Pierre de la Forest or Petrus Foresta, (1305–1361) was a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Bishop of Tournai The Diocese of Tournai () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. The diocese was formed in 1146, upon the dissolution of the Diocese of Noyon and Tournai, which had existed since the 7th century ...

Bishop of Paris The Archdiocese of Paris (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is one of twenty-three archdioceses in France. The original diocese is traditionally thought to have been create ...

Archbishop of Rouen The Archdiocese of Rouen (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Rothomagensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Rouen'') is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of France, the Archbishop of Rouen's ecclesi ...

and Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was also

Chancellor of France The Chancellor of France (), also known as the Grand Chancellor or Lord Chancellor, was the officer of state responsible for the judiciary of the Kingdom of France. The Chancellor was responsible for seeing that royal decrees were enrolled and ...

Biography

His family

Pierre de la Forest was born in 1305 in La Suze to Philip de la Forest and Marguerite de la Chapelle, sister of Geoffrey,

Bishop of Le Mans The Diocese of Le Mans (Latin: ''Dioecesis Cenomanensis''; French: ''Diocèse du Mans'') is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese is now a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo, but had previ ...

. He had four brothers, and his cousin Jean was Abbot of La Couture in

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

His ecclesiastical career

De la Forest obtained a license in utroque (

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

and civil law) and was then professor of law at the Universities of Orleans and

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

. In 1334, he became

of Saint-Pierre de la Couture in Le Mans. Shortly afterwards, he obtained the

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

ry of Montfort and the deanery of

Ernée Ernée () is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France. It is named after the river Ernée, which runs through the town and is situated about halfway between the towns of Laval and Fougères. Ernée is home to a purpose-bui ...

. He also became a lawyer in

Parlement Under the French Ancien Régime, a ''parlement'' () was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 ''parlements'', the original and most important of which was the ''Parlement'' of Paris. Though both th ...

.Vincent Tabbagh ( pref. Hélène Millet), Fasti Ecclesiae Gallicanae 2 Diocese of Rouen: Prosopographical directory of bishops, dignitaries and canons of the dioceses of France from 1200 to 1500 , Turnhout, Brepols ,1998, 447 p. ( ISBN 2-503-50638-0 ) , p. 103-105 Whilst serving as Archdeacon of Montfort, de la Forest was elected bishop of Le Mans on the death of his uncle in 1347, Pope

Clement VI Pope Clement VI (; 1291 – 6 December 1352), born Pierre Roger, was head of the Catholic Church from 7 May 1342 to his death, in December 1352. He was the fourth Avignon pope. Clement reigned during the first visitation of the Black Death (1 ...

did not recognize the election, and appointed in his place Jean de Craon, Archdeacon of

Passais Passais (; also: ''Passais-la-Conception'') is a former Communes of France, commune in the Orne Departments of France, department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Passais Villages.Duke of Normandy In the Middle Ages, the duke of Normandy was the ruler of the Duchy of Normandy in north-western France. The duchy arose out of a grant of land to the Viking leader Rollo by the French king Charles the Simple in 911. In 924 and again in 933, N ...

in October of that year. In July 1349, he was appointed

.History of the chancellors of France and the keepers of the seals of France archive by François du Chesne ( Forest and Sous Jean II p. 344 and 345 (Brétigny), Maçon p. 450, seals p. 452, Renault p. 487, L.XIII holds the seals p. 734) At about the same time, de la Forest was appointed

. In 1350, he was made executor of the King of France's will. In December of that year, he was transferred to the Bishopric of Paris. In September 1351, he was sent to attempt to conclude a peace treaty with the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. In February 1352, he was again transferred, this time to the Archbishopric of Rouen. He acquired La Loupelande in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

and was ennobled for his service in 1354.Tablets of Themis, Volume 1. (p. 19) Pierre de la Forest was sent on two notable diplomatic missions during his career: to

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

(1354) and to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

(1356). During the riots led by Éttienne Marcel in 1358, he sought to preemptively fire Marcel, as well as Simon de Buci who was the ambassador to the English, but the regent

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 ''* ...

did not take his advice. Pope

Innocent VI Pope Innocent VI (; 1282 – 12 September 1362), born Étienne Aubert, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 December 1352 to his death, in September 1362. He was the fifth Avignon pope and the only one with the ...

invested Pierre de la Forest as

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

during the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistor ...

of 23 December 1356. He entered the Papal curio in Avignon in 1357. Innocent VI then appointed him

Papal Legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

and then to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

He wrote his will on 22 June 1361 and died of the Plague in

Villeneuve-lès-Avignon Villeneuve-lès-Avignon (; Provençal: ''Vilanòva d’Avinhon'') is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. It can also be spelled ''Villeneuve-lez-Avignon''. History In the 6th century the Benedictine abbey of St André was fou ...

on 27 June 1361. His heart was buried there, while his body was buried in the choir of

Le Mans Cathedral Le Mans Cathedral ( French: ''Cathédrale St-Julien du Mans'') is a Catholic church situated in Le Mans, France. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Julian of Le Mans, the city's first bishop, who established Christianity in the area around the b ...

near the tomb of his uncle. A statue of Pierre de la Forest was also placed in the choir.

References

{{Reflist 1305 births 1361 deaths 14th-century French cardinals Chancellors of France