Georges d'Amboise
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Georges d'Amboise (1460 – May 25, 1510) was a French
Biography
Early years
Georges d'Amboise was born at the family castle in Chaumont-sur-Loire.
He was only fourteen when his father procured for him the
In 1498 the duc d'Orléans mounted the throne as
Italian Wars
His foreign policy was animated by the aim of increasing French power in Italy by the conquest of the Milanese territories, in which he can be seen as the continuator of the policies of Étienne de Vesc. On 9 February 1499, he signed a treaty with Venice to which Pope Alexander VI adhered. He accompanied Louis and entered with him into Milan 6 October 1499; he was charged with organizing that province under French control, then returned to France in November. After the revolt of March 1500 in favor of Ludovico Sforza, the cardinal was appointed lieutenant general; he retook the duchy of Milan and sent Sforza to France as a prisoner. He made a triumphal entrance into Lyon on 23 June and received from Louis XII the countship of Lomello. The Cardinal returned to Italy at the beginning of 1501 for the attempted conquest of Naples; he went to Trent as ambassador in October 1501.
His administration in France was, in many respects, well-intentioned and useful. Having the good fortune to serve a king who was both economical and just, he was able to diminish the imposts, to introduce order among the soldiery, and above all, by the ordinances of 1499, to improve the organization of justice. He was also zealous for the reform of the church, and particularly for the reform of the monasteries; and it is greatly to his credit that he did not avail himself of the extremely favorable opportunities he possessed of becoming a pluralist.[1]
He regularly spent a large income in charity, and he labored strenuously to stay the progress of the plague and famine which broke out in 1504.[1]
Construction of the Butter Tower
The Butter Tower of Rouen Cathedral was erected in the early 16th century. d'Amboise had authorised the burning of butter instead of oil, which was scarce, in lamps during Lent, collecting monies of six deniers Tournois from each diocesan for this permission.[2] A bell for the tower was cast in 1501 and named for George d'Amboise. It cracked in 1786 and was melted down for cannon during the French Revolution.[3][4]
Aspirations for the Papacy
On the death of
On 4 December 1503 Cardinal d'Amboise received as compensation the title of papal legate for life in France and of Avignon.[5]
League of Cambrai
He was one of the negotiators of the disastrous Treaty of Blois (1504), and in 1508 of the League of Cambrai against Venice. In 1509 he again accompanied Louis XII into Italy, but on his return he was seized at the city of Lyon with a fatal attack of gout in the stomach. He died there on 25 May 1510. His body was removed to Rouen; and a magnificent tomb, on which he is represented kneeling in the attitude of prayer, was erected to his memory in the cathedral of that town. Throughout his life he was an enlightened patron of letters and art, and it was at his orders that the Château de Gaillon near Rouen was built.[1]
The town of Amboise owes much of its importance to the renown of Georges d'Amboise, whose forebears, however, forfeited the château whence they derived their name.
His nephews
Popular culture
His capacity as an administrator was such that he is believed to be the original "Georges" of the now-obsolete catchphrase "Laissez faire à Georges" (English: "Let George do it").[6] The idiom apparently first appears in French in the mid-17th century, but its relationship to the 20th-century American saying "Let George do it" is most likely coincidental.[7][8]
Notes and references
- ^ a b c d e f g Isaac 1911, p. 796.
- ISBN 0-448-22976-5.
- ^ "The vanity bell of the Tour de Beurre, at Rouen Cathedral". Normandy Then and Now. 23 June 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
- ^ "La médaille commémorative de la". www.rouen-histoire.com. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
- ^ Miranda, Salvador. "Amboise, Georges I d' (1460-1510)". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Florida International University Libraries. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
- ^ "Laissez faire à Georges - RuedesFables.net". Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
- ^ Mieder, Wolfgang (2013). ""Laissez faire á Georges" and "Let George do it". A Case of Paremiological Polygenesis" (PDF). Retrieved 17 November 2017.
- ^ "Page:The American Language.djvu/324 - Wikisource, the free online library". en.wikisource.org. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
Sources
- Bellesrives, Léonce de (1853). Le Cardinal Georges d'Amboise: ministre de Louis XII (in French). Limoges: Barbou frères.
- Bottineau-Fuchs, Yves (2005). Georges 1er d'Amboise 1460-1510: Un prélat normand de la Renaissance (in French). Rouen: Editions PTC. ISBN 978-2-906258-90-7.
- Doucet, R. (1957). "France under Charles VIII and Louis XII". In G. R. Potter (ed.). The New Cambridge Modern History: I. The Renaissance 1493–1520. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 293–4, 302–3, 307.
- Le Gendre, Louis (1724). Vie du Cardinal d'Amboise, premier ministre de Louis XII, avec un parallèle des cardinaux célèbres qui ont gouverné des Estats par Louis Le Gendre (in French). Rouen: Machuel.
Attribution:
- public domain: Isaac, Jules (1911). "Amboise, Georges d'". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 796–797. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the