Alain de Coëtivy

French prelate

Alain (II) de Coëtivy (8 November 1407 – 4 May 1474) was a prelate from a Breton noble family. He was bishop of Avignon, Uzès, Nîmes and of Dol, titular cardinal of Santa Prassede, then cardinal-bishop of Palestrina and cardinal-bishop of Sabina. Many sources mention him as the Cardinal of Avignon.

Alain de Coëtivy was born at Plounéventer, Léon. His mother was Catherine du Chastel, and her brother was Tanneguy du Chastel, soldier and favorite of Charles VII.

Career

canon of Le Léon, 5 July 1436 – 30 October 1437;
bishop of Avignon, 30 October 1437 – 1474, carrying out building works on the Petit Palais at Avignon;
administrator of the diocese of Uzès, 1442 to 1445;^[1]
named a cardinal in pectore by Pope Eugene IV, confirmed by Pope Nicholas V in January 1447;
named a cardinal in the consistory of 20 December 1448 by Pope Nicholas V;^[2]
assigned the titular church of Santa Prassede, 3 January 1449;^[3]
named bishop Nîmes in commendam on 1 April 1454, by transfer of a cousin, Jean du Châtel, to Carcassonne. The commission was revoked on 19 November 1460;^[4]
On 3 June 1455, Pope Calixtus III canonized the Dominican preacher Vincent Ferrer. His remains, in the cathedral in Vannes, Brittany, were inspected on 29 June 1455, and found to be "uncorrupted". Pope Calixtus sent Cardinal Alain as his legate to Vannes, to preside over the inauguration of the cult of the new saint. These ceremonies took place on 2–4 June 1456, in the presence of the cardinal and fifteen bishops.^[5]
made bishop-administrator of Dol, 18 June 1456. He did not reside in Dol, but instead appointed the bishop of Alet, Anbroise de Camerato, as his coadjutor.^[6] He resigned on 7 January 1460, expecting to be replaced by Bishop Gabriel du Châtel of Uzès, but in 1462 the transfer was revoked and Coëtivy resumed the administration.^[7]
present at the papal conclave of 1464, which elected Pope Paul II;
as cardinal, made bishop of Palestrina on 7 June 1465, then of Sabina on 11 December 1472;
made (honorary?) abbot of the abbey of Redon in 1468.

He also held the benefices of the parish of Marsac, which he resigned at the request of Pierre II de Bretagne on 4 September 1451. It was he who helped establish the parish of Saint-Yves-des-Bretons in Rome. Pope Nicholas V ceded Saint-André-de-Mortaraziis to the Breton nation, who reconsecrated it in honor of saint Yves.[1]

He opposed Basilios Bessarion for his Greek background. He was sent as a pontifical legate to Charles VII, king of France, in 1456, charged by Pope Calixtus III with making Charles set out on a crusade against the Turks. He died in Rome, at his palace on Campo de' Fiori, on 3 May 1474, and was buried in Rome. His monument at Santa Prassede was executed by Andrea Bregno.

References

^ Congregation of St. Maur, O.S.B. (edd.), Gallia Christiana, In Provincias Ecclesiasticas Distributa, (in Latin), Volume 6 (Paris: Typographia regia, 1739), p. 641.
^ Eubel, Hierarchia catholica II, p. 11, no. 4.
^ Eubel, Hierarchia catholica II, p. 10, note 6.
^ Eubel II, p. 201 with note 2.
^ H. Fages, Historia de San Vicente Ferrer, (in Spanish), Volume 2 (Valencia: A. García, 1903), pp. 322-326.
^ B. Hauréau, Gallia christiana, (in Latin), (Paris: Firmin Didot 1856), p. 1061.
^ Eubel II, p. 145 with notes 2 and 3.

Bibliography

Albanès, Joseph Hyacinthe (completed, annotated and published by Chevalier Ulysse), Gallia christiana novissima. Histoire des archevêchés, évêques et abbayes de France d'après les documents authentiques recueillis dans les registres du Vatican et les archives locales.
Catel, Guillaume de. Histoire de Languedoc
Charvet, Georges. La première maison d'Uzès, étude historique et généalogique de la première maison d'Uzès suivi du catalogue analytique des évêques d'Uzès (Nîmes, edited by Lacour-Ollé, 2002 reissue)
De la Roque, Louis. Armorial de Languedoc
Eubel, Conradus, ed. (1914). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. 2 (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana.
Germer-Durand, Eugène, Le Prieuré et le Pont de Saint-Nicolas-de-Campagnac
Labande, Léon-Honoré (1920). Avignon au xve siècle: Légation de Charles de Bourbon et du cardinal Julien de la Rovère. (in French). Monaco, 1920. [[pp. 71-96]
La Roncière, Charles de (1895). La Pragmatique Sanction de 1438 et Alain de Coëtivy. (in French). Saint-Denis: H. Bouillant, 1895. [extract from: Correspondence historique et archeologique, Année 1895].
Ménard, Léon, Histoire de Languedoc
Vaissète, Joseph. Histoire générale du Languedoc