Jean Balue


Jean Balue was a French cardinal and minister of Louis XI. Born without resources, he managed to climb the political ladder by exploiting connections, to whom he often did not remain loyal, and by making himself an indispensable agent of the king's purposes in a time of political disorder in France. His services were as much military as ecclesiastical, bringing him the critical task of defending the city of Paris against the King's enemies. His work as a diplomat in dealing with Duke Francis of Brittany and with Charles de France brought him the office of first minister to the King. Balue overreached himself in negotiating a treaty between the King and Charles the Bold, who had become Duke of Burgundy and was trying to recover all his family inheritance. Secret correspondence revealed that he might have been playing both sides in the negotiation, and he was arrested, and held on charges of treason from 1469 to 1481, while King and Pope argued over jurisdiction. After the death of King Louis and Pope Sixtus IV, the new French king, Charles VIII, appointed Balue his ambassador in Rome.

Biography

He was born of very humble parentage at Angles-sur-l'Anglin in Poitou. The date of his birth is conjectured to be around 1421, based on his epitaph in Santa Prassede in Rome, in which he is said to have died as Legate of the Marches while in his seventies, Legatum agens septuagenarius gloriose obiit. The word 'septuagenarian' is somewhat elastic. Jean Balue had a brother Antoine and a brother Nicolas.
He was first patronized by the bishop of Poitiers, Jacques Juvénel des Ursins. By December 1457 Balue had obtained a Licenciate in law, perhaps from the University of Angers.
In 1461 Balue is still referred to as 'clericus', but by 1465 he is called a priest. These are the parameters for his date of ordination to the priesthood. Likewise in 1461 he was given the Deanship of Candé by his new patron, Bishop Jean de Beauvau of Angers.

Canon Balue

In 1461 he became vicar-general of the bishop of Angers, Jean de Beauvau, and was named a Canon of the Cathedral of Saint-Mauritius. In 1462 he accompanied Bishop de Beauvau to Rome in the embassy which was sent to present the homage of the new King of France, Louis XI, to Pope Pius II, and to engage in negotiations concerning the revocation of the Pragmatic Sanction, as well as the French claims to the Kingdom of Naples. The leader of the embassy was Bishop Jean Jouffroy of Arras, who had been named a cardinal on 18 December 1461. During this visit Balue was named a Protonotary Apostolic by the Pope. On their return to Angers, Bishop de Beauvau wanted to reward Balue with the grant of the prebend of S. Marguerite in the Cathedral Chapter, which had just fallen vacant on the death of the Dean of the Chapter. The prebend, however, was in the gift of the Chapter, not the bishop, and they protested successfully to the Pope, who granted the prebend to the Chapter's candidate on 21 January 1463. Not satisfied with the result, Balue carried an appeal to the King. In Paris he got in touch with Thibault de Vitry, a Canon of Paris who held the office of Treasurer of the Cathedral Chapter of Angers as a benefice. He was introduced to the Lieutenant-General of Paris and the Île-de-France, Charles de Melun, whose father was Governor of Champagne and Brie and Governor of the Bastille. Melun in due course presented Balue to the King. Louis XI granted letters patent on 15 September 1463 ordering the Chapter to hand over the prebend to Balue.
On 10 February 1464, at the request of King Louis, the Pope granted Balue a new Canonry in the Cathedral Chapter of Angers which had fallen vacant.
His activity, cunning, and mastery of manipulation gained him the appreciation of Louis XI, who made him his almoner in 1464 and one of his secretaries. Balue's ambitions then got him into trouble. He looked to succeed Vitry, who had just died, as Treasurer of Angers, and on 23 March 1464 made his claim. But Bishop de Beauvau held a bull of Pius II which granted him the gift of an abbey or any other benefice which happened to become vacant. Beauvau wanted the Treasurership for his own purposes. The Canons of the Cathedral opposed Balue out of respect for the bishop, but, on 20 April a cleric of Paris, Jacques Chaumort appeared in Angers with a mandate from the King, ordering the Canons to allow Balue to enjoy the fruits of the office of Treasurer. The Canons complied. This was the end of the friendship and patronage of Bishop de Beauvau.
Balue also acquired a number of other benefices during the year 1464. He was made Abbot Commendatory of Fécamp, Abbot Commendatory of Saint-Thierry de Reims, and Abbot Commendatory of Saint-Jean-d'Angély. He was also named Prior of Saint-Eloi-de-Paris, and Saint-Jean-des-Sables.
On 26 December, King Louis named Balue a Councilor clerk in Parliament, and on 28 December he granted Balue the privilege of conferring a wide range of benefices which were in the gift of the King. These included bursaries at the Collège de Navarre, benefices at the Hôtels-Dieu, hospitals for the sick and almonries.

