This is the first of two volumes investigating elite European clergy in the early modern period, originating from a conference organized in January 2013 at the Château de Versailles by Benoist Pierre, Matthieu da Vinha, and Alain Marchandisse. In this first volume, sixteen studies cluster around the theme of the powerful prelate (acteur du pouvoir), using office holding, patronal networks, and typologies as avenues of approach.
The three editors open the volume with a short introduction to the theme. Readers will appreciate the bibliography that the editors provide through their footnotes, citing recent studies of cardinals and bishops from across the continent. The first chapter, by Vincent Tabbagh, explores the careers of Gilles and Pierre Aycelin, both of whom were cardinals in the service of the fourteenth-century kings of France. The close attention that Tabbagh pays to the brothers’ achievements and network of relationships reminds readers of the various types of work that elite clergy did and of the support structure that each maintained across both their benefices and administrative offices. The second chapter, by Cédric Michon, investigates the three types of cardinals resident at King François I's court: courtiers, ecclesiastical officeholders, and royal administrators. Michon notes that these men were generally not rewarded with the cardinalate for accomplishments in their bishoprics. In the next chapter, Benoist Pierre presents Cardinal Georges d'Amboise as an example of how the loyalty shown by a cardinal to his king could mimic a “messianic fidelity” (49). Pierre makes interesting use of ceremonial entries to explore how d'Amboise positioned himself publicly and vis-à-vis Louis XII.
Delphine Lannaud continues this conversation about relations between prelates and princely service with a study of the forty-four bishops who served in the dioceses of Nevers, Auxerre, Langres, Chalon-sur-Saône, Autun, and Mâcon between 1415 and 1515. Lannaud found that service at the Burgundian court played a vital role in their careers. Elaborating on the Burgundian situation, Jacques Paviot's chapter focuses on curial bishops of the early to mid-fifteenth century who encouraged crusade campaigns. Following this, Bertrand Schnerb offers an interesting analysis of the will made by Bishop Jean Canard of Arras (d. 1407). His careful dissection of the bequests, heirs, and testamentary language is welcome, and it highlights the potential conflict between a desire to maintain the traditions of one's predecessors and a desire to uphold episcopal dignity, while avoiding pomp. Malte Prietzel's chapter shows just how closely intertwined the careers of mid-fifteenth-century cardinals were (e.g., Cesarini, Cusa, Capranica), and how Italian universities brought together ecclesiastical and intellectual classes.
Marie Van Eeckenrode's work signals a turn toward diplomatic activity. Her chapter investigates the constant involvement of Jean Chevrot, the bishop of Tournai, in Philip the Good's political administration and prompts readers to ask what it meant to be “a man of the [royal] court.” Alain Marchandisse, Christophe Masson, and Monique Sommé strive to answer this question by investigating the life of Cardinal Jaime of Coimbra, whose career took him from Portugal to Rome to Burgundy. Like many of the prelates explored in this volume, his success depended on the support that he drew from his relatives. Natalia Nowakowska takes this discussion of familial reciprocity a step further, showing how Cardinal Fryderyk Jagiellon's family used royal power to promote his career so that, in turn, he could use his ecclesiastical authority to strengthen the political position of the Jagiellon dynasty in Poland. Marco Pellegrini's chapter offers a useful framework for this situation, building a typology for the Italian princely cardinal. Giovanni Ricci's interesting study of Cardinals Ippolito II and Luigi d'Este draws on ideas explored by Pellegrini and other authors, and could profit from a deeper integration with other chapters. Likewise, Jessica Sharkey's analysis of Thomas Wolsey's efforts to establish himself as the sole conduit for communication between England and the papacy appears isolated from the larger discussion of prelatial functions and strategies.
The final series of chapters focuses on artistic activities. Odile De Bruyn investigates the influence of classical texts describing the “art of gardens” in Avignonese libraries and the reality of papal Avignon. Valérie Guéant follows the career of Jacopo Ravaldi, otherwise known as the Master of the della Rovere Missels, through a series of illuminated texts that reveal a network of artistic patronage and ownership by Spanish prelates in fifteenth-century Rome. Finally, Enrico Parlato reveals the extent of Oliviero Carafa's architectural and artistic patronage in Rome.
As Jean-Marie Cauchies's conclusion details, this collection reproduces the spectrum of prelatial activities: curial, diplomatic, religious, and patronal. To our profit, the editors have chosen studies that dig deeper into what it means to be a curial cardinal or a princely cardinal with archive-supported examples. At their core, these studies tell us more about cooperation between elite clergy and laity, in order to achieve ecclesiastical, civil, and personal goals.
