The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church

Biographical Dictionary
Pope Leo X (1513-1521)
Consistory of August 9, 1520 (VIII)


(42) 1. MARK, Eberhard von der (1472-1538)

Birth. May 31, 1472, Sedan. Third child of Robert von der Mark, herrn of Arenberg and Sedan and duke of Bouillon, and Jeanne de Marley, herrin of Saulcy, called de Marlay, dame de Florenge. He was seigneurs of Jametz and duke of Bouillon. He was also known as Cardinal de Bouillon. He is also listed as Erard de la Marck.

Education. Entered the University of Cologne in September 1485; obtained a licentiate in decrees (canon law).

Early life. Canon of the cathedral chapter of Liège, 1483. Canon of the cathedral chapter of Trier, 1484. Went to Rome and in 1497 was named protonotary apostolic. Canon of the cathedral chapter of Tours. Prior commendatario of the Benedictine convent of Saint-Marcel in Chalon sur Saône. Rector of the parish church of Lenduyc in the archdiocese of Reims. Prior of Notre Dame in Cunault in the diocese of Angers. Sent by King Louis XII as French ambassador to Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I in 1505. Accompanied that French king in his expedition against Genoa.

Episcopate. Elected bishop of Liège, February 25, 1506; occupied the see until his death.

Sacred orders. Ordained a deacon and a priest, May 13, 1506. Consecrated, May 17, 1506, cloister of the Regular Canons of Tongern, by Libert von Broechem, titular bishop of Beirut, assisted by François Chaillet, titular bishop of Calcedonia, and by Jean Bourgeois, titular bishop of Cirene; after the consecration, he retired for a while to the Carthusian monastery of Mount-Dieu, Reims. Named also bishop of Chartres on November 5, 1507; he had been nominated by King Louis XII of France and elected unanimously by its cathedral chapter; he ceded the see to Louis Guillard, bishop of Tournai, on March 9, 1525. He switched his alliance from France to that of the Hapsburgs; Emperor Maximilian I granted him on April 22, 1509, the investiture as a prince of the realm. On April 11, 1511, he took part, as bishop of Chartres, in a reunion of the Church of France in Lyon convoked by King Louis XII. In 1512, in the Diet of Cologne, the Pays de Liège was incorporated to Germanic Confederation. The contract of Saint-Truiden of 1518, which made Liège a Hapsburg protectorate, encountered strong opposition in the Netherlands; only after the emperor granted the diocese extensive privileges, among other things the transfer of the Court of Appeal of Speyer to Liège, did the citizens gave up their resistance. Ambassador of Charles, archduke of Austria, to Frankfurt for the imperial election; he was instrumental in the election of the archduke as Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1519; later, he was named imperial counselor. At the death of Alfonso de Aragón, perpetual administrator of the see of Valencia, on February 24, 1520, the metropolitan cathedral chapter elected as archbishop Gaspar Jofré de Borja, major archdeacon of Valencia, but Pope Leo X never confirmed the election and instead revoked it, naming Bishop Mark as archbishop of Valencia (1)by a bull issued in Rome on March 28, 1520 (2); Bishop Mark was allowed to retain the see of Liège ad vitæ tempum, and the see of Chartres for six months; he took possession of the see by procurator, Simón Tisnach, on the following June 25; he never visited the archdiocese, governing it through auxiliary bishops, Ausiás Carbonell, O.P., and Francisco Estaña; during his episcopate occurred the War of the Germanías, 1520-1522; occupied the see until his death. He was promoted to the cardinalate at the request of Emperor Charles V. His episcopate gave the diocese a period of thirty years of peace. He was promoted to the cardinalate at the request of Emperor Charles V.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of August 9, 1520; received the red hat and the title of S. Crisogono, January 5, 1521. He urged the University of Lyon to condemn Luther's theses and in 1521 he was the first bishop of the realm to execute the bull Ex surge domino, which excommunicated Luther; his action was decidedly supported by Nuncio Girolamo Aleander, who was striving to provide validity to the papal decision. Shortly after his promotion to the cardinalate, his brother Robert, prince of Sedan, placed himself under the protection of France and declared war against the emperor; the cardinal remained loyal to the emperor and defended his principality against his brother. Did not participate in the conclave of 1521-1522, which elected Pope Adrian VI. Did not participate in the conclave of 1523, which elected Pope Clement VII. In 1525, Pope Clement VII intended to name the cardinal general inquisitor of the Netherlands; the project failed because of the opposition of the court of Brussels. In 1526, he issued sharp regulations for the elevation of the discipline in the clergy and against the printing and sale of Protestant writings. Also in 1526, he began the reconstruction of the episcopal place of Liège, which was finish by the end of the century. He was present at the signing of the Peace of Cambrai between Emperor Charles V and King François of France in 1529. In the Diet of Augsburg of 1530, he was a strong representative of the Catholic point of view. In 1530, he built the citadel of Dinant. On December 18, 1532, Cardinal Mark published the new statutes for the Cour de l'Official (ecclesiastical tribunal). Did not participate in the conclave of 1534, which elected Pope Paul III. In 1536, he ordered a list of all the vassals who should enter the military service to be made. The following year, 1537, he strengthens the fortifications of Maaseik. Also in 1537, he hosted for six months with great honor in Liège Cardinal Reginald Pole, legate to England, who was closely followed by assassins under the orders of King Henry VIII of England. Legate a latere in the Low Countries. October or November 1537; charged with the reformation of the ecclesiastical life; he actively and decidedly opposed the spread of the heresy in his territories. Contributed 20,000 scudi to the war against the Turks. Built a magnificent episcopal palace in Liège and restored its cathedral. Published severe laws against criminals and vagabonds in his principality. He fell ill on January 15, 1538, after dining on oysters, and contracted a febrem lethalem; received the sacraments with great devotion and died.

Death. February 27, 1538, between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m., in Liège. Buried in the tomb that he had built in the center of the choir of the cathedral of Saint Paul of Liège (3). His heart was deposited in the church of Kreuzherren in Huyand; and his entrails in the abbey of Sept Fontaines in Brussels. The magnificent mausoleum, which he had built in 1527, was destroyed during the French Revolution. Since 1811, his remains rest in the cathedral of Saint-Paul, a church in Liège raised to that rank in 1802.

Bibliography. Berton, Charles. Dictionnaire des cardinaux, contenant des notions générales sur le cardinalat, la nomenclature complète .his portrait.., 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. 1186; Buchin, Eugène. Le règne d'Érard de la Marck. Liège : Imp. H. Vaillant-Carmanne ; Paris, É. Champion, 1931. (Bibliothèque de la Faculté de philosophie et lettres de l'Université de Liège ; fasc. XLVII). Publié avec le concours de la Fondation universitaire de Belgique. At head of title: Étude d'histoire politique et économique. Other title: Étude d'histoire politique et économique; Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, IV, ; 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. 1431-432; Chestret de Haneffe, Jules de. Histoire de la maison de la Marck y compris les Clèves de la seconde race. Bruxelles : Editions Culture et civilization, 1982, 1898. Reprint of original published: Liège : D. Cormaux, 1898; 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, 18, 153, 222 and 325; Gams, Pius Bonifatius. Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae. 3 v. in 1. Graz : Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1957, p. 88, 249 and 536; Guitarte Izquierdo, Vidal. Episcopologio Español (1500-1699). Españoles obispos en españa, América, Filipinas y otros países. Rome : Instituto Español de Historia Eclesiástica, 1994. (Publicaciones del Instituto Español de Historia Eclesiástica; Subsidia; 34), p. 23; Halkin, Léon-Ernest. Réforme protestante et réforme catholique au diocèse de Liège. Le cardinal de la Marck, prince-évêque de Liège (1505-1538). Liège : H. Vaillant-Carmanne, 1930. (Bibliothèque de la Faculté de philosophie et lettres de l'Université de Liège ; fasc. 43); Harsin, P. "Les premières manifestations de la réforme luthérienne dans le diocèse de Liège." Bulletin de la Classe des Beaux-Arts. Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux Arts de Belgique, V/48 (1962) 273-294; Harsin, P. "Un problème d'histoire économique: la fortune d'Erard de la Marck, prince-évêque de Liège (1505-1538)." Bulletin de la Classe des Beaux-Arts. Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux Arts de Belgique, V/44 (1958) 366-405; Minke, Alfred. "Mark, Erhard von der." Die Bischöfe des Heiligen Römischen Reiches, 1448 bis 1648 : ein biographisches Lexikon. Herausgegeben von Erwin Gatz, unter Mitwirkung von Clemens Brodkorb. Berlin : Duncker & Humblot, 1996, pp. 460-463.

Webgraphy. Biography by H. Lonchay, in French, Biographie nationale T. XIII, pp. 497 et suiv. publiée par l'Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des Beaux-arts de Belgique, Bruxelles, 1897, La Principauté de Liège;portrait, arms voins and biography, in French, Wikipedia; Portrait and biographical data by Arturo Llin Cháfer, in Spanish, archdiocese of Valencia; his portrait and biography, in French, Province de Liège; his chronology, in French, La renaissance liégeoise et la lutte, La Principauté de Liège; his genealogy, A2 B1 C2 D3, Genealogy.EU; his portrait by an anonymous artist, Musée Curtius, Liège, Belgium, La Principauté de Liège; his portrait by Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen, Wikipedia; portraits and engraving, The Rijks Museum, The Netherlands; his arms, Héraldique européenne... le blog; stone tablet with his coat of arms from the former Hôpital Saint-Mathieu à la Chaîne, Curtius Museum, The Netherlands, flickr; Armoiries d'Erard de la Marck (1505-1538), Institut Archép;pgique Liègeois; The Apotheosis of Divine Wisdom, wool and silk tapestry made in Brussels, Belgium, made for Cardinal Erard de la Marck, prince bishop of Liège, around 1530; Jan Cornelisz. Vermeyen's Cardinal Érard de la Marck and The Holy Family: A Diptych Reunited? Art Conservation; Erard de la Marck et le brûlé (Dgs 836), Les Monnaies de Liège Dimanche 17 avril 2011 Liste des Princes-Evêques de Liège, Province de Liège.

(1) This is according to Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, II, 325; his biography in Spanish by Llin, linked above; and his chronology, also linked above. Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae, p. 88, says that he was named adminsitrator of Velncia.
(2) This is according to Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae, p. 88; and his biography in Spanish by Llin, linked above. Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, II, 325, says that he was named on March 19, 1520. His chronology, linked above, says that he was named on March 18, 1520.
(3) This is the text of his brief epitaph that he himself composed and Ferdinando Ughelli, Cist. transcribed in his addition to Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, col. 1431: ERARDVS. A. MARKA. MORTEM. HARENS. PRÆ OCVLIS. VIVNES. POSVIT.

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