Jacques Davy Duperron

Jacques Davy Duperron was a French cardinal and diplomat who played a significant role in the religious and political history of France in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He was born in Saint-Lô, Normandy, to a Protestant family that fled to Switzerland during the French Wars of Religion. He received a humanist education and learned Latin, Greek, Hebrew, philosophy, and theology. He returned to France in 1562 and was introduced to King Henry III, who was impressed by his talents and appointed him as his reader and professor. He converted to Catholicism around 1578 and became a priest in 1585. He preached before the king and composed a funeral oration for the poet Ronsard. He also wrote several poems and treatises on various subjects. After the death of Henry III in 1589, Duperron initially supported the Catholic League against Henry IV, the Protestant heir to the throne. However, he later changed sides and became one of the main agents of Henry IV's conversion to Catholicism in 1593, which ended the civil war and secured his legitimacy. Duperron was rewarded by being made bishop of Evreux in 1595 and cardinal in 1604. He also served as a diplomat for Henry IV, negotiating with Pope Clement VIII, the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, and the Spanish king Philip III. He was involved in the drafting of the Edict of Nantes in 1598, which granted religious toleration to the Protestants. He also participated in several theological controversies and defended the Catholic faith against the attacks of Protestant writers. Duperron was a close friend and adviser of Henry IV until his assassination in 1610. He then continued to serve under his widow Marie de' Medici as her chief minister. He was influential in arranging her regency and the marriage of her son Louis XIII to Anne of Austria. He also supported her policy of alliance with Spain against the Protestant powers. However, he fell out of favor after Marie de' Medici was exiled by her son in 1617. He retired to his diocese of Evreux and died in Batignolles, near Paris, in 1618. He was buried in Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, where he had built a chapel dedicated to Saint Francis de Sales. He left behind a large collection of manuscripts and correspondence that testify to his erudition and political acumen.