François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal,Archbishop of Albi | |
 | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | Albi |
| See | Cathedral Basilica of Saint Cecilia |
| Installed | 9 July 1764 |
| Term ended | 3 November 1794 |
| Predecessor | Léopold-Charles de Choiseul-Stainville |
| Successor | François de Pierre de Bernis |
| Other post | French Ambassador to Rome |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1715-05-22)22 May 1715 |
| Died | 3 November 1794(1794-11-03) (aged 79) |
| Nationality | French |
| Education | Lycée Louis-le-Grand |
François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, comte de Lyonnais (22 May 1715 – 3 November 1794) was a Frenchcardinal anddiplomat.[1] He was the sixth member elected to occupy Seat 3 of theAcadémie française in 1744. Bernis was a prominent figure in the autobiography of Giacomo Casanova,Histoire de ma vie (Story of My Life), starting from the chapter on "Convent Affairs".
Born atSaint-Marcel d'Ardèche, de Bernis was of a noble, but impoverished family, and, being a younger son, was intended for the church. His father, Joachim de Pierre, seigneur de Bernis, was a captain of cavalry and, in 1697, was married to Marie Elisabeth, daughter of Nicolas de Chastel de Condres. The cardinal's elder brother was Philippe Charles François (1714–1774), baron de Pierrebourg, marquis de Pierre de Bernis, seigneur de Saint-Marcel. François was educated at theLouis-le-Grand college and the seminary ofSaint-Sulpice, Paris, but did not take holy orders until 1755.[2]
Bernis became known as one of the most expertepigrammatists in the joyous society ofLouis XV's court, and by his verses won the friendship ofMadame de Pompadour, the royal mistress, who obtained for him an apartment, furnished at her expense, in the Tuileries, and a yearly pension of 1500 livres.[3]Voltaire admired his verses, calling himBabet la bouquetière. In 1744, he was elected to seat 3 of theAcadémie française.[4]
In 1752, Bernis was appointed to the French embassy at Venice,[4] where he acted, to the satisfaction of both parties, as mediator between the republic andPope Benedict XIV. During his stay inVenice he received subdeacon's orders, and on his return to France in 1755 was made a papal councillor of state.[2]
Bernis took an important part in the delicate negotiations between France andAustria which preceded theSeven Years' War. He regarded the alliance purely as a temporary expedient, and did not propose to employ the whole forces of France in a general war. But he was overruled by his colleagues. Bernis became secretary for foreign affairs on 27 June 1757,[4] but owing to his attempts to counteract the spendthrift policy of the marquise de Pompadour and her followers, he fell into disgrace and was, in December 1758, banished to Soissons by Louis XV, where he remained in retirement for six years. In the previous November he had been created cardinal byPope Clement XIII.[2]
On the death of the royal mistress in 1764, Bernis was recalled and once more offered the seals of office, but declined them, and was appointedarchbishop of Albi. His occupancy of the see was not of long duration. In 1769, he went toRome to assist at the conclave which resulted in the election ofPope Clement XIV, and the talent which he displayed on that occasion procured him the appointment of ambassador to Rome, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was partly instrumental in bringing about the suppression of theJesuits, and acted with greater moderation than is generally allowed.[2] He assisted the wavering pope in securing the delays for which he had asked. But the pressure exercised by the Bourbons of Spain, Naples, and France, and the passive attitude and tacit consent of Austria brought the negotiations to an abrupt termination.[3] During theFrench Revolution, he celebrated, in the national church ofSan Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, a solemn funeral forLouis XVI, who had been executed on theguillotine in 1793. He resigned the administration of his archdiocese rather than take theconstitutional oath.[citation needed]
Bernis lost his influence underPope Pius VI, who was friendly to the Jesuits, to whom he was hostile. He was reduced almost to penury but the court of Spain, mindful of the support he had given to their ambassador in obtaining the condemnation of the Jesuits, came to his relief with a handsome pension.[2] He devoted himself to the French exiles, placing his palace at the disposal of the princesses of France who had sought refuge in Rome, for Pius bestowed on him posthumously theepithet "Protector of the Church of France".[3]
Bernis died atRome on 3 November 1794, and was buried in the church of S. Luigi de Francesi. In 1803 his remains were transferred to the cathedral atNîmes. His poems, the longest of which isLa Religion vengée[5] (Parma, 1794), were collected and published after his death (Paris, 1797, etc.). HisMémoires et lettres 1715-58 (8 vols. Paris. 1878) are still interesting to the historian.[2]
Attribution:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bernis, François Joachim de Pierre de".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 803.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "François-Joachim-Pierre de Bernis".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
