(1) 1. GOUFFIER DE BOISSY, Adrien (ca. 1479-1523)

Birth. Ca. 1479 (no place found). Of the signeurs of Bonnivet. Third son of Guillaume, signeur de Boissy, and his second wife, Philippe, daughter of Jean II de Montmorency. One of his brothers was Admiral Guillaume Gouffier, signeur de Bonnivet. He was called Cardinal de Boissy or Boisi. His father's first wife was Louise d'Amboise, sister of Cardinal Georges I d'Amboise (1498).

Education. (No information found).

Early life. He was destined to the church at an early age. Protonotary apostolic at 14. Dean of Thouars, 1503. He obtained in commendam, with dispensation, the abbeys of Bourg-Dieu, Bourgueil, Saint-Florent de Saumur, Saint-Nicolas d'Anger, Cormery, Fécamp, and Bec. He had a natural daughter, Marguerite, who was legitimized by letters in February 1543.

Sacred orders. (No information found).

Episcopate. Elected bishop of Coutances, April 15, 1510; occupied the see until June 6, 1519 (1). Consecrated June 2, 1510, Second Sunday after Pentecost, by Raoul de Faou, bishop of Evreux. King François I of France personally asked for his promotion to the cardinalate from Pope Leo X during the conference of Bologna, December 10, 1515.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of December 14, 1515; received the red hat and the title of Marcellino e Pietro, December 14, 1515. Grand almoner of France, November 1516. Opted for the title of S. Balbina (2) after November 8, 1517; retained his first title in commendam until November 9, 1520. Legate in France, March 23, 1519 until 1520. Administrator of the see of Albi, June 6, 1519 (3); postulated by the cathedral chapter; he took possession of the see on November 16, 1522. Did not participate in the conclave of 1521-1522, which elected Pope Adrian VI.

Death. July 24, 1523 (4), château de Villendren-sur-Indre, near Issoudun, diocese of Tours. Buried, according to his will, which he prepared on July 22, 1523, in the church of the abbey of Bourgdeuil. The news of his death was not received in Rome until 1526.

Bibliography. Berton, Charles. Dictionnaire des cardinaux, contenant des notions générales sur le cardinalat, la nomenclature complète ..., des cardinaux de tous less temps et de tous les pays ... les détails biographiques essentiels sur tous les cardinaux ... de longues études sur les cardinaux célèbre ... Paris : J.-P. Migne, 1857 ; Facsimile edition. Farnborough ; Gregg, 1969, col. 1024; Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, IV, 12-13; 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. 1409 and 1482; Compayré, Clément. Études historiques et documents inédits sur l'Albigeois, le Castrais et l'ancien diocèse de Lavaur. Albi : Impr. de M. Papilhiau, 1841; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1935; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, III, 14, 60, 65, 101 and 176; Gams, Pius Bonifatius. Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae. 3 v. in 1. Graz : Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1957, pp. 485 and 543; Toustain de Billy, René. Histoire ecclésiastique du diocèse de Coutances. 3 vols. François Dolbet and Alexandre Héron, editors. Rouen : Ch. Métérie, 1874-1886, III, 1-32; Weber, Christoph. Senatus divinus : verborgene Strukturen im Kardinalskollegium der frühen Neuzeit (1500-1800). Frankfurt am Main ; New York : Peter Lang, 1996, p. 381.

Webgraphy. Biographical data, in French, pages 1 to 32; brief biographical data, in French, middle of page 92; his genealogy, II, 3; his engraving and arms, Araldica Vaticana.

(1) This is according to Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentoris Aevi, III, 176; Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae, p. 543, says that he was transferred on September 20, 1519.
(2) This is according to Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentoris Aevi, III, 14 and 60; Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, 1482; and Toustain Histoire ecclésiastique du diocèse de Coutances, III, 12 and 25, say that he opted for the title of S. Sabina.
(3) This is according to Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentoris Aevi, III, 176; Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae, p. 485, says that he was bishop of Albi.
(4) This is according to Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae, p. 485; Berton, Dictionnaire des cardinaux, col. 1024; and Compayré, Études historiques et documents inédits sur l'Albigeois, le Castrais et l'ancien diocèse de Lavaur, p. 92. Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentoris Aevi, III, pp. 14 and 60, says that he died on November 9, 1520. Cardella, Memorie storiche de' Cardinali dellla Santa Romana Chiesa, IV, 12, says that he died near the end of 1523. Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, 1482, says that he died in November 1523. Toustain de Billy, Histoire ecclésiastique du diocèse de Coutances, III, 29, says that he died on June 24 or in July 1523.

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