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Georges d'Amboise

Georges d'Amboise (1460-25 May 1510) was a French member of the College of Cardinals of the Papal States who supported Papal backing of France during the Italian Wars. d'Amