Cardinal Jean de Lorraine |
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Cardinal-Deacon | |
Church | S. Onofrio, Rome |
Diocese | Metz |
Orders | |
Created Cardinal | 28 May 1518 by Pope Leo X |
Personal details | |
Born | April 9, 1498 Bar-le-Duc, Lorraine |
Died | May 18, 1550 Neuvy-sur-Loire, France |
(aged 52)
Nationality | French |
Parents |
René II, Duke of Lorraine Phillipa of Guelders |
Coat of arms |
Jean de Lorraine (April 9, 1498 – May 18, 1550) was the third son of the ruling Duke of Lorraine, and a French cardinal, who was (at one time or another) archbishop of Reims (1532-1538), Lyon (1537-1539), and Narbonne (1524-1550),bishop of Metz, and Administrator of the dioceses of Toul, Verdun, Thérouanne, Luçon, Albi, Valence, Nantes and Agen (1538-1550). He was a personal friend, companion, and advisor of King Francis I of France. Jean de Lorraine was the richest prelate in the reign of Francis I, as well as the most flagrant pluralist. He is one of several cardinals known as the Cardinal de Lorraine.
Born in Bar-le-Duc, Jean was the sixth child of twelve, of René II, Duke of Lorraine and his wife Phillipa of Guelders, sister of Charles, Duke of Guelders. He was a younger brother of Antoine, Duke of Lorraine and Claude, Duke of Guise. His younger brother, François, Comte de Lambesc, died in the Battle of Pavia in 1525. In 1520 his mother retired to the Convent of S. Claire du Pont-à-Mousson, where she became a professed nun.
In 1500 baby Jean succeeded Cardinal Raymond Peraudi as Coadjutor of his uncle Henri de Vaudemont-Lorraine, Bishop of Metz. The Chapter of the Cathedral gave its consent, on 3 November 1500, and Pope Alexander VI gave his consent in 1501. The Cardinal was compensated for his trouble with the monastery of S. Mansu in Toul. The purpose of such a strange arrangement was the desire of Duke René to keep the bishopric of Metz in family hands. Bishop Henri formally resigned the See of Metz on 16 July 1505 in favor of his nephew Jean, but, due to Jean's extreme youth, Henri continued as Administrator until his own death on 20 October 1505. From that point the Cathedral Chapter, whose Dean was the Bishop of Toul, assumed responsibility for the administration of the diocese, until Jean de Lorraine became twenty in 1518, with Jean receiving one-third of the episcopal revenues. Spiritual functions were in the hands of the Bishop of Nicopolis, Conrad de Heyden, O.Cist., suffragan of Metz.