GUILLAUME BRIÇONNET, BISHOP OF MEAUX

GUILLAUME BRIÇONNET, BISHOP OF MEAUX - 24 JANUARY

GUILLAUME BRIÇONNET, BISHOP OF MEAUX

Guillaume [William Briconnet], born in Tours in 1472, was a son of Cardinal Briçonnet, and before entering the ecclesiastical state was known as the Count de Montbrun. In 1489 he was named Bishop of Lodeve. Distinguished by remarkable judgment, great learning, and a love of study, he received from Louis XII several preferments, and was named as chaplain to the Queen. In 1507 he succeeded his father as Abbot of Saint-Germain-des-Pres.

The king entrusted him with delicate and difficult missions, and sent him, the same year that Guillaume became abbot, to Rome as extraordinary ambassador for the purpose of justifying the conduct of his prince against the accusations of the Emperor Maximilian. In an eloquent Latin speech pronounced in the presence of the pope and of the Sacred College, the bishop fully vindicated Louis.

Guillaume enjoyed equally the confidence of Francis I, who transferred him to the See of Meaux, and sent him as ambassador to Leo X to Rome, where he resided for two years.

As Abbot of Saint-Germain, he displayed a great zeal for the reform of abuses, put an end to disorders, and revived monastic regularity, spirit, and fervour. As Bishop of Meaux, he held a number of synods, and made wise regulations against the depravity of morals and the relaxation of ecclesiastical discipline, and promoted among his clergy a taste for learning, to bring back to the Catholic Faith the disciples of the new doctrine, who were already numerous in his diocese.

He was no less zealous in opposing the encroachments of the religious and in directing them back to the spirit of their state. The Cordeliers, a branch of the Franciscan Order, accused the bishop of heresy, basing their accusation on the protection given by him to the partisans of Humanism. The bishop defended himself and was declared innocent. His love of letters caused him to increase considerably the library of the Abbey of Saint-Germain. He translated into French the "Contemplatines Idiotae de amore divino".

Guillaume died at the chateau of Esmant near Montereau, January 24, 1534.

Source: Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913

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