Cardinal de la Balue
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Cardinal Jean Balue |
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|---|---|
| Cardinal-Priest | |
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| Church | Santa Susanna |
| Diocese | Evreux (1465-1467) Angers (1467-1483) Albano (1483-1491) Autun (1484-1491) Palestrina (1491) |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 4 August 1465 by Guillaume Chartier Bishop of Paris |
| Created Cardinal | 18 September 1467 by Pope Paul II |
| Rank | Cardinal Priest, then Cardinal Bishop |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1421 Basse d'Angles-sur-Langlin FR |
| Died | 5 October 1491 Ripatransone, (Ascoli Piceno) IT |
| Nationality | French |
| Residence | France, Rome |
| Occupation | courtier, politician, diplomat |
| Profession | bishop |
| Education | University of Angers, Licenciate in Law |
Jean Balue (c. 1421 – 5 October 1491) was a French cardinal and minister of Louis XI. Born without resources, he managed to climb the political ladder by exploiting connections, to whom he often did not remain loyal, and by making himself an indispensable agent of the king's purposes in a time of political disorder in France. His services were as much military as ecclesiastical, bringing him the critical task of defending the city of Paris against the King's enemies. His work as a diplomat in dealing with Duke Francis of Brittany and with Charles de France brought him the office of first minister to the King. Balue overreached himself in negotiating a treaty between the King and Charles the Bold, who had become Duke of Burgundy and was trying to recover all his family inheritance. Secret correspondence revealed that he might have been playing both sides in the negotiation, and he was arrested, and held on charges of treason from 1469 to 1481, while king and pope argued over jurisdiction. After the death of King Louis and Pope Sixtus, the new French king, Charles VIII, appointed Balue his ambassador in Rome.
He was born of very humble parentage at Angles-sur-l'Anglin in Poitou. The date of his birth is conjectured to be around 1421, based on his epitaph in Santa Prassede in Rome, in which he is said to have died as Legate of the Marches while in his seventies, Legatum agens septuagenarius gloriose obiit. The word 'septuagenarian' is somewhat elastic. Jean Balue had a brother Antoine and a brother Nicolas.
He was first patronized by the bishop of Poitiers, Jacques Juvénel des Ursins (1449–1457). By December 1457 Balue had obtained a Licenciate in law, perhaps from the University of Angers.
In 1461 Balue is still referred to as 'clericus', but by 1465 he is called a priest. These are the parameters for his date of ordination to the priesthood. Likewise in 1461 he was given the Deanship of Candé by his new patron, Bishop Jean de Beauvau of Angers.
In 1461 he became vicar-general (Grand Vicar) of the bishop of Angers, Jean de Beauvau (1447–1467), and was named a Canon of the Cathedral of Saint-Mauritius. In 1462 he accompanied Bishop de Beauvau to Rome in the embassy which was sent to present the homage of the new King of France, Louis XI, to Pope Pius II, and to engage in negotiations concerning the revocation of the Pragmatic Sanction, as well as the French claims to the Kingdom of Naples. The leader of the embassy was Bishop Jean Jouffroy of Arras, who had been named a cardinal on 18 December 1461. During this visit Balue was named a Protonotary Apostolic by the Pope. On their return to Angers, Bishop de Beauvau wanted to reward Balue with the grant of the prebend of S. Marguerite in the Cathedral Chapter, which had just fallen vacant on the death of the Dean of the Chapter. The prebend, however, was in the gift of the Chapter, not the bishop, and they protested successfully to the Pope, who granted the prebend to the Chapter's candidate on 21 January 1463. Not satisfied with the result, Balue carried an appeal to the King. In Paris he got in touch with Thibault de Vitry, a Canon of Paris who held the office of Treasurer of the Cathedral Chapter of Angers as a benefice. He was introduced to the Lieutenant-General of Paris and the Île-de-France, Charles de Melun, whose father was Governor of Champagne and Brie and Governor of the Bastille. Melun in due course presented Balue to the King. Louis XI granted letters patent on 15 September 1463 ordering the Chapter to hand over the prebend to Balue.
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