Charles de Lorraine de Vaudémont

Funerary monument in the Franciscan church in Nancy, France.

Charles de Lorraine de Vaudémont (1561–1587) was a French Roman Catholic cardinal.

Biography

Charles de Lorraine de Vaudémont was born in Nomeny on April 20, 1561, the son of Nicolas, Duke of Mercœur and his wife Margaret of Egmont. He was the younger brother of Louise of Lorraine and the uncle of Cardinal Charles de Lorraine-Vaudémont.

He studied Christian theology at the Jesuit University of Pont-à-Mousson. When his sister married Henry III of France on February 13, 1575, he was briefly called to court, but soon returned to Pont-à-Mousson to resume his studies. He was the commendatory abbot of Moissac Abbey from 1571 to 1580.

Pope Gregory XIII made him a cardinal deacon in the consistory of February 21, 1578. On March 9, 1580, he became administrator of the Diocese of Toul, with the understanding that he would become its bishop upon reaching the canonical age of 27. He administered the diocese until his death at age 26. In 1583, he became a Commander of the Order of the Holy Spirit. He was elected Bishop of Verdun on January 7, 1585.

He did not participate in the papal conclave of 1585 that elected Pope Sixtus V. Following the papal conclave, on June 24, 1585, he received the red hat and the deaconry of Santa Maria in Domnica.

On November 25, 1586, he was ordained as a priest in Verdun Cathedral. He opted for the order of cardinal priests on April 20, 1587, taking the titular church of Trinità dei Monti. He died before he could be consecrated as a bishop.

He died in Paris on October 30, 1587. He was buried in the Franciscan monastery in Nancy, France.