Louis-Joseph de Montmorency-Laval (1724-1808) was a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, t ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

and

Bishop of Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

at the time of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

Early life

He was born 11 December 1724 in the Castle of Baillet in the town of Bayers, then in the ancient Province of

Angoumois Angoumois (), historically the County of Angoulême, was a county and province of France, originally inferior to the parent duchy of Aquitaine, similar to the Périgord to its east but lower and generally less forested, equally with occasional ...

, now part of the Department of

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; oc, Charanta ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, south western France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, an ...

. He was the son of Guy André de Montmorency-Laval and of Marie-Anne de Turménies de Nointel, and younger brother of Guy André Pierre de Montmorency-Laval. The family name is sometimes rendered as Laval-Montmorency. As a young man, Montmorency-Laval studied at the

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sor ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, where he obtained a licentiate in

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is t ...

. The date of his reception of Holy Orders as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

is lost, but he was made

Vicar General A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop ...

of the Archdiocese of Sens.

Bishop and cardinal

Montmorency-Laval was nominated as the new Bishop of Orléans by King

Louis XV of France Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

on 7 November 1753. This was confirmed by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

on 14 January 1754. He was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different gro ...

a bishop on 10 February 1754, at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris, by Christophe de Beaumont du Repaire,

Archbishop of Paris The Archdiocese of Paris (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Parisiensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Paris'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is one of twenty-three archdioceses in Fran ...

, assisted by Étienne-René Potier de Gesvres, Bishop of Beauvais, and Pierre-Jules-César de Rochechouard-Montigny,

Bishop of Bayeux The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux (Latin: ''Dioecesis Baiocensis et Lexoviensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Bayeux et Lisieux'') is a diocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is coextensive with the Department of Calvados and i ...

. After service in that post for four years, Montmorency-Laval was named

Bishop of Condom The Roman Catholic Diocese of Condom was a French bishopric based in Condom from 1317 to 1801. It comprised four archdeaconries : Condom itself, Bruilhois, Villefranche and Nérac. In 1763 these totaled circa 140 parishes. Abbey of Condom The ...

, where he remained for two years before being appointed

in 1760, a post he occupied until 1801. He was also appointed in 1786 Grand Almoner of France, and on 30 March 1789

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI ( it, Pio VI; born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to his death in August 1799. Pius VI condemned the French Revoluti ...

created him a

Exile and death

During the

Montmorency-Laval left France and lived in exile in the Kingdom of

Denmark–Norway Denmark–Norway ( Danish and Norwegian: ) was an early modern multi-national and multi-lingual real unionFeldbæk 1998:11 consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway (including the then Norwegian overseas possessions: the Faroe ...

, settling in the town of Altona, now a part of Germany. He was not able to participate at the

1799–1800 Papal conclave The 1799–1800 papal conclave followed the death of Pope Pius VI on 29 August 1799 and led to the selection of Cardinal Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, who took the name ''Pius VII'', on 14 March 1800. This conclave was held in Venice ...

, the only one for which he would have been eligible to vote. Montmorency-Laval died in exile in Altona on 17 June 1808. His body was initially buried at the local church of St. Joseph of the "Greater Freedom" (german: Großer Freiheit). In 1900 the remains were removed and reburied in the crypt of the Cathedral of Metz.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montmorency-Laval, Louis-Joseph de 1724 births 1808 deaths People from Charente Louis-Joseph 18th-century French cardinals Bishops of Condom Bishops of Metz Bishops of Orléans Burials in Germany Burials at Metz Cathedral Cardinals created by Pope Pius VI