DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61669#0080
HOLBEIN’S "AMBASSADORS"
house.”1 Involuntarily Holbein’s presentment of the Bailly of Troyes
rises before the imagination, so exactly do these words describe it.
But while the career of Jean de Dinteville is unclouded by any
hint of blame, that of the Bishop of Auxerre is of a chequered character,
in which light and shadow are almost equally distributed. Hot-
tempered, and failing often in tact and discretion, his mental parts were
yet coupled, to judge by the warm friendships he inspired, with consider-
able personal charm. Deeply attached to learning, keenly sensitive to
the beautiful, he was a typical churchman of the Renaissance, as much
layman as ecclesiastic. His love of sport, especially his passion for
falconry, then at the height of fashion, are as oddly contrasted to his
exaggerated asceticism and frugal diet, as the mermaids of his coat-of-
arms to his pastoral staff.2
Having learnt grammar at the College of Troyes, Francois de
Dinteville proceeded to the University of Paris. Here he was a
member of the College of Navarre, which, as the only one at that time
providing lectures in divinity outside the walls of the Sorbonne, was
popular with theologians of moderate views. Thence, probably with
the object of studying civil law, the future bishop was sent to Poitiers;
and, finally, to complete his training in both branches of jurisprudence,
to the University of Padua.
No doubt this residence in Italy, at the crowning moment of the
Renaissance, gave a definite stamp to his tastes in more ways than one.
On his return to France he was made Almoner to Louise of Savoy.
Shortly after he was appointed Bishop of Riez, and suffragan to his
uncle; upon whose death, in 1530, he was promoted to the see of
Auxerre. He appeared well fitted, therefore, for the arduous duties he
was now called upon to undertake as French ambassador to the Vatican,
at the difficult moment of the divorce suit of Henry VIII.
The same year, 1531, witnessed the first mission of the Bailly
of Troyes to England. The friendship between Henry VIII. and
Francis I. was now growing apace. Besides the resident ambassadors
1 Lebeuf, “ Memoires concernant 1’Eglise d’Auxerre,” pp. 138-199, quoted by Sandret,
“ Revue Hist, et Nobiliaire,” xiii., 220. 2 See illustration, Part IL, chap. vii.
56
house.”1 Involuntarily Holbein’s presentment of the Bailly of Troyes
rises before the imagination, so exactly do these words describe it.
But while the career of Jean de Dinteville is unclouded by any
hint of blame, that of the Bishop of Auxerre is of a chequered character,
in which light and shadow are almost equally distributed. Hot-
tempered, and failing often in tact and discretion, his mental parts were
yet coupled, to judge by the warm friendships he inspired, with consider-
able personal charm. Deeply attached to learning, keenly sensitive to
the beautiful, he was a typical churchman of the Renaissance, as much
layman as ecclesiastic. His love of sport, especially his passion for
falconry, then at the height of fashion, are as oddly contrasted to his
exaggerated asceticism and frugal diet, as the mermaids of his coat-of-
arms to his pastoral staff.2
Having learnt grammar at the College of Troyes, Francois de
Dinteville proceeded to the University of Paris. Here he was a
member of the College of Navarre, which, as the only one at that time
providing lectures in divinity outside the walls of the Sorbonne, was
popular with theologians of moderate views. Thence, probably with
the object of studying civil law, the future bishop was sent to Poitiers;
and, finally, to complete his training in both branches of jurisprudence,
to the University of Padua.
No doubt this residence in Italy, at the crowning moment of the
Renaissance, gave a definite stamp to his tastes in more ways than one.
On his return to France he was made Almoner to Louise of Savoy.
Shortly after he was appointed Bishop of Riez, and suffragan to his
uncle; upon whose death, in 1530, he was promoted to the see of
Auxerre. He appeared well fitted, therefore, for the arduous duties he
was now called upon to undertake as French ambassador to the Vatican,
at the difficult moment of the divorce suit of Henry VIII.
The same year, 1531, witnessed the first mission of the Bailly
of Troyes to England. The friendship between Henry VIII. and
Francis I. was now growing apace. Besides the resident ambassadors
1 Lebeuf, “ Memoires concernant 1’Eglise d’Auxerre,” pp. 138-199, quoted by Sandret,
“ Revue Hist, et Nobiliaire,” xiii., 220. 2 See illustration, Part IL, chap. vii.
56