Alain de Coëtivy

Alain (II) de Coëtivy (8 November 1407 – 4 May 1474) was a French 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;
• 46th bishop of Uzès, 1442 to 1445;
• made cardinal in pectore by Pope Eugenius IV, confirmed by Pope Nicholas V in January 1447;
• made cardinal priest on the consistory of 20 December 1448;
• made titular cardinal of Santa Prassede, 3 January 1449;
• made honorary bishop of Nîmes on 1 April 1454, by transfer of a cousin, Jean du Châtel, to Carcassonne;
• made bishop-administrator of Dol, 18 June 1456;
• 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 created the parish of Saint-Yves-des-Bretons in Rome, with Pope Nicholas ceding Saint-André-de-Mortaraziis to the Breton nation, who reconsecrated it to their saint Yves.

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.

Sources

• Cardinal creation dates according to: Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church

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
• Léon Ménard, Histoire de Languedoc
• Germer-Durand Eugène, Le Prieuré et le Pont de Saint-Nicolas-de-Campagnac
• De la Roque, Louis, Armorial de Languedoc
• Joseph Vaissète, Histoire générale du 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)