François de Sourdis

François d'Escoubleau de Sourdis (25 October 1574 – 1628) was a French Catholic prelate, the Archbishop of Bordeaux and founder of the Irish College there in 1603.

He was born at Châtillon-sur-Sèvre in Poitou, the eldest son of François d'Escoubleau and Isabeau Babou de la Bourdasière. His father was seigneur of Jouy, Aunau and Montdoubleau, marquis d'Alluye, and governor of Chartres, and François himself held the title of Count of La Chapelle.

As the eldest son, he was not initially destined for a career in the church. He studied humanities at the Collège de Navarre in Paris, fought in the siege of Chartres (1591) and was engaged to marry Catherine Hurault de Cheverny, daughter of the royal chancellor Philippe Hurault. During a visit to Rome, he met Federico Borromeo and Filippo Neri and decided to enter the church. He was named commendatory abbot of Preuilly, of Montréal, and of Aubrac (1597-1600) and created cardinal priest in the consistory of 3 March 1599 by Pope Clement VIII.

With the aid of a dispensation for being under the required age, he was elected archbishop of Bordeaux and primate of Aquitane on 5 July 1599. He was consecrated on 21 December 1599 at St. Germain des Près, Paris, by Cardinal François de Joyeuse, archbishop of Toulouse, and received the cardinal's hat almost exactly one year later (20 December 1600).

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