Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle Count of La Baume Saint-Amour | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal,Archbishop of Besançon | |
 Portrait byWillem Key | |
| Archdiocese | Besançon |
| Appointed | 25 June 1584 |
| Term ended | 21 September 1586 |
| Other post(s) | Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina (1578-1586) |
| Previous post(s) | Archbishop of Mechelen (1561-1583) Bishop of Arras (1538-1561) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 1540 |
| Consecration | 21 May 1542 by Juan Pardo de Tavera |
| Created cardinal | 26 February 1561 byPius IV |
| Rank | Cardinal-Bishop |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 August 1517 |
| Died | 21 September 1586 (aged 69) Madrid,Kingdom of Spain |
| Motto | Durate |
| Signature |  |
| Coat of arms |  |
Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle (20 August 1517 – 21 September 1586), Comte de La Baume Saint Amour, typically known asCardinal Granvelle in English, was a Burgundian statesman, made acardinal, who followed his father as a leading minister of the SpanishHabsburgs, and was one of the most influential European politicians during the time which immediately followed the appearance ofProtestantism in Europe; "the dominating Imperial statesman of the whole century".[1]He was also a notableart collector, the "greatest private collector of his time, the friend and patron of Titian and Leoni and many other artists".[1]
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He was born in theFree Imperial City of Besançon, now in France, then a self-governing city surrounded by the Imperial territory of theCounty of Burgundy (Franche-Comté).
His father,Nicholas Perrenot de Granvelle (1484–1550), afterwards became chancellor of the empire underCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor, held an influential position in the Netherlands, and from 1530 until his death he was one of the emperor's most trusted advisers in Germany. On the completion of his studies in law atPadua and in divinity atLeuven,[2] Antoine held a canonry atBesançon, nowadays in eastern France, then was promoted to thebishopric of Arras with a dispensation due to his age of barely twenty-three (1540).[3] He was ordained into the priesthood in 1540.[citation needed]
In his episcopal capacity he attended several diets of the empire, as well as the opening meetings of theCouncil of Trent, which he addressed on behalf of Charles V. The influence of his father, now chancellor, led to Granvelle being entrusted with many difficult and delicate pieces of public business.[citation needed] In the execution of these tasks he developed a talent for diplomacy, while at the same time acquiring an intimate acquaintance with most of the currents of European politics. He was involved in the settlement of the terms of peace after the defeat of theSchmalkaldic League at theBattle of Mühlberg in 1547, a settlement in which, to say the least, some particularly sharp practice was exhibited.[citation needed]
In 1550, he succeeded his father in the office of secretary of state; in this capacity he attended Charles in the war withMaurice of Saxony, accompanied him in the flight fromInnsbruck, and afterwards drew up thePeace of Passau (August 1552).[3] In the following year he andSimon Renard, the ambassador ofCharles V to the QueenMary I of England, conducted the negotiations for themarriage of Mary andPhilip II of Spain. It was to Philip in 1555, on the abdication of the emperor, that Granvelle transferred his services, and by whom he was employed in the Netherlands.
In April 1559, Granvelle was one of the Spanish signatories for theTreaty of Cateau-Cambrésis, and on Philip's withdrawal from the Netherlands in August of the same year he was surreptitiously appointed chief councillor to the regentMargaret of Parma.[4]
The policy of repression which in this capacity he pursued during the next five years secured for him many tangible rewards: in 1560 he was elevated to the archepiscopal see ofMechelen, and in 1561 he became a cardinal; but the growing hostility of a people whose religious convictions he had set himself to oppose ultimately made it impossible for him to continue in the Netherlands. On the advice of his royal master he retired toFranche-Comté in March 1564.[3]
After a visit to Rome in 1565; in November 1566 he was appointed as member of the Congregation of "Principi", the centre of thePapal States' foreign policy, by PopePius V.[5]
In 1570, Granvelle, at the request of Philip, helped to arrange the alliance between the Papacy, Venice and Spain against the Turks, an alliance which was responsible for the victory ofLepanto the next year. In the same year he becameviceroy of Naples, a post of some difficulty and danger, which for five years he occupied with ability and success. He was summoned toMadrid in 1575 by Philip II to be president of theCouncil for Italian affairs.
Among the more delicate negotiations of his later years were those of 1580, which had for their object the ultimate union of the crowns of Spain and Portugal, and those of 1584, which resulted in a check to France by the marriage of the Spanish infanta Catherine toCharles Emmanuel I of Savoy. In the same year he was madearchbishop of Besançon, but meanwhile he had been stricken with a lingering disease; he was never enthroned, but died at Madrid in 1586. His body was taken toBesançon Cathedral, where his father had been buried. There is a cenotaph in his honor withinSaint Rumbold's Cathedral, Mechelen.[3]
Granvelle had a famous art collection, which partly featured the favourite artists of his Habsburg patrons, such asTitian andLeone Leoni, but also included a number of works byPieter Bruegel, as well as a significant collection inherited from his father.
Bruegel's friend, sculptorJacques Jonghelinck (brother of Bruegel's biggest patron) had a studio inGranvelle's palace in Brussels. Whilst in the Netherlands, he "discovered"Antonis Mor and introduced him to the Madrid court, and he also patronisedGiambologna and arranged his first visit to Italy.
At his death the collection was inherited by his nephew, who was pressured byRudolf II, the very acquisitive Austrian Habsburg Emperor, to sell the finest pieces to him, which in 1597 he very reluctantly did, protesting that the price offered for thirty-three works was not enough even for six, and less than he had recently refused from CardinalFarnese forDürer'sMartyrdom of the Ten Thousand alone. The arrangements were handled byHans von Aachen. Most of these pieces are now in Vienna or Madrid, including Titian'sVenus with an Organ-player,Giambologna's copy of theequestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, tapestries aftercartoons byHieronymus Bosch and a bust of Charles V by Leoni.[1]
Though he was painted by Titian[6] and Mor, more famous than any portrait of Granvelle himself is the portrait of his dwarf and his mastiff by Mor, now at theMusée du Louvre.[7] which perhaps initiated the Spanish tradition of portraits of court dwarfs.
The FlemishRenaissance humanistJustus Lipsius was Granvelle's secretary for a period in Rome. He also corresponded with the composersLassus andAdrian Willaert.[8] He had a magnificent library, some of which remains at Besançon.[9]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Granvella, Antoine Perrenot, Cardinal de".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 361–362.
| Catholic Church titles | ||
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| Preceded by New Creation | 1st Archbishop of Mechelen until 1586 | Succeeded by |
