Charles of Guise

Charles de Lorraine (17 February 1524 – 26 December 1574),Duke of Chevreuse, was a French Cardinal, a member of the powerful House of Guise. He was known at first as the Cardinal of Guise, and then as the second Cardinal of Lorraine, after the death of his uncle, John, Cardinal of Lorraine (1550). He was the protector of Rabelais and Ronsard and founded Reims University. He is sometimes known as the Cardinal de Lorraine.

Born in Joinville, Haute-Marne, Charles of Guise was the son of Claude, Duke of Guise and his wife Antoinette de Bourbon. His older brother was François, Duke of Guise. His sister Mary of Guise was wife of James V of Scotland and mother of Mary, Queen of Scots. He was made Archbishop of Reims in 1538, Cardinal on 27 July 1547 (the day after the coronation of king Henry II of France, at which he had officiated), and Coadjutor Bishop of Metz (for his uncle Cardinal Jean de Lorraine) on 16 November 1547. His uncle died on 10 May 1550. He resigned the see of Metz on 22 April 1551, and was succeeded as Administrator by Cardinal Robert de Lenoncourt.

The efforts of this cardinal to enforce his family's pretensions to the Countship of Provence, and his temporary assumption, with this object, of the title of Cardinal of Anjou were without success. He failed also when he attempted, in 1551, to dissuade Henry II from uniting the Duchy of Lorraine to France. He succeeded, however, in creating for his family interests certain political alliances that occasionally seemed in conflict with each other. He coquetted for instance on the one hand with the Lutheran princes of Germany, and on the other his interview (1558) with the Cardinal de Granvelle (at Péronne) initiated friendly relations between the Guises and the royal house of Spain.

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