Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (born 1523)

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Charles de Bourbon (22 September 1523 – 9 May 1590), known as the Cardinal de Bourbon, was a French noble and prelate. He was the Archbishop of Rouen from 1550 (as Charles I) and the Catholic Ligue candidate for King of France as Charles X from 1589. Born the third son of Charles of Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme and Françoise d'Alençon he was destined for a career in the church. As a member of the House of Bourbon-Vendôme, he was a prince du sang. Already having secured several sees, he was made a cardinal by Pope Paul III in January 1548. In 1550 he received the office of Archbishop of Rouen making him the Primate of Normandy. The following year the promotion of Bourbon to Patriarch of the French church was threatened by King Henry II to secure concessions from the Pope. During the Italian Wars which resumed that year, Bourbon played a role by supporting Catherine de Medici's regency governments in France and briefly holding a lieutenant-generalship in Picardy. In 1557 the Pope appointed the...

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