Paul d'Albert de Luynes

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Cardinal Paul d'Albert de Luynes (1703-1788) . Engraving by Étienne Fessard

Paul d'Albert de Luynes (born January 5, 1703 in Versailles , † January 21, 1788 in Paris ) was a French clergyman, Archbishop of Sens and cardinal .

Life

Lineage and early years

He came from the noble house of Albert and was the youngest of four children of the Maréchal de camp Honoré-Charles d'Albert de Luynes , Duke of Montfort-l'Amaury (1669–1704), and his wife Marie Anne Jeanne de Courcillon († 1718 ). He received his first education from his mother and his paternal grandparents. His grandfather was friends with the Archbishop of Cambrai François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon , even after he fell out of favor. So de Luynes learned to read with Fénelon's Les Aventures de Télémaque , a barely veiled criticism of the French monarchy.

First, following the family tradition, he took up the military career and on March 6, 1719 was appointed colonel of an infantry regiment. After a heated argument, the young officer was challenged to a duel . His mother gave him the choice of either dueling or pursuing an ecclesiastical career, and de Luynes chose the latter. He retired from military service, attended the seminary of Saint-Sulpice and later the university in Bourges , where he obtained a doctorate . His family reached with Cardinal Henri-Pons de Thiard de Bissy , the Bishop of Meaux , that this appointed de Luynes as his vicar general . Contrary to his personal preference for a quiet and withdrawn life, his social position and friendship with Queen Maria Leszczynska , the wife of King Louis XV, prompted him . to live at the royal court. In 1727 he was appointed Commendatar Abbot of Saint-Vigor de Cérisy in the Diocese of Bayeux . Two years later, the Prime Minister, Cardinal André-Hercule de Fleury , proposed him to the king for the office of bishop. After some hesitation, the Abbé de Luynes accepted.

Episcopate

Seal with his coat of arms as Bishop of Bayeux

On August 17, 1729 de Luynes was appointed Bishop of Bayeux . He was ordained episcopal on September 25 of the same year in the Church of Saint-Germain in Paris by the Archbishop of Rouen , Louis La Vergne-Montenard de Tressan ; Co- consecrators were Léon de Beaumont , Bishop of Saintes , and César Le Blanc , Bishop of Avranches . After taking the oath of allegiance to the king, he took possession of the diocese on December 11, 1729. He regularly visited the parishes of his diocese, held several diocesan synods and organized popular missions, where he also preached himself. His sermon on Lent in Bayeux in 1732 provoked a sharp reaction from the Jansenists . In a pamphlet entitled Remotrances des fidèles de la ville de Bayeux à M. de Luynes, leur évêque (complaints from the faithful of the City of Bayeux to M. de Luynes, their bishop), they complained about the missions in Bayeux, Caen and others Cities. The background was the exaggerated zeal and intransigence of the Eudist Fathers in the application of the papal bull Unigenitus Dei Filius of 1713 as well as their lack of skills in pastoral care , for example when they refused the sacraments to some believers on the mere suspicion of Jansenism . These incidents made de Luynes the target of the Jansenist underground writing Les Nouvelles ecclésiastiques .

On March 28, 1743 de Luynes became a member of the Académie Française , where he succeeded Cardinal Fleury. At the suggestion of the Bishop of Mirepoix Jean François Boyer , he was appointed by the king on January 14, 1747 to be the almsman of Madame la Dauphine Maria Josepha of Saxony . On August 9, 1753, Louis XV finally appointed He made him Archbishop of Sens. Although de Luynes found it difficult, he resigned himself to the bishopric of Bayeux on September 21, 1753 and was preconized as Archbishop of Sens on November 26 of the same year , on the same day he received the pallium . He took possession of the archdiocese in June 1754. In 1755 he became an honorary member of the Académie des Sciences and in 1756 Commendatarabb of Corbie .

cardinal

Cardinal's signature (1756 or after)

Pope Benedict XIV created him cardinal in the consistory of April 5, 1756 and appointed him cardinal priest of the titular church of San Tommaso in Parione on August 2, 1758 . From 1756 to 1761 he devoted himself to his duties as court clergyman and higher church and state duties that became urgent due to the Seven Years' War . He left the management of the diocese to his vicars general. He was a participant in the conclave of 1758 , from which Clemens XIII. emerged as Pope. From 1761 he devoted himself almost exclusively to his episcopal duties and in particular again made pastoral visits to the parishes. In 1761 a meeting of the French bishops took place in the archbishop's palace in Sens, from which a petition was sent to the Pope in favor of the Jesuits ; the corresponding letter to the Pope with intercession for the Jesuits and the Archbishop of Paris is attributed to Cardinal de Luynes. A meeting of the French clergy in 1765, in which he participated, clearly contradicted the repeal of the Jesuit order. On December 20, 1765 he accompanied his friend, the Dauphin Louis Ferdinand , in his last hours and also directed the burial of the Dauphin in the Cathedral of Sens . On March 13, 1767 he also stood by the Dauphine Maria Josepha of Saxony in the hour of her death. After the death of his friends he retired to his archdiocese and devoted his creative power to it. He took part in the 1769 conclave , in which Pope Clement XIV was elected. In 1774 he was at the anointing of King Louis XVI. present and addressed the king on behalf of the invited clergy. He was among the cardinals of the conclave 1774-1775 , the Pope Pius VI. chose.

Last years and death

In September 1779, his golden jubilee was celebrated with great pomp in Sens. From 1784 until his death he was a cardinal proto-priest .

Cardinal de Luynes died in 1788 and was buried in Sens Cathedral. On March 25, 1794, the grave was desecrated and his bones were taken to the great cemetery of Sens, where they remain to this day.

Working as a natural scientist

Paul d'Albert de Luynes studied astronomy and physics and made astronomical observations in Sens , Fontainebleau and from his home in Versailles . The results of his observations are recorded in the reports of the Académie des sciences between 1761 and 1772. In 1768 he published a study on the properties of mercury in barometers .

Publications

  • Propriétés du mercure dans les baromètres , 1768
  • Instruction pastorale contre la doctrine des incrédules et portant condamnation du Système de la Nature du baron d'Holbach , 1770

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Marcantonio Colonna Cardinal Protopriest
1784-1788 		Christoph Anton from Migazzi
Jean-Joseph Languet de Gergy Archbishop of Sens
1753–1788 		Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne
François Armand of Lorraine-Armagnac Bishop of Bayeux
1729–1753 		Pierre-Jules César de Rochechouart-Montigny
personal data
SURNAME Albert de Luynes, Paul d '
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Luynes, Paul d'Albert de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French clergyman, archbishop of Sens and cardinal
DATE OF BIRTH January 5, 1703
PLACE OF BIRTH Versailles
DATE OF DEATH January 21, 1788
Place of death Paris