Bishop Balue

Bishop Guillaume de Flocques of Évreux died on 27 November 1464, and on 18 December the King assigned the temporalities of the Diocese of Évreux to Jean Balue. Then, on 4 February 1465, King Louis XI nominated Balue to the bishopric of Évreux; he was elected by the Cathedral Chapter on 5 February; and he was preconised by Pope Pius II on 20 May 1465. His consecration took place in Paris at Notre-Dame on 4 August, with Bishop Guillaume Chartier of Paris acting as principal consecrator. Balue took possession of his diocese in person on 22 August 1465. On 27 August the King granted Balue a subsidy from the gabelle to allow him to resume work on the restoration of the Cathedral, which had begun under the patronage of Charles VII but which had ceased from lack of funds.
Bishop Jean de Beauvau of Angers was excommunicated by his Metropolitan, the Archbishop of Tours, on 13 November 1465, for various acts of insubordination. Beauvau refused to accept the sentence, and appealed to the Pope, claiming to be exempt from the jurisdiction of the Archbishop. But after some exchanges, Beauvau was summoned to appear before the courts in Rome. He refused to go, demonstrating yet again his commitment to Gallican liberties and the Pragmatic Sanction. Finally, under pressure from King Louis XI, Pope Paul II issued a decree of deposition on 5 June 1467, and on the same day he issued a bull transferring Bishop Jean Balue from the diocese of Évreux to the diocese of Angers. Bishop de Beauvau attempted to appeal to the Parliament of Paris against the Pope, but the King ordered the Parliament not to take cognizance of the case. Balue had replaced his former patron.
In the War of the Public Weal, Bishop Balue and Charles Melun were assigned to the task of defending the city of Paris for the King. Melun was named Lieutenant-General, and Balue was ordered to see to the defenses. Neither was to leave Paris for the duration. On 13 July 1465, King Louis notified Marechal Rouault at Paris that it was his intention to fight on the next day, and he ordered Rouault's presence. Rouault asked Balue and Melun what he should do. Balue advised him to go to the King with his entire army, Melun opposed him. The Battle of Montlhéry was not decisive, but Louis conceived the idea that Melun had been prepared to betray him if the battle had been lost. He stripped Melun of everything that he had. On 5 October 1465 Louis was constrained to sign the Treaty of Conflans with Charles, Count of Charolais. On 23 December 1465 King Louis signed the Treaty of Caen with Duke Francis II of Brittany, and Balue, one of the cosigners, was ordered to keep watch on the Dukes of Burgundy and Brittany and provide the King with counsel as necessary.
In February 1466, Bishop Balue and Admiral de Montauban were sent to Nantes, where Duke Francis of Brittany had taken up residence. They were to continue discussions on Francis' proposals made at Caen, and also to take the measure of the envoys of Charles de France, Guillaume de Harancourt, the Bishop of Verdun, Charles' Chancellor; and Pierre Doriole, his Intendant of Finances. A most important goal was to get Charles himself away from Duke Francis and back to the company of the King. The rumor went round about that the Admiral explained privately to Charles what might happen to him if he returned to the King—as though Charles could not work that out himself. Whether true or not, Charles flatly refused the King's request and Balue had to give a completely negative report of the mission. Things might have become worse if the Admiral had not died on 1 May. At the end of the year Bishop Balue was sent back to Nantes, this time along with Guillaume de Paris, as Ambassadors of the King of France, to protest Louis' desire for good relations with Francis of Brittany, but to inquire about rumored dealings with the English. Francis disavowed any sinister implications, but it was discovered that the Duke and Duchess of Savoy were in Brittany, negotiating a league against King Louis. Balue returned and joined the King at Blois in February 1467.

Cardinal Balue

King Louis IX made Bishop Jean Balue le premier du grant conseil. Thomas Basin remarks that the King held Balue to be velut fidissimum omnium mortalium hominum amicum. In spite of his bad reputation for greed and disloyalty, the King requested and obtained for him a cardinalate. This was in gratitude for his finally negotiating the revocation of the Pragmatic Sanction, which was registered by the Parlement of Paris on 1 October 1467. Balue was named a cardinal by Pope Paul II in his first Consistory for the creation of cardinals on 18 September 1467, and was assigned the titular church of Santa Susanna, but not until the Consistory of 13 May 1468. He received his red hat in a ceremony in Notre-Dame in Paris on 17 November 1468.
In May 1467, Balue and Jean d'Estouteville were sent to Paris to engage in a mass enrollment of men to defend the city of Paris against the King's enemies. On 15 June, Charles the Bold became Duke of Burgundy. He was determined to recover territories which his father had sold to Louis XI to raise money for a crusade. These included Picardy, and Amiens. The prince-bishopric of Liège tried three times to revolt against the Duke, each time with support promised by Louis XI, which repeatedly failed to materialize. On 20 September 1468, a conference was begun at Ham, between the delegates of King Louis and those of Charles the Bold, who was encamped at Peronne, to arrange a peace between the two contenders and detach Duke Charles from Duke Francis of Brittany. The Cardinal, it seems, was attempting to keep the King from being seduced by the promises of the Duke.
In April 1469 Cardinal Balue accompanied the King and participated in the Estates General at Tours.
On 14 October 1469 King Louis, advised by his friend Cardinal Balue, consented to the terms of the Peace which Balue had negotiated with Charles the Bold.