Jean du Bellay

Jean du Bellay (c. 1493 – 16 February 1560) was a French cardinal and diplomat, younger brother of Guillaume du Bellay, and bishop of Bayonne in 1526, member of the privy council in 1530, and bishop of Paris in 1532.

Biography

Bellay was born at Souday. He was well-fitted for a diplomatic career, and carried out several missions in England (1527–1534) and Rome (1534–1536). In 1535 he received his cardinal's hat; in 1536-1537 he was nominated "lieutenant-general" to the king at Paris and in the Tie de France, and was entrusted with the organization of the defence against the imperialists. When Guillaume du Bellay went to Piedmont, Jean was put in charge of the negotiations with the German Protestants, principally through the humanist Johannes Sturm and the historian Johann Sleidan.

In the last years of the reign of Francis I, cardinal du Bellay was in favour with the duchesse d'Étampes, and received a number of benefices: the bishopric of Limoges (1541), archbishopric of Bordeaux (1544), bishopric of Le Mans (1546); but his influence in the council was supplanted by that of François de Tournon. Under Henry II, du Bellay, involved in the disgrace of all the servants of Francis I, was sent to Rome (1547). Following the death of Pope Paul III, he obtained eight votes in the conclave to elect the new pope.