De Marillac was born in Riom and was, by the age of twenty-two, an advocate in parliament in Paris. Suspected, however, of sympathizing with the reformers, he deemed it prudent to leave Paris, and in 1535 went to the East with his cousin Jean de La Forest, the first French ambassador at Constantinople. Cunning and ambitious, he soon made his mark, and his cousin having died during his embassy, Marillac was appointed his successor.[1]
He did not return from the East until 1538, when he was sent almost immediately to England, to replace Louis de Perreau, Sieur de Castillon at the court of Henry VIII where he remained until 1543. He is known to have sent dispatches back to France detailing events such as the king's first meeting with his fourth wife Anne of Cleves, which resulted in the sudden downfall and demise of the seemingly all-powerful Thomas Cromwell, who was responsible for the ill-fated marriage. Marillac reported in the spring of 1540 that "Cromwell is tottering".[2] While Henry, at first sight, found Anne of Cleves so unattractive that he could not consummate the marriage, Marillac was impressed by her gravity and dignity:[3] though he did not think her a great beauty, in his view she would be a perfectly acceptable Queen of England (she was a distant relative of both the French and English royal families), and he seems to have found Henry's attitude to her rather baffling.[4] He later noted drily that Cromwell was not dead more than a few months before the King was bewailing the loss of his finest minister, and, typically, blaming Cromwell's enemies for persuading him to destroy Cromwell on a trivial pretext. His dispatches are a valuable source of information about the English Court in this tumultuous period, although he was not an entirely reliable source.[5] Marillac himself admitted that the vagaries of English politics were often beyond the understanding of foreigners "so great is the inconstancy of the English".[6]
He retained his influence during the reign of Henry II, fulfilling important missions in Switzerland and later at the imperial court (1547–1551), and at the courts of the German princes (1553–1554). In 1555 he was one of the French deputies at the conferences held at Mark near Ardres to discuss peace with England. His two last missions were at Rome (1557) and at the Diet of Augsburg (1559). In 1550 he was given the bishopric of Vannes, and in 1557 the archbishopric of Vienne; he also became a member of the privy council. He distinguished himself as a statesman at the Assembly of Notables at Fontainebleau in 1560, when he delivered an exceedingly brilliant discourse, in which he opposed the policy of violence and demanded a national council and the assembly of the states-general. Irritated by his opposition, the Guises compelled him to leave the court, and he died on 2 December of the same year, at Melun, France.[1]
Works
Works by Marillac include:
Discours sur la rupture de la Trève en l'an 1556 (Paris, 1556)
Sommaire de l'ambassade en Allemagne de feu Mr. l'archevesque de Vienne en l'an 1550, published in Ranke's Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter der Reformation, vol. vi. (Leipzig, 1882).
Further reading
Kaulek, J. (1885), Correspondance politique de Castillon et Marillac (1537-1542) (in French), Paris
Vassiere, P. de (1896). Charles de Marillac: ambassadeur et homme politique sous (in French). Paris.
Knecht, Robert (2014). "Charles de Marillac". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/70818. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
References
^ abOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Marillac, Charles de". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 719.
^Alison WeirThe Six Wives of Henry VIII Random House edition 1992 p.412
^Antonia FraserThe Six Wives of Henry VIII Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1992 p.306
charles, marillac, 1510, december, 1560, french, prelate, diplomat, bornc, 1510riom, francedied, 1560, december, 1560melun, francenationalityfrench, contents, career, works, further, reading, referencescareer, editde, marillac, born, riom, twenty, advocate, pa. Charles de Marillac c 1510 2 December 1560 was a French prelate and diplomat Charles de MarillacBornc 1510Riom FranceDied 1560 12 02 2 December 1560Melun FranceNationalityFrench Contents 1 Career 2 Works 3 Further reading 4 ReferencesCareer EditDe Marillac was born in Riom and was by the age of twenty two an advocate in parliament in Paris Suspected however of sympathizing with the reformers he deemed it prudent to leave Paris and in 1535 went to the East with his cousin Jean de La Forest the first French ambassador at Constantinople Cunning and ambitious he soon made his mark and his cousin having died during his embassy Marillac was appointed his successor 1 He did not return from the East until 1538 when he was sent almost immediately to England to replace Louis de Perreau Sieur de Castillon at the court of Henry VIII where he remained until 1543 He is known to have sent dispatches back to France detailing events such as the king s first meeting with his fourth wife Anne of Cleves which resulted in the sudden downfall and demise of the seemingly all powerful Thomas Cromwell who was responsible for the ill fated marriage Marillac reported in the spring of 1540 that Cromwell is tottering 2 While Henry at first sight found Anne of Cleves so unattractive that he could not consummate the marriage Marillac was impressed by her gravity and dignity 3 though he did not think her a great beauty in his view she would be a perfectly acceptable Queen of England she was a distant relative of both the French and English royal families and he seems to have found Henry s attitude to her rather baffling 4 He later noted drily that Cromwell was not dead more than a few months before the King was bewailing the loss of his finest minister and typically blaming Cromwell s enemies for persuading him to destroy Cromwell on a trivial pretext His dispatches are a valuable source of information about the English Court in this tumultuous period although he was not an entirely reliable source 5 Marillac himself admitted that the vagaries of English politics were often beyond the understanding of foreigners so great is the inconstancy of the English 6 He retained his influence during the reign of Henry II fulfilling important missions in Switzerland and later at the imperial court 1547 1551 and at the courts of the German princes 1553 1554 In 1555 he was one of the French deputies at the conferences held at Mark near Ardres to discuss peace with England His two last missions were at Rome 1557 and at the Diet of Augsburg 1559 In 1550 he was given the bishopric of Vannes and in 1557 the archbishopric of Vienne he also became a member of the privy council He distinguished himself as a statesman at the Assembly of Notables at Fontainebleau in 1560 when he delivered an exceedingly brilliant discourse in which he opposed the policy of violence and demanded a national council and the assembly of the states general Irritated by his opposition the Guises compelled him to leave the court and he died on 2 December of the same year at Melun France 1 Works EditWorks by Marillac include Discours sur la rupture de la Treve en l an 1556 Paris 1556 Sommaire de l ambassade en Allemagne de feu Mr l archevesque de Vienne en l an 1550 published in Ranke s Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter der Reformation vol vi Leipzig 1882 Further reading EditKaulek J 1885 Correspondance politique de Castillon et Marillac 1537 1542 in French Paris Vassiere P de 1896 Charles de Marillac ambassadeur et homme politique sous in French Paris Knecht Robert 2014 Charles de Marillac Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 ref odnb 70818 Subscription or UK public library membership required References Edit a b One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Marillac Charles de Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 17 11th ed Cambridge University Press p 719 Alison Weir The Six Wives of Henry VIII Random House edition 1992 p 412 Antonia Fraser The Six Wives of Henry VIII Weidenfeld amp Nicolson 1992 p 306 Fraser p 306 Weir p 414 Lacey Baldwin Smith A Tudor Tragedy the life and times of Katherine Howard The Reprint Society 1962 p 112 This Kingdom of France related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Charles de Marillac amp oldid 1130125647, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
