(1) 1. AMBOISE, Georges I d' (1460-1510)

Birth. 1460, Chaumont-sur-Loire, near Amboise, France. Of a family of princes. Son of Pierre d'Amboise, seigneur of Chaumont, and Anne de Bueil. He had eight sisters and nine brothers, of which, four were bishops.Uncle of Cardinals François Guillaume de Castelanu de Clermont-Ludéve (1503); Louis II d'Amboise (1506); and Georges II d'Amboise (1545). Cousin of Cardinal René de Prie (1506). Relative of Cardinal Georges d'Armagnac (1544). He is called the Cardinal of Rouen.

Education. Obtained a doctorate in canon law (no further educational information found).

Early life. Rector of the church of Saint-André-de-Gailliac, diocese of Albi. Protonotary apostolic. Abbot commendatario of Saint-Paul de Narbonne, January 8, 1475. Abbot commendatario of the Benedictine monastery of Grandselve, archdiocese of Tolouse, October 22, 1477; he ceded it to Louis de Narbonne on September 3, 1492. Aumonier of King Louis XI. He was named archbishop of Narbonne by the king of France on June 18, 1482 but was not confirmed by the pope; he resigned in 1483.

Episcopate. Elected bishop of Montauban, December 17, 1484; he retained his posts in commendam; occupied the see until December 2, 1491.

Priesthood. Ordained in 1484/1485. He was a friend of Duke Louis d'Orléans, whom he helped to return to the religious practice and whose divorce he prevented in 1486; he was compromised in the revolt of the duke against the regent in 1487; he was arrested and locked up in Corbeil together with the bishop of Puy; at the intervention of the pope, he was released to his nuncios in April 1488 in the castle of Meung-sur-Loire and freed in February 1489. Consecrated shortly after February 1489 and enthroned in his diocese. Sent to Switzerland in May 1491, he attended the Diet of Berne on June 1st. He took the oath of loyalty to King Charles VIII of France on September 4, 1491 and again on July 5, 1492. Promoted to the metropolitan see of Narbonne on December 2, 1491, when it vacated; transferred definitively on March 14, 1492; occupied the see until April 21, 1494. Named by King Charles VIII to the metropolitan see of Rouen, August 21, 1493; confirmed by the pope, April 21, 1494; took possession by procurator, August 7th; took the oath of obedience to the pope in Vienne on August 22nd in the hands of the bishop of Saint-Malo; enthroned in Rouen, September 21st; occupied the see until his death. Lieutenant of Normandy in the absence of Duke Louis d'Orléans, whom he joined in Italy in April 1495; he saw King Charles VIII in Asti on July 15th; returned to Normandy in January 1496 with the duke; he received the duke in Rouen on January 15, 1498. On April 1498, the duke became King Louis XII of France and appointed the archbishop first minister. He attended the consecration of the king in Reims on May 28, 1498.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of September 17, 1498; received the title of S. Sisto, September 17, 1498; from Blois, on November 4th, he thanked the pope for his promotion; the pope sent the red hat through Cardinal Cesare Borgia; Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere conferred on him the hat in Paris on December 21, 1498. In December 1498, he obtained, pour raison d'Etat, the annulment of the marriage of the king to Jeanne de Valois; the king married Anne de Bretagne in January 1499. On February 9, 1499, he signed a treaty with Venice to which the pope adhered. Engaged the French king in the conquest of the Milanese and entered with him in Milan on October 6, 1499; he was charged with organizing that province; returned to France the following November after the revolt of March 1500 and the occupation of Milan by Ludovico Sforza, the cardinal was named lieutenant general and arrived in Vercelli in April 1500; he retook the duchy and sent Sforza prisoner to France; he triumphantly entered Lyon on June 23rd and received from King Louis XII the county of Lomello; returned to Italy at the beginning of 1501 for the conquest of Naples; he went to Trent as ambassador from October 2 to 13, 1501. Named by the pope, at the instance of the French king, legate in France for a year on April 5, 1501; he entered Rouen as legate on January 2, 1502, together with two other cardinals; he was received in Paris on February 2, 1502; helped to found the Order of the Annonciades and to reform the secular and regular clergy; in May 1502, he left from Blois to Italy; he was afflicted by illness in Asti the following July; reorganized the government of Genoa, returned to France and had the bull naming him legate renewed in Lyon on October 18, 1502; they were also renewed in 1503. After the death of Pope Alexander VI, he entered Rome through the door del Popolo on September 10, 1503. Participated in the first conclave of 1503, which elected Pope Pius III. Received from the new pope, in commendam, the Benedictine monasteries of Saint-Evroult d'Ouche, diocese of Lisieux, and Saint-Pierre de Lagny, diocese of Paris. On October 13, 1503, he received again the confirmation of his legation. Participated in the conclave of 1503, which elected Pope Julius II. On December 4, 1503, the new Pope Julius II named him legate ad vitam of Avignon and confirmed ad beneplacitum his legation a latere for all France. He left Rome for France on December 8, 1503. He crowned Anne de Bretagne as queen of France on November 18, 1504 in Saint-Denis, Paris. On May 16, 155, the pope wrote him to express his joy for the recovery of King Louis XII. He presided, in May 1506, the États généraux celebrated in Plessis-lès-Tours. In December 1506, the pope confirmed his legation and created cardinals three of his relatives. In March 1507, he was named conseiller né of the Échequier of Normandy and followed the king of France to Genoa to quell the revolt. In June, 1507, attended the meeting between the French king and King Fernando of Aragón in Savona.he was in Lyon in April 1508 and in Cambrai the following November together with other plenipotentiaries and signed, on December 10, 1508, the treaty of the League of Cambrai, which made the peace between France and Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I; the pope congratulated the cardinal by brief of December 28, 1508. The following year, 1509, he was present when the French king achieved the victories of Agnadel, Brescia and Peschiera and entered with him in Milan on July 1st; the pope wanted to send him as legate to Venice, but, already ill, the cardinal returned to Lyon and then Rouen; the following year, he returned to the court in Lyon and died in that city.

Death. May 25, 1510, convent of the Celestines, Lyon; the king attended the obsequies. His remains were transferred to Rouen and buried in the choir of the metropolitan cathedral; his heart remained in Lyon.

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, III, 275-279; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max. 2 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1630, II, col. 1334; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VIII. Les cardinaux du XVIe siècle". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1936, Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1936, p. 120-121; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen II (1431-1503). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1914; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, pp. 23, 65, 195, 199 and 225; Frère, Édouard Benjamin.Funérailles de Georges d'Amboise, archevhque de Rouen, cardinal, légat du pape, ministre de Louis XII, et gouverneur de la Normandie : célebrées a Lyon et a Rouen du 25 mai au 20 juin 1510. Rouen : Impr. de Henry Boissel, 1864. (Publications / Société des bibliophiles normands ; [5]; Variation: Publications (Société des bibliophiles normands) ; 5). Contents: Notice historique et bibliographique. Procès-verbal de la séance tenue le 11 juin 1510 a l'Hotel commun de Rouen, pour régler les honneurs funéraires a rendre par la ville a mgr. le légat.-- La pompe funerale de la mort monsieur le legat faicte a lyon.-- La reception faicte en la ville et cite de Rouen du corps de feu tres reuerend pere en dieu et siegneur monseigneur Georges damboyse, legat du saint siège apostolique, et archeuesque de la dicte ville de Rouen; Janin, Françoise. Le cardinal d'Amboise, archevêque de Rouen et légat a latere (1493-1510). Paris : École nationale des chartes, 1996. Thèse; Löw, Giuseppe. "Amboise, Georges d'." Enciclopedia Cattolica. 12 vols. Città del Vaticano : Ente per l'Enciclopedia cattolica e per il Libro cattolico, 1948-1954, I, col. 983-984; Sacy, Claude-Louis-Michel de. Éloge de George d'Amboise, cardinal, archevêque de Rouen, principal ministre de Louis XII, par M. de Sacy,... Londres ; Paris : Valleyre l'aîné, 1776; Sacy, Claude-Louis-Michel de. Éloge de George d'Amboise, cardinal, archevêque de Rouen, principal ministre de Louis XII, par M. de Sacy,... Londres ; Paris : Valleyre l'aîné, 1776; .

Webgraphy. Biography by Francis Havey, in English, The Catholic Encyclopedia; images and biography, in English, The Free Library; biographical entry by Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz, in German, Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon; biography, in English, Medieval History; biographical data, in French, France Balade, sixth entry under "Les Seigneurs de Chaumont"; heliograph made by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce of his engraving, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, United States of America; his engraving, Bibliothèque Nationale de France; engraving and biography, in English, NNDB; his engraving by Charles Abraham Chasselat, artist, and C. V. Normand, engraver, The New York Public Library, New York, United States of America; engravings, portrait and arms, Araldica Vaticana; his effigy on a medal, Numismatic collection of Olomouc archiepiscopate, Czech Republic; his effigy on another medal, Numismatic collection of Olomouc archiepiscopate, Czech Republic; his tomb, metropolitan cathedral of Rouen, France, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication; his statue in his tomb, metropolitan cathedral of Rouen, France, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication; and detail of his bust, metropolitan cathedral of Rouen, France, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication.

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