Robert le Coq (died 1373) was a French bishop and councillor. Le Coq was born in Montdidier. He belonged to a bourgeois family of

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and John II John II may refer to: People * John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499) * John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672) * John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302) * John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318) * John II Komnenos (1087–1 ...

appointed him master of requests, and in 1351, a year during which he received many other honors, he became

bishop of Laon The diocese of Laon in the present-day département of Aisne, was a Catholic diocese for around 1300 years, up to the French Revolution. Its seat was in Laon, France, with the Laon Cathedral. From early in the 13th century, the bishop of Laon ...

. At the opening of 1354 he was sent with the cardinal of Boulogne,

Peter I, Duke of Bourbon Peter I of Bourbon (Pierre Ier, Duc de Bourbon in French; 1311 – 19 September 1356) was the second Duke of Bourbon, from 1342 to his death. Peter was son of Louis I of Bourbon, whom he also succeeded as Grand Chamberlain of France, and Ma ...

, and Jean VI, count of Vendôme, to

Mantes Mantes-la-Jolie (, often informally called Mantes) is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region of north-central France. It is located to the west of Paris, from the centre of the capital. Mantes-la-Jolie is a subpre ...

to treat with

Charles the Bad Charles II (10 October 1332 – 1 January 1387), called Charles the Bad, was King of Navarre 1349–1387 and Count of Évreux 1343–1387. Besides the Pyrenean Kingdom of Navarre, Charles had extensive lands in Normandy, inherited from his fathe ...

, king of

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

, who had caused the constable, Charles d'Espagne, to be assassinated, and from this time dates his connection with this king. At the meeting of the estates which opened in Paris in October 1356 le Coq played a leading role and was one of the most outspoken of the orators, especially when petitions were presented to the dauphin

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

, denouncing the bad government of the realm and demanding the banishment of the royal councillors. Soon, however, the credit of the estates having gone down, he withdrew to his diocese, but at the request of the bourgeois of Paris he speedily returned. The king of Navarre had succeeded in escaping from prison and had entered Paris, where his party was in the ascendant; and Robert le Coq became the most powerful person in his council. No one dared to contradict him, and he brought into it whom he pleased. He did not scruple to reveal to the king of Navarre secret deliberations, but his fortune soon turned. He ran great danger at the estates of Compiègne in May 1358, where his dismissal was demanded, and he had to flee to Saint-Denis, where Charles the Bad and

Étienne Marcel Étienne Marcel (between 1302 and 131031 July 1358) was provost of the merchants of Paris under King John II of France, called John the Good (Jean le Bon). He distinguished himself in the defence of the small craftsmen and guildsmen who made u ...

came to find him. After the death of Marcel, he tried, unsuccessfully, to deliver Laon, his episcopal town, to the king of Navarre, and he was excluded from the amnesty promised in the treaty of Calais (1360) by King John to the partisans of Charles the Bad. His temporalities had been seized, and he was obliged to flee from France. In 1363, thanks to the support of the king of Navarre, he was given the bishopric of Calahorra in the kingdom of

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

, which he administered until his death in 1373.

References

Sources

* *L. C. Douet d'Arcq (1841), "Acte d'accusation contre Robert le Coq, évêque de Laon", in ''Bibliothèque de l'école des Charles, 1st series'', 2(1) pp. 350–387. doi:10.3406/bec.1841.451590 *R. Delachenal, "La Bibliotheque d'un avocat du XIV siecle, inventaire estimatif des livres de Robert le Coq", in ''Nouvelle revue historique de droit franâais et étranger'', 1887. {{DEFAULTSORT:Coq, Robert le Year of birth unknown 1373 deaths People from Montdidier, Somme Bishops of Laon 14th-century French Roman Catholic bishops 14th-century peers of France