (

Charles de Guise Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne (26 March 1554 – 3 October 1611), or Charles de Guise, was a French nobleman of the house of Guise and a military leader of the Catholic League, which he headed during the French Wars of Religion, follow ...

, brother of

Mary of Guise Mary of Guise (french: Marie de Guise; 22 November 1515 – 11 June 1560), also called Mary of Lorraine, was a French noblewoman of the House of Guise, a cadet branch of the House of Lorraine and one of the most powerful families in France. Sh ...

, regent of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

), he was named master of the requests, and afterwards president of the ''

chambre des comptes Under the French monarchy, the Courts of Accounts (in French ''Chambres des comptes'') were sovereign courts specialising in financial affairs. The Court of Accounts in Paris was the oldest and the forerunner of today's French Court of Audit. ...

'' (treasury). In 1559, sickly fifteen-year-old

Francis II of France Francis II (french: François II; 19 January 1544 – 5 December 1560) was King of France from 1559 to 1560. He was also King consort of Scotland as a result of his marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, from 1558 until his death in 1560. He ...

(married to the young

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...

) succeeded to the throne; Mary's uncles François, Duc de Guise, and

may have held much of the true power in this period, and did much to persecute the French Protestants and reduce the power of the Bourbon and Condé princes. In an attempt to balance their power, the queen-mother

Catherine de' Medici Catherine de' Medici ( it, Caterina de' Medici, ; french: Catherine de Médicis, ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Florentine noblewoman born into the Medici family. She was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King ...

sent word to the more even-handed l'Hôpital in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...

(where he had accompanied the princess Margaret, now duchess of Savoy) that he had been chosen to succeed

François Olivier François Olivier, Sieur de Leuvillé (-30 March 1560) was Chancellor of France from 1545 to his death in 1560. One of l'Hôpital's first acts after assuming the duties of

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

on 1 April 1560 was to cause the Parliament of Paris to register the

Edict of Romorantin The Edict of Romorantin, was a decree designed to alter the prosecution of heretics promulgated by the king of France Francis II in May 1560. The decree came in the wake of the Amboise conspiracy in which many Protestant Huguenots had participa ...

, of which he is sometimes erroneously said to have been the author. Designed to protect heretics from the secret and summary methods of the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

, it certainly had his sympathy and approval. In accordance with the consistent policy of inclusion and toleration by which the whole of his official life was characterized, he suspended all proceedings against

heretics Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

pending the reformation of the church by a general or national council. He then induced the council to call the assembly of notables, which met at

Chateau Fontainebleau Palace of Fontainebleau (; ) or Château de Fontainebleau, located southeast of the center of Paris, in the commune of Fontainebleau, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The medieval castle and subsequent palace served as a residence f ...

in August 1560 and agreed that the States-General (a council of clergy, nobles and commons) should be summoned. The

Estates General of 1560-1 The Estates General of 1560-1 was a national meeting of the three estates of France, the clergy, nobility and commoners convoked by Francis II, though he would die before it could begin. It represented the first meeting of the estates general in ...

met in December, shortly after the death of Francis II and the succession of his younger brother Charles IX. The Edict of Orleans (January 1561) soon followed, followed by the Edict of July and finally, after the

Colloquy of Poissy The Colloquy at Poissy was a religious conference which took place in Poissy, France, in 1561. Its object was to effect a reconciliation between the Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots) of France. The conference was opened on 9 September in the ...

, the famous

Edict of St. Germain The Edict of Saint-Germain, also known as the Edict of January, was a landmark decree of tolerance promulgated by the regent of France, Catherine de' Medici, in January 1562. The act represented the culmination of several years of slowly libera ...

was issued in January 1562. It was the most liberal ever obtained by the Protestants of France other than the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...

. Its terms, however, were not carried out. l'Hôpital's dismissal had been urged for some time by the papal legate

Ippolito d'Este Ippolito (I) d'Este ( hu, Estei Hippolit; 20 March 1479 – 3 September 1520) was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal, and Archbishop of Esztergom. He was a member of the ducal House of Este of Ferrara, and was usually referred to as the Car ...

, and during the beginning of the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four mil ...

which were the inevitable result of the massacre of

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

s in

Wassy Wassy () is a commune in the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France. Its population, as of 2019, is 2,819. Wassy has been twinned with the German town of Eppingen in north-west Baden-Württemberg since 1967. History On 1 March 1562, ...

(on 1 March 1562), he found it necessary to retire to his estate at Vignay (near

Étampes Étampes () is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southwest from the center of Paris (as the crow flies). Étampes is a sub-prefecture of the Essonne department. Étampes, together with the neighboring c ...

), from which he did not return until after the pacification of Amboise (19 March 1563). It was by his advice that thirteen-year-old Charles IX was declared of age at

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population ...

in August 1563, a measure which in actuality increased the power of the queen-mother

as she battled the machinations of the Guise family. It was also under l'Hôpital's influence that the royal council in 1564 refused to authorize the publication of the anti-Protestant acts of the

, on account of their inconsistency with the Gallican liberties. In 1564–1566 he accompanied the young king on an extended tour through France; and in 1566 he was instrumental in the promulgation of an important edict for the reform of abuses in the administration of justice. In the meantime, Catherine, ever more independent of counsel, continued to pursue her ambitions for her children. However, her use of the religious strains of the times to play one faction against another gradually got out of her control. The renewal of the religious war in September 1567 was at once a symptom and a cause of diminished influence of l'Hôpital, and in February 1568 he obtained from Catherine his letters of discharge, which were registered by the parlement on 11 May. His titles, honors and emoluments were retained by him for the remainder of his life. Afterward, he lived a life of unbroken seclusion at Vignay. His only subsequent public appearance was on the occasion of a ''mémoire'' which he addressed to the king in 1570 under the title ''Le but de la guerre et de la paix, ou discours pour exhorter Charles IX à donner la paix à ses sujets'' ("The goal of war and peace, or a speech exhorting Charles IX to give peace to his subjects"). Though not exempt from considerable danger, he survived the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (a wave of mob violence against the

s starting on 24 August 1572). His death took place either at Vignay or at Bellébat on 13 March 1573.

Montaigne Michel Eyquem, Sieur de Montaigne ( ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), also known as the Lord of Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularizing the essay as a lit ...

referred to both him and François Olivier as being "men extraordinarily sufficient, and endowed with no vulgar virtue ..great Chancellor of France".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:LHopital, Michel de 1500s births 1573 deaths People from Puy-de-Dôme Chancellors of France French people of the French Wars of Religion Participants in the Council of Trent University of Padua alumni University of Bologna alumni 16th-century French lawyers Court of Francis II of France Court of Charles IX of France

Biography

See also

References