| Étienne-Hubert de Cambacérès | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal Archbishop of Rouen | |
 Engraving of Étienne-Hubert de Cambacérès | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | Rouen |
| See | Rouen |
| Appointed | 1802 |
| Term ended | 1818 |
| Predecessor | Dominique de La Rochefoucauld |
| Successor | François de Pierre de Bernis |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 1780 |
| Consecration | 9 April 1802 by Giovanni Battista Caprara Montecuccoli |
| Created cardinal | 17 January 1803 by Pope Pius VII |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Étienne-Hubert de Cambacérès 11 September 1756 Montpellier, Languedoc, Kingdom of France |
| Died | 25 October 1818 Rouen, France |
| Buried | Rouen Cathedral |
| Nationality | French |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Parents | Jean Antoine de Cambacérès and Marie Rose Vassal |
| Coat of arms | .svg) |
Étienne-Hubert de Cambacérès (11 September 1756 – 25 October 1818) was a French Catholic Cardinal and Archbishop of Rouen. A notable clergyman during the Napoleonic era, he was also a Senator under the First Empire.
Family
Cambacérès was born in Montpellier, the son of Jean Antoine de Cambacérès, a counselor of the Court of Accounts, and his first wife, Marie Rose Vassal. His elder brother was Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès, Archchancellor of the French Empire, while another brother, Jean-Pierre-Hugues de Cambacérès, was a baron and general under the Empire.
Early life and education
Cambacérès entered religious life by vocation. In 1763, he joined the Confraternity of White Penitents in Montpellier and later became its prior in 1804. He studied at the seminary in Avignon and earned a license in canon and civil law (in utroque) from the University of Montpellier in 1777. With the help of his uncle, the vicar general of Bourges, Cambacérès obtained a canonry in Montpellier. By 1789, he served as a canon and vicar general in the Diocese of Alès. He was ordained a priest in 1780 in Montpellier.
Despite the turmoil of the French Revolution, Cambacérès avoided persecution by abstaining from political engagement and maintaining loyalty to his ecclesiastical duties. He refused the Civil Constitution of the Clergy in 1790 but pledged allegiance to the laws of the Republic in 1792. With his brother’s influence, he was spared exile and continued his quiet life in Montpellier.
Archbishop of Rouen and cardinal
In November 1801, Cambacérès joined his brother in Paris. He was appointed Archbishop of Rouen on 9 April 1802 and consecrated at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Caprara. Cambacérès reorganized the diocesan administration, reopened seminaries, and reestablished parishes in Rouen. He was instrumental in restoring ecclesiastical infrastructure after the Revolution.
On 17 January 1803, Pope Pius VII made Cambacérès a cardinal-priest with the title of San Stefano al Monte Celio. During the pope’s visit to France in 1804, Cambacérès was part of the delegation accompanying him. However, he later distanced himself from Napoleon’s policies, notably refusing to attend the emperor’s second marriage due to its conflict with Church teachings on divorce.
Cambacérès was also a member of the Legion of Honour, receiving distinctions as a Grand Officer and later as a Grand Eagle. Napoleon appointed him to the Senate in 1805, and he was made a count of the Empire in 1808.
Later years and death
In April 1814, Cambacérès supported the Bourbon Restoration but abstained from political activities during the Hundred Days. He remained Archbishop of Rouen until his death on 25 October 1818. He was buried in Rouen Cathedral, near the mausoleum of the cardinals of Amboise.
Episcopal lineage
Cambacérès’s episcopal lineage traces back to Cardinal Scipione Rebiba through Giovanni Battista Caprara and other notable prelates.
References
- Revue de l'Institut Napoléon Issues 94-101 Institut Napoléon 1965 "Papiers d'Etienne-Hubert, cardinal de Cambacérès (1756- 1818), frère du duc de Parme : pièces diverses sur sa carrière ecclésiastique entre 1770 et 1805 (7)."
- ^ The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church: Consistory of January 17, 1803 (V)
- Almanach impérial, 1810.
External links
Categories:- 1756 births
- 1818 deaths
- 19th-century French cardinals
- Archbishops of Rouen
- Members of the Sénat conservateur
- Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour
- People from Montpellier
- Burials at Rouen Cathedral
- Cardinals created by Pope Pius VII
- Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Hundred Days
- Participants in the Council of Paris (1811)