AMBOISE, GEORGES D', (1460-1510), French cardinal and minister
of state, belonged to a noble family possessed of considerable
influence. His father, Pierre d'Amboise, seigneur de Chaumont,
was chamberlain to Charles VII. and Louis XI. and ambassador at
Rome. His eldest brother, Charles d'Amboise, was governor
of the Isle of France, Champagne and Burgundy, and councillor
of Louis XI. Georges d'Amboise was only fourteen when his
father procured for him the bishopric of Montauban, and
Louis XI. appointed him one of his almoners. On arriving at
manhood d'Amboise attached himself to the party of the duke
of Orleans, in whose cause he suffered imprisonment, and
on whose return to the royal favour he was elevated to the
archbishopric of Narbonne, which after some time he changed
for that of Rouen (1493). On the appointment of the duke
of Orleans as governor of Normandy, d'Amboise became his
lieutenant-general. In 1498 the duke of Orleans mounted
the throne as Louis XII., and d'Amboise was suddenly raised
to the high position of cardinal and prime minister. His
administration was, in many respects, well-intentioned and
useful. Having the good fortune to serve a king who was
both economical and just, he was able to diminish the
imposts, to introduce order among the soldiery, and above
all, by the ordinances of 1499, to improve the organization of
justice. He was also zealous for the reform of the church,
and particularly for the reform of the monasteries; and it
is greatly to his credit that he did not avail himself of the
extremely favourable opportunities he possessed of becoming a
pluralist. He regularly spent a large income in charity,
and he laboured strenuously to stay the progress of the
plague and famine which broke out in 1504. His foreign
policy, less happy and less wise, was animated by two aims
-- to increase the French power in Italy and to seat himself
on the papal throne; and these aims be sought to achieve by
diplomacy, not by force. He, however, sympathized with,
and took part in, the campaign which was begun in 1499 for
the Conquest of Milan. In 1500 he was named lieutenant-
general in Italy and charged with the organization of the
conquest. On the death of Alexander VI. he aspired to the
papacy. He had French troops at the gates of Rome, by means
of which he could easily have frightened the conclave and
induced them to elect him; but he was persuaded to trust
to his influence; the troops were dismissed, and an Italian
was appointed as Pius III.; and again, on the death of Pius
within the month, another Italian, Julius II., was chosen
(1503). D'Amboise received in compensation the title of
legate for life in France and in the Comtat Venaissin. He
was one of the negotiators of the disastrous treaties of
Blois (1504), and in 1508 of the League of Cambrai against
Venice. In 1509 he again accompanied Louis XII. into
Italy, but on his return he was seized at the city of Lyons
with a fatal attack of gout in the stomach. He died there
on the 25th of May 1510. His body was removed to Rouen,
and a magnificent tomb, on which he is represented kneeling
in the attitude of prayer, was erected to his memory in
the cathedral of that town. Throughout his life he was an
enlightened patron of letters and art, and it was at his
orders that the chateau of Gaillon near Rouen was built.
See Lettres du roi Louis XII. et du cardinal d'Amboise
(Brussels, 1712); L. Legendre, Vie du cardinal d'Amboise
(Rouen, 1726); E. Lavisse, Histoire de France (vol. v. by
H. Lemonnier, Paris, 19O3); J. A. Deville, Tombeaux de la
cathedrale de Rouen (3rd ed., 1881). For a bibliography
of the printed sources see, H. Hauser, Les Sources de
l'histoire de France, KM'siecle, vol. i. (1906). (J. I.)
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