Pomponne de Bellièvre (1529 – 7 or 9 September 1607) was a French statesman, chancellor of France (1599–1605).

Life

Bellièvre was born in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

in 1529. Between 1575 and 1588, Bellièvre accepted more than a dozen diplomatic missions for King Henry III of France (1551–1589). Sometimes he negotiated with foreign rulers, such as

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

, but more often with domestic antagonists, such as

Henry of Navarre Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

and his

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

s, Henry I, Duke of Guise, and the Catholic Leaguers, and Francis, Duke of Anjou and his allies in the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

. In the course of these missions Bellievre corresponded copiously with Henry III, and Bellievre also discussed them with his ministerial colleagues, often stating frankly to colleagues his discomfort with King Henry's decisions. With the king himself, he expressed his doubts more cautiously.Dickerman, Edmund H., and Anita M. Walker, "Missions impossible: Pomponne de Bellievre and the policies of Henry III" in ''Canadian Journal of History'', Dec. 200
online version
at findarticles.com, Retrieved 1 August 2008

Farewell to Henry III

As King Henry III lay dying in 1589, Bellièvre pronounced a devastating commentary on the royal master he had served: "If kings are good, we must preserve them; if they are bad, we must endure them. God sends one or the other to punish or console His people."

References

*Poncet, Olivier, ''Pomponne de Bellièvre (1529–1607) Un homme d’État au temps des guerres de religion'' (Paris: École des chartes, 1999)

Notes

1529 births 1607 deaths Chancellors of France Politicians from Lyon 16th-century French diplomats 17th-century French politicians French Ministers of Finance 16th-century French politicians {{KingdomofFrance-stub