Pierre Cauchon
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His Excellency, The Most Reverend Pierre Cauchon | |
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Bishop of Lisieux (29 January 1432 – 15 December 1442) | |
Laicized | 1457 |
Personal details | |
Born | 1371 |
Died | 18 December 1442 Rouen, Normandy | (aged 71)
Nationality | French |
Pierre Cauchon (1371 – 18 December 1442) was a French Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Beauvais from 1420 to 1432. He was a strong partisan of English interests in France during the latter years of the Hundred Years' War. He was the judge in the trial of Joan of Arc and played a key role in her execution. The Catholic Church overturned his verdict in 1456.
Background
Cauchon came from a middle-class family in
Early career
By 1404, Cauchon was
In 1407, Cauchon was part of a mission from the crown of France to attempt to reconcile the
Upon Cauchon's return, he found Paris in turmoil over the assassination of the
It is also known that Cauchon had been the dean of the University of Paris, where he had studied, and that, by 1423, he became Henry VI of England's personal counsellor.[1]
The choice of the Burgundian party
The
Alliance with the English
Bishop Cauchon spent most of the next two years in service to the king. He returned to his diocese with the deaths of
The English
Cauchon played a leading role in negotiations to gain Joan of Arc from the Burgundians for the English. He was well paid for his efforts. Cauchon claimed jurisdiction to try her case because Compiègne was in his diocese of Beauvais.
The trial of Joan of Arc
The goal of Joan of Arc's trial was to discredit her, and by implication to discredit the king she had crowned. Cauchon organized events carefully with a number of ecclesiastics, many of whom came from the pro-English
New appointment
Cauchon could not hope to go back to Beauvais, which had fallen under French control. He was interested in a vacancy at the archbishop's palace at Rouen. Facing heartfelt opposition, he gave up that project. In December, Cauchon accompanied the Cardinal of Winchester to crown the boy king Henry VI of England as King of France in Notre-Dame in Paris. Finally, he obtained an appointment as Bishop of Lisieux (29 January 1432 – 15 December 1442).
When constable
Cauchon divided his later years between his new diocese and a residence in Rouen. His last action was to finance construction of a vault at the cathedral of Saint-Pierre de Lisieux. Cauchon died abruptly of heart failure at the age of 71 on 15 December 1442 in Rouen. He was buried in Lisieux Cathedral beneath the vault he had patronised. There is not any marking that indicates the exact location of his burial site, but his skeleton was re-discovered during a renovation of the pavement of the vault in 1931. When the renovation works were finished, no markings were added.
According to George Bernard Shaw in his 1923 play Saint Joan, Cauchon's body was later dug up and thrown into a sewer; in fact it was Jean d'Estivet, one of the promoters of the trial, who was found dead in a sewer.
See also
References
- ^ "Procès de condamnation - les juges, les greffiers, l'huissier".
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol.II (15th ed.). 1984. p. 650.
External links
- Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. .