René de Birague
René de Birague | |
---|---|
Bishop of Lavaur Chancellor of France | |
In office | 1580-1583 |
Orders | |
Created cardinal | 21 February 1578 by Pope Gregory XIII |
Rank | Cardinal-priest |
Personal details | |
Born | 1506/7 |
Died | 24 November 1583 Paris |
Previous post(s) |
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René de Birague (Italian: Renato da Birago; c. 1506–24 November 1583) was an Italian then French noble, lieutenant-general, chancellor and cardinal during the latter Italian Wars and the French Wars of Religion. Born to a prominent Milanese family in 1506, his family sided with the French, and as such when Milan was occupied by Emperor Charles V they were forced to flee to French controlled Piedmont. Declared a criminal in 1536, his Milanese estates would be seized. Birague entered French service in the 1540s, being elevated to premier président of the Parlement of Turin, which in combination with his service under the French governor Marshal Brissac from 1550, afforded him immense administrative power in the French occupied territories. In 1562 with the French withdrawal from the Piedmont, he departed his post in the Parlement, however the following year would see him elevated in one of the remaining French held towns, as leader of the Supreme Council of Pignerol.
Moving into French service in France, he served as a diplomat in securing
That same year, on the death of his wife, Birague began to consider a career in the church, taking up the post of
Early life and family
Family
Birague came from a family of the Milanese nobility which had defected to French service during the reign of
With the occupation of Milan by Emperor Charles V, many of the Birago retreated to Piedmont safely away from the Emperor. On 5 May 1536 the emperor declared that the nobility who had fled from Milan would be charged as criminals unless they returned immediately. Birague refused to return and as such his share of the Ottobiano fief was forfeit.[2]
He married Valentine Balbiani, from the town of Chieri, with whom he would stay until her death in June 1572.[4] Together they would have a daughter, who was married several times.[5]
Reputation and wealth
In 1577 he threatened the students of Poitiers, who he suspected had kidnapped his dog. He had a reputation for immense wealth, and he kept much of it with Italian bankers. Indeed the king entered contract with him on occasion for funds. He maintained a luxurious residence in Paris, from which he could entertain the court, before selling it to
Reign of Henri II
Italian Wars
During the latter Italian Wars, Birague provided support to the French war effort in Italy from his base in Turin where he was the premier président in the Parlement, an office he would hold until the French vacation of Turin in 1562.[2] He wrote to Cardinal Lorraine with the ambition of keeping the French court appraised of developments on the peninsula. He had since 1547 been maître des requêtes of Vizelle.[6] In 1550, Marshal Brissac assumed authority as lieutenant-general of the Piedmont. To support him in this strategic office, Birague took charge of the civil administration of those areas under French control, while Vimercato provided local military leadership.[7] The following year he was involved in the negotiations that saw the surrender of Chieri to the French, after a siege by Brissac.[2]
Heresy
Birague used his authority in Piedmont to suppress and persecute the Waldensians, this aroused the concern of the council of Bern, which wrote to Brissac to protest Birague's actions. Brissac did little in response, as Birague's actions were in agreement with the policy of the king.[2]
Reign of Charles IX
Pignerol
As the crisis of the civil wars deepened with the fall of many major towns to the Protestant rebels, it was decided that it would serve the crowns interests well to secure the friendship of the
Lyonnais
In 1565, Birague was elevated to the position of lieutenant-general of the
Chancellor
His policy of conciliation and tolerance of Protestantism increasingly falling out of favour, Michel de l'Hôpital surrendered the seals of the chancellorship in September 1568, unwilling to use them to renew the civil wars. In his place as keeper of the seals, the king turned to Morvillier a more reliable protégé of Catherine.[13] That same year another fidèle of Catherine entered the royal council, Birague.[14] Morvillier in turn returned the seals in 1570, disgusted at the king's willingness to release the duke of Lorraine from the fealty he owed the crown of France for the Duchy of Bar. Birague became garde des sceaux, giving him the de facto powers of chancellor, he was formerly appointed to the office of chancellor in 1573 upon the death of Hôpital.[15][14][16][2] As chancellor he would not exert the same influence on the administration as his predecessor Hôpital had.[1] Some commentators criticised his administration due to the poor relations it enjoyed with the Parlement of Paris.[5]
Birague was selected by Catherine to play an important role in the negotiations for a marriage between
Massacre of Saint Bartholomew
Shortly after the marriage celebrations of Navarre and Marguerite, there was an
The death of his wife in 1572 had pushed Birague into a new direction for his career, and he considered taking up holy orders. In October 1573 he became
Malcontents
Faced with the
Reign of Henri III
Fifth civil war
Montmorency's other brother
With Henri returning from
Alençon
At the advent of Henri's reign, Birague was one of eight members of the conseil privé et d'état, alongside Morvillier, Cheverny and Bellièvre among others.[30] Birague advised the recently returned king to keep his brother Alençon and cousin Navarre under arrest to stop them from joining any rebellions, the king however allowed them to move as they pleased though under a degree of surveillance.[25] Alençon who had been flirting with joining the Malcontents since the original conspiracy, declared his hand in September 1575 and fled court to put himself at the head of the rebellion. From Dreux he laid out his manifesto, one component of which was a denunciation of the monopoly on high office enjoyed by Italians, who should be expelled from the kingdom, he mentioned Birague specifically.[31] Recognising the danger of the situation to the crown's authority, a generous truce was agreed in November, hoping to detach Alençon from the other rebels to whom he provided considerable legitimacy.
Hatred of Italians was not restricted to the upper nobility, in July 1575, after the murder of a student in Paris by an Italian, riots broke out against the presence of Italians in the city. As the violence escalated, Birague was singled out for abuse in the pamphlets of Paris as a corrosive influence on the country.[32]
Poisoned wine
On 26 December Alençon and some friends were enjoying some wine when they became sick, keen to see conspiracy he blamed the sommelier for poisoning his wine. The mastermind of this conspiracy was to be Birague, who had formerly employed the sommelier. No evidence of poisoning was found.
As a term of the peace Henri called an Estates General, this Estates was dominated by militant Catholics who wanted to overturn the recent peace and decisively crush Protestantism. Henri, having now secured the loyalty of his brother was open to doing away with the peace that he had felt forced to make, however he required funds to fight a war. To this end Birague was sent to the Estates to deliver an address, this took the form of a harangue in which he critiqued each estate for their lack of unity and expounded on how this had caused the crises that faced the kingdom in the past decade. He blamed the poverty of the crown on the irresponsibility of previous administrations, and informed the estates that it was their duty to provide money to allow the king to rebuild the royal army.[35] His speech was the subject of mockery, due to his ineloquent presentation in comparison with the king.[5] With civil war resumed, Birague was among those dispatched again to the estates in January 1577 to beg the estates to provide more funds. The king was unable to achieve notable success in this fundraising effort.[36]
Cardinal
In 1578 Birague received appointment as Cardinal upon the recommendation of the king.[5] That same year he lost his authority as Chancellor of France when the seals were transferred to Cheverny. As was often the case with the office, though he no longer held the authority of the office, Cheverny would not succeed him as Chancellor until his death.[37] To compensate him Henri provided benefices of a value of 70,000 livres and another 30,000 livres to support his office of chancellor, despite no longer having its powers.[38] Around the same time Catherine's influence on the court began to decline. Birague and Retz would continue to loyally represent her positions on court in her absence.[39]
When the king founded his new
In the 1583 Assembly of Notables, Cheverny stood in for Birague, who would as nominal chancellor be expected to give a speech to the grandees, as Birague was on deaths door.
His fortune passed to his male relatives, as he little trusted his daughter.[5]
Sources
- Carroll, Stuart (2005). Noble Power during the French Wars of Religion: The Guise Affinity and the Catholic Cause in Normandy. Cambridge University Press.
- Cloulas, Ivan (1985). Henri II. Fayard.
- Durot, Éric (2012). François de Lorraine, duc de Guise entre Dieu et le Roi. Classiques Garnier.
- Harding, Robert (1978). Anatomy of a Power Elite: the Provincial Governors in Early Modern France. Yale University Press.
- Holt, Mack (2002). The Duke of Anjou and the Politique Struggle During the Wars of Religion. Cambridge University Press.
- Jouanna, Arlette (1998). Histoire et Dictionnaire des Guerres de Religion. Bouquins.
- Jouanna, Arlette (2007). The St Bartholomew's Day Massacre: The Mysteries of a Crime of State. Manchester University Press.
- Knecht, Robert (2014). Catherine de' Medici. Routledge.
- Knecht, Robert (2016). Hero or Tyrant? Henry III, King of France, 1574-1589. Routledge.
- OCLC 53276621.
- Roelker, Nancy (1968). Queen of Navarre: Jeanne d'Albret 1528-1572. Harvard University Press.
- Salmon, J.H.M (1975). Society in Crisis: France during the Sixteenth Century. Metheun & Co.
- Shimizu, J. (1970). Conflict of Loyalties: Politics and Religion in the Career of Gaspard de Coligny, Admiral of France, 1519–1572. Geneva: Librairie Droz.
- Sutherland, Nicola (1962). The French Secretaries of State in the Age of Catherine de Medici. The Athlone Press.
- Thompson, James (1909). The Wars of Religion in France 1559-1576: The Huguenots, Catherine de Medici and Philip II. Chicago University Press.
References
- ^ a b Salmon 1975, p. 218.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Jouanna 1998, p. 727.
- ^ Jouanna 1998, p. 1482.
- ^ Jouanna 1998, pp. 727–728.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Jouanna 1998, p. 728.
- ^ Durot 2012, p. 135.
- ^ Cloulas 1985, p. 184.
- ^ Sutherland 1962, pp. 129–132.
- ^ Harding 1978, p. 69, 134.
- ^ Harding 1978, p. 104.
- ^ Harding 1978, p. 198.
- ^ Knecht 2014, p. 96.
- ^ Thompson 1909, p. 367.
- ^ a b Carroll 2005, p. 134.
- ^ Thompson 1909, p. 425.
- ^ a b Jouanna 2007, p. 207.
- ^ Roelker 1968, p. 372, 382.
- ^ Shimizu 1970, p. 158.
- ^ Knecht 2014, p. 152.
- ^ Jouanna 2007, p. 102.
- ^ Carroll 2005, p. 136.
- ^ Thompson 1909, p. 479.
- ^ Holt 2002, p. 56.
- ^ Thompson 1909, p. 492.
- ^ a b Holt 2002, p. 46.
- ^ Holt 2002, p. 45.
- ^ Knecht 2016, p. 100.
- ^ Knecht 2014, p. 175.
- ^ Knecht 2016, p. 96.
- ^ Salmon 1975, p. 219.
- ^ Holt 2002, p. 52.
- ^ Holt 2002, p. 49.
- ^ Holt 2002, p. 61.
- ^ Knecht 2014, pp. 181–184.
- ^ Holt 2002, pp. 77–78.
- ^ Holt 2002, pp. 82–83.
- ^ Salmon 1975, p. 67, 218.
- ^ Jouanna 1998, p. 1998.
- ^ Knecht 2016, p. 139.
- ^ Knecht 2016, p. 223.
- ^ Sutherland 1962, p. 247.