The Château de Montsoreau is a Flamboyant Gothic castle in the Loire Valley, directly built in the Loire riverbed. It is located in the market town of Montsoreau, in the Maine-et-Loire département of France, close to Saumur, Chinon, Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, and Candes-Saint-Martin. The Château de Montsoreau is situated at the confluence of two rivers, the Loire and the Vienne, and the meeting point of three historical regions: Anjou, Poitou, and Touraine. It is the only château of the Loire Valley built directly in the Loire riverbed.
Jean Balue was a French cardinal and minister of Louis XI. Born without resources, he managed to climb the political ladder by exploiting connections, to whom he often did not remain loyal, and by making himself an indispensable agent of the king's purposes in a time of political disorder in France. His services were as much military as ecclesiastical, bringing him the critical task of defending the city of Paris against the King's enemies. His work as a diplomat in dealing with Duke Francis of Brittany and with Charles de France brought him the office of first minister to the King. Balue overreached himself in negotiating a treaty between the King and Charles the Bold, who had become Duke of Burgundy and was trying to recover all his family inheritance. Secret correspondence revealed that he might have been playing both sides in the negotiation, and he was arrested, and held on charges of treason from 1469 to 1481, while King and Pope argued over jurisdiction. After the death of King Louis and Pope Sixtus, the new French king, Charles VIII, appointed Balue his ambassador in Rome.
Jean du Bellay was a French diplomat and cardinal, a younger brother of Guillaume du Bellay, and cousin and patron of the poet Joachim du Bellay. He was bishop of Bayonne by 1526, member of the Conseil privé of King Francis I from 1530, and bishop of Paris from 1532. He became Bishop of Ostia and Dean of the College of Cardinals in 1555.
The Diocese of Gap and Embrun is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southern France.
The Diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is coextensive with the Department of Calvados and is a suffragan to the Archdiocese of Rouen, which is also in Normandy.
The Diocese of Langres is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church comprising the département of Haute-Marne in France.
The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Montpellier (–Lodève–Béziers–Agde–Saint-Pons-de-Thomières) is a Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church in south-western France. It was probably created in the 3rd century AD. The current metropolitan archbishop is Pierre-Marie Carré; the immediate past Archbishop Emeritus is Guy Marie Alexandre Thomazeau. On September 16, 2002, as part of the reshuffling of the map of the French ecclesiastical provinces, the diocese of Montpellier ceased to be a suffragan of Avignon and was elevated to archdiocese and metropolitan of a new ecclesiastical province, with the dioceses of Carcassonne, Mende, Nimes and Perpignan–Elne as suffragans.
The Diocese of Valence (–Die–Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux) (Latin: Dioecesis Valentinensis ; French: Diocèse de Valence is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in southern France. The contemporary diocese is co-extensive with the department of Drôme.
The Archdiocese of Marseille is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The archepiscopal see is in the city of Marseille, and the diocese comprises the arrondissement of Marseille, a subdivision of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône in the Region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.
The Diocese of Viviers is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. Erected in the 4th century, the diocese was restored in the Concordat of 1822, and comprises the department of Ardèche, in the Region of Rhône-Alpes. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Lyon.
The former Roman Catholic Diocese of Oloron was a Latin rite bishopric in Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, Aquitaine region of south-west France, from the 6th to the 19th century.
The Diocese of Saint-Brieuc and Tréguier is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the department of Côtes d'Armor in the Region of Brittany. The diocese is currently suffragan to the Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo. The current bishop is Denis Moutel, appointed in 2010.
The Diocese of Bayonne, Lescar, and Oloron, commonly Diocese of Bayonne, is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Bordeaux. The diocese comprises the département of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, in the région of Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
The Diocese of Angers is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The episcopal see is located in Angers Cathedral in the city of Angers. The diocese extends over the entire department of Maine-et-Loire.
The ancient residential diocese of Orange in the Comtat Venaissin in Provence, a fief belonging to the papacy, was suppressed by the French government during the French Revolution. It was revived in 2009 as a titular see of the Catholic Church.
The Diocese of Pamiers, Couserans, and Mirepoix is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in southern France. The diocese comprises the department of Ariège and is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Toulouse. The diocese of Pamiers is divided into five Deaneries: Pamiers, Foix, Haut-Ariège, Couserans, and Pays-d'Olmes-Mirapoix. The episcopal see is the Cathedral of Saint Antoninus in the city of Pamiers.
The Diocese of Montauban is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese is coextensive with Tarn-et-Garonne, and is currently a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Toulouse. The episcopal seat of the Diocese of Montauban is in Montauban Cathedral.
Gohard or Gunhard was a 9th-century bishop of Nantes, lord of Blain, saint and cephalophore martyr of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Diocese of Geneva was a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese in part of Switzerland and Savoy from 400 to 1801, when it merged with the Diocese of Chambéry. The merged diocese was later broken up, due to changes in national boundaries. The diocese of Chambéry lost Swiss territory to the Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg.
François Olivier, Sieur de Leuvillé was Chancellor of France from 1545 to his death in 1560. After having spent his early career serving in the Parlement and chancelleries of the royal family he was elevated to the prestigious role of Chancellor of France upon the disgrace of Guillaume Poyet.
