Jean de Bilhères

Jean Bilhères de Lagraulas or Jean Villier de la Grolaie, or Groslaye etc., also called the Cardinal of Saint-Denis,(died 1499) was a French Roman Catholic abbot, bishop and from 1493 cardinal. He died as French ambassador in Rome, and is remembered for commissioning Michelangelo in 1498 to sculpt his Pietà for St. Peter's Basilica.

Jean Bilhères de Lagraulas was born in Gascony in 1435 or 1439, the son of a noble family. His father was the seigneur of Lagraulas, Camicas and, probably, Billère.

Jean Bilhères de Lagraulas entered the Order of Saint Benedict at a young age. In 1473, he became Abbot of Pessan Abbey in Pessan.

He served as a royal counselor to Louis XI of France. Following the 1473 death of John V, Count of Armagnac, John II of Aragon claimed control of the Quatre-Vallées, which were also claimed by John V's sister. Louis XI sent Abbot Bilhères to the region, and he successfully convinced the Quatre-Vallées to repudiate John II.

In gratitude for his service, Louis XI of France had him elected Bishop of Lombez on July 5, 1473. He occupied this see until two days before his death. The king also named him temporary administrator of the Abbey of Saint-Denis. He was later unanimously elected as Abbot on May 12, 1474. This displeased Pope Sixtus IV, who had wanted Cardinal Guillaume d'Estouteville to become the abbot, so the pope initially withheld his approval, but eventually relented in summer 1475.

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