Birth. Ca. 1345 (1), castle of Cramaud, parish of Biennac, near Rochechouart, diocese of Limoges, France. Second of the three sons of Pierre de Cramaud, squire of Biennac, and Mathilde (or Marthe) de Sardène, from Salignac. His two brothers were Pierre and Aimery. He was called the Cardinal Rémois.

Education. Initially, he studied in Orléans; later in Paris, where he obtained a licentiate in law in 1369 and a doctorate in 1375. He achieved a reputation as an excellent canonist.

Early life. Écolâtre of the cathedral of Orléans. Master of requests of King Charles VI of France, December 21, 1380; at the same time, he was named chancellor of Jean de France, duke of Berry, brother of the king of France. The duke of Berry named him judge and conservator of three Jewish sénéchaussées of Languedoc on June 16, 1382. Abbot commendatario of the monastery Notre-Dame la Grande in Poitiers. Canon of the chapter of the church of Saint-Martin de Tours, April 16, 1388. He signed the matrimonial act of the duke of Berry with Jeanne, countess of Auvergne and Bourgogne on June 5, 1389.

Episcopate. Elected bishop of Agen, May 30, 1382. Consecrated (no information found). Transferred to the see of Béziers, August 7, 1383; took possession of the see by procurator, September 2, 1383; entered the see in a solemn ceremony on May 16, 1384. Transferred to the see of Poitiers, November 24, 1385. Promoted to the metropolitan see of Sens by Antipope Clement VII on May 27, 1390; the transfer did not take place. Named patriarch of Alexandria and administrator of Avignon, March 17, 1391; occupied the former see until July 2, 1409; occupied the latter post until September 19, 1391. Named perpetual administrator of Carcassone by Antipope Benedict XIII on September 19, 1391; occupied the post until July 2, 1409. He endeavored for the extinction of the schism in the Assembly of the Clergy in Paris from December 17, 1394 until February 2, 1395; he was named president of the assembly. In 1395, the doctors of the University of Paris deputized him to go to King Charles VI of France in Perpignan to make the monarch see the need to suppress the activities of Antipope Benedict XIII. From July to November 1395, he went, with other delegates, to England to convince King Richard III of the need to adopt the via cessionis to end the schism. The following year, 1396, he went to Aragón y Castilla, for the same purpose, in an embassy in which Gilles Deschamps, future cardinal, also took part; they returned in September of that year. In March 1398, he participated in another Assembly with Emperor Wenceslas, Kings Charles VI of France and Charles III of Navarre, and the princes and premier seigneurs of the realm; he was invited to sit at the table with the three monarchs; the king and the bishops of France deputized Patriarch Cramaud to go to Marseille to ask Antipope Benedict XIII to abdicate; the mission was unsuccessful; he wrote a treatise on the schism demonstrating the need to refuse obedience to the antipope, on May 22, 1398. King Charles VI convoked an assembly of numerous prelates and doctors, which was opened by Patriarch Cramaud with a discourse in French explaining all what had happened since the death of Antipope Clement VII and concluding with the refusal of obedience to Antipope Benedict XIII; a second assembly, celebrated in July, decided to suspend all the benefices and the exercise of authority of the antipope; two commissaries were sent by the assembly to convey to the antipope what had been resolved; Antipope Benedict XIII received them and indicated that he intended to die "a pope". In May 1400, he was sent to the Diet of Frankfurt; and in October of that year, to Venice. In June 1401, he was sent to the Diet of Metz. Another Assembly of the Clergy met between November 1406 and January 1407; it named Patriarch Cramaud head of an embassy to Antipope Benedict XIII and Pope Gregory XII, to ask them to submit their resignations; the patriarch met the antipope on May 10, 1407 and the pope on the following month of July; all the negotiations were fruitless. Participated in the Council of Pisa, which was opened on March 26, 1409; he was its second president, after Cardinal Gui de Malesec; he announced the deposition of Pope Gregory XII and Antipope Benedict XIII on June 5. Promoted to the metropolitan see of Reims by the new Antipope Alexander V on July 2, 1409; he took possession of the see the following December 15. After the death of Antipope Alexander V on May 3, 1410, Archbishop Cramaud continued in the obedience of Pisa, allying himself to Antipope John XXIII.