The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church

Biographical Dictionary
Pope Pius VII (1800-1823)
Consistory of December 2, 1822 (XVII)


(85) 1. CLERMONT-TONNERRE, Anne-Antoine-Jules de (1749-1830)

Birth. January 1, 1749 (1), Paris, France. Son of Charles Henry Jules, duke of Clermont-Tonnerre, and Marie Anne Julie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil.

Education. Studied at La Sorbonne University, Paris (licentiate in theology).

Priesthood. Ordained, (no information found). Vicar general of Besançon for five years. Abbot of Monstier-en-Der, diocese of Chalons. Deputy of second order to the Assembly of the Clergy, 1772. Member of the Académie de Besançon, 1779; in his reception discourse, praising the printing press, he proclaimed Johannes Gutenberg a prime benefactor of mankind.

Episcopate. Elected bishop of Chalons-sur-Marne, February 25, 1782; he had been presented by the king of France on December 23, 1781. Consecrated, April 14, 1782, Dominican novitiate, Paris, by Alexandre-Angélique de Talleyrand-Périgord, archbishop of Reims, assisted by César-Guillaume de La Luzerne, bishop of Langres, and by Louis-Apollinaire de La Tour-du-Pin-Montauban, bishop of Nancy. Duke and peer of the French Kingdom. Deputy to the États-Généraux of 1789. Did not accept the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and went into exile in Germany. Resigned pastoral government of the diocese on December 15, 1801, according to the Concordat of 1801 and returned to France. Peer of France again, June 4, 1814. Returned to Chalons in 1817 but the diocese, which had been suppressed in 1801, was not reestablished until later. Promoted to the metropolitan see of Toulouse, August 28, 1820.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of December 2, 1822; received the red hat, November 20, 1823; and the title of SS. Trinità al Monte Pincio, November 24, 1823. Participated in the conclave of 1823, which elected Pope Leo XII. Participated in the conclave of 1829, which elected Pope Pius VIII.

Death. February 21, 1830 (2), Toulouse. Exposed and buried in the metropolitan cathedral of Toulouse. He and Cardinal Anne-Louis-Henri de La Fare, archbishop of Sens, were the only survivors of the episcopate of the Ancien Régime.

Bibliography. Berton, Charles. Dictionnaire des cardinaux, contenant des notions générales sur le cardinalat, la nomenclature complète, par ordre alphabitique, des cardinaux de tous les temps et de tous les pays; la même nomenclature par ordre chronologique; les détails biographiques essentiels sur tous les cardinaux sans exception; de longues études sur les cardinaux célèbres, qui, en si grand nombre, ont rempli un rôle supériér dans l'Église, dans la politique ou dans les lettres; par M. L'abbé C. B., publié par M. L'abbé Migne, éditeur de la Bibliothéque Universelle du Clergi ou Des Cours Complets sur chaque branche de la science religieuse. Tome unique. S'imprime et se vend chez J.-P. Migne, éditeur, aux ateliers catholiques, rue d'Amboise, au petit-Montrouge, barrier d'enfer de Paris, 1857. Republished in 1969 by Gregg International Publishers Limited, Westmead, Franborough, Hants, England. Printed in offset by Anton Hain KG, Meisenheim/Glam, Western Germany, cols. 686-688; Chapeau, O.S.B. André and Fernand Combaluzier, C.M. Épiscopologe français des temps modernes, 1592-1973. Paris : Letouzey et Ané, 1974, p. 241-242; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi. Volumen VI (1730-1799). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, p. 155; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi. Volumen VII (1800-1846). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, pp. 14, 45 and 367.

Webgraphy. Biography, in French; his genealogy, 1a) 2b); and his engraving, Bildarchiv Austria, Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek.

(1) This is according to Berton, Dictionnaire des cardinaux, col. 686; and Chapeau, Épiscopologe français des temps modernes, 1592-1973, p. 241-242; his genealogy, linked above, says that he was born on December 31, 1748.
(2) This is according to Berton, Dictionnaire des cardinaux, col. 688; Chapeau, Épiscopologe français des temps modernes, 1592-1973, p. 241-242; and Ritzler, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, VII, 14 and 367. His genealogy, linked above, says that he died on February 20, 1830.

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