François d'Escoubleau de Sourdis

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Bust of François Cardinal de Sourdis in the Musée d'Aquitaine ( Bernini , 1620)
The wedding of King Ludwig XIII. and Anna of Austria, assisted by Cardinal de Surdis (center) (1615; contemporary painting by Jean Chalette)

François d'Escoubleau de Sourdis (born October 25, 1574 in Châtillon-sur-Sèvre , † February 8, 1628 in Bordeaux ) was Archbishop of Bordeaux , cardinal and 1603 founder of the Irish College at the University of Bordeaux .

Life

François d'Escoubleau de Sourdis was born in Châtillon-sur-Sèvre in the French province of Poitou as the eldest son of François d'Escoubleau and Isabeau Babou de la Bourdasière. His father was a noble landlord , he bore the titles of marquis d'Alluye and comte de La Chapelle , which François inherited from him, and was also governor of Chartres . François Sr. was also a cousin of Gabrielle d'Estrées , mistress of the French King Henry IV.

A church career was initially not planned for him as the oldest son. He completed his studia humanitatis at the Collège de Navarre in Paris and took part in the siege of Chartres in 1591. His wife was the daughter of the royal chancellor, Catherine Hurault de Cheverny . During a visit to Rome he met Cardinal Federico Borromeo and Saint Philip Neri and chose the priesthood . He was appointed Commendatarabbot of Preuilly, Montréal and Aubrac (1597–1600) and on March 3, 1599 Pope Clement VIII raised him to cardinal.

Although he was not yet of the required age, a few months later, on July 5, 1599, he was appointed Archbishop of Bordeaux and Primate of Aquitaine by an exception . On December 21, 1599 he received the episcopal ordination by François de Joyeuse in Saint-Germain-des-Prés and was only able to receive the cardinal's hat a year later on December 20, 1600 , at the same time he was installed as cardinal priest of the titular church of Santi XII Apostoli . In the same year, de Sourdis was appointed Commendatar Abbot of La Roë Abbey , which he reformed extensively.

In Bordeaux, Cardinal Sourdis campaigned for some improvements to the cityscape by draining swamps in the suburbs, renovating the medieval archbishop's palace and restoring the Saint-Michel basilica . He also had the church of St-Bruno de Bordeaux and the Cordeliers monastery built in Saint-André-de-Cubzac , which is now the city library.

In 1603, Cardinal Sourdis received the priest Dermit MacCarthy of the diocese of Cork and forty of his followers, who sought refuge from Elizabethan persecution. They started teaching at the newly created Irish College of the University of Bordeaux . During his term of office the approval of the order of the Compagnie des Filles de Notre-Dame ("Society of the Daughters of Our Lady"), founded by Johanna von Lestonnac , falls .

Sourdis became a coadjutor in 1605 . 1607 baptized he Nicolas Henri , the second son of Henry IV. In 1615, he headed in the Cathedral of Bordeaux , the marriage by proxy between Elizabeth of France and Philip IV. (Represented by the Duke of Guise) and the wedding ceremony of Louis XIII. and the Infanta Anna of Austria .

His funeral took place in the former Carthusian monastery of Bordeaux, of which only the cemetery remains . After his death, his younger brother and successor, Henri d'Escoubleau de Sourdis, continued his reform projects.

literature

  • Louis-Waldemar Ravenéz: Histoire du Cardinal François de Sourdis: Du titre de Sainte-Praxède, archevêque de Bordeaux, primat d'Aquitaine, abbé de Mauléon et d'Oyrvaux. G. Gounouilhou, Bordeaux 1867.

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Jean Le Breton Archbishop of Bordeaux
1599–1628 		Henri de Sourdis
personal data
SURNAME Escoubleau de Sourdis, François d '
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sourdis, François d'Escoubleau de; Sourdis, François de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French archbishop and cardinal
DATE OF BIRTH October 25, 1574
PLACE OF BIRTH Châtillon-sur-Sèvre
DATE OF DEATH February 8, 1628
Place of death Bordeaux