LORRAINE, CARDINALS OF

They may be considered according to the two houses to which they belonged.

House of Guise. The first cardinal of this house was John, son of René II of Lorraine, and brother of Antoine, Duke of Lorraine, and Claude, Duke of Guise; b. Bar, April 9, 1498; d. Neuvy-sur-Loire, May 10, 1550. At the age of three he was appointed coadjutor of Metz and at 20 was made a cardinal. Altogether he held 12 bishoprics, including Reims, Lyons, Albi, Narbonne, Toul, and Metz. Having been appointed a member of the royal council in 1530, he presided (1536) over an embassy to Emperor Charles V. Francis I, King of France, used his diplomatic services particularly in dealing with the Holy See.

Charles I, nephew and successor of John, and son of Claude of Guise; b. Joinville, Feb. 17, 1524; d. Avignon, Dec. 26, 1574. He was designated archbishop of Reims in 1538 and consecrated in 1545; he became a cardinal in 1547. In diocesan synods (1548, 1549) he attacked absenteeism and enacted rules for testing candidates for orders; he made a visitation of his diocese and preached frequently, though usually on semipolitical themes. He founded the University of Reims on Jan. 6, 1548. He held several bishoprics and was abbot in commendam for 11 abbeys as well as legatus natus under Paul IV. He furthered ecclesiastically the cause for the foundation of the Society of Jesus. At the third session of the Council of Trent (1562–63) he promoted Gallican liberties and episcopal residency (see gallicanism); he led the movement for inviting Protestants, but then he changed this policy because of political circumstances. He was active politically under Henry II and Francis II, who appointed him chancellor. He negotiated the Franco-Papal treaty against Charles V on the Parma question.

Louis I, another son of Claude of Guise was known as the cardinal of Guise; b. Paris, Oct. 21, 1527; d. Paris, May 29?, 1578. He became a cardinal in 1553 and bishop of Metz in 1558. Politically he was less active than his brother Charles, and the estimates of his character vary among contemporary witnesses.

Louis II, son of Francis de Guise and Anne d'Este, nephew of Charles, whom he succeeded as archbishop of Reims in 1574 and as cardinal in 1578; b. Dampierre, June 7, 1555; d. Dec. 24, 1588. He was associated with his brother Henry III, duke of Guise and was involved in the formation of the Holy League, in the Treaty of Joinville, and in the disputes among Henry III of France, Henry of Navarre, and his own brother Henry (see wars of religion). Henry III of France brought about his death and that of his brother.

Louis III, son of Duke Henry III of Guise, and brother of Charles IV, who succeeded to the dukedom; b. Aug. 11, 1582 (1585?); d. Sainctes, June 21, 1621. Louis was made archbishop of Reims and cardinal in 1615.

House of Lorraine. The earliest cardinal from this house was Frederick, brother of Godfrey I, Duke of Lorraine; b. between 1010 and 1020. Frederick became Pope stephen ix (1057–58).

Charles of Lorraine-Vaudemont, b. Nomény, April 2, 1559; d. Nov. 29, 1587. He became a cardinal in 1578, bishop of Toul in 1580, and also bishop of Verdun in 1585, although he was not ordained and consecrated until 1586. He was noted for piety and ecclesiastical zeal.

Charles II, second son of Duke Charles III of Lorraine; b. Nancy, July 1, 1567; d. Nancy, Dec. 24 (30?),1607. He was coadjutor to the bishop of Metz, Louis I of Guise, in 1573 and became bishop of Metz in I578. Ten years later he was made cardinal deacon by Sixtus V; in 1591 he became a cardinal priest and apostolic delegate to the Duchy of Lorraine. He was bishop of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and abbot of at least four monasteries. His election as bishop of Strasbourg in 1592 in opposition to Johann Georg von Brandenburg, the Protestant candidate, was the cause of sporadic riots. In 1559 a commission awarded the election to Charles and in 1604 the Protestant party relinquished the diocese and the cathedral to the Catholics.

Nicholas Francis; b. Dec. 6, 1609; d. Nancy, Jan. 25, 1670. He became coadjutor to the bishop of Toul in 1620, bishop of Toul in 1625, and a cardinal in 1627. He disagreed with his brother, Duke Charles IV, who was subservient to France and Cardinal Richelieu. In 1634 he renounced all clerical titles, married his cousin Claudia, and proclaimed himself Duke of Lorraine. When expelled from Lorraine by the French, he went into exile in Vienna and Munich. His son, Charles Leopold, succeeded Charles IV as Duke of Lorraine.

Bibliography: h. o. evennett, The Cardinal of Lorraine and The Council of Trent (Cambridge, Eng. 1940). h. o. evennett and l. just, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 6:1146–47.

[j. j. smith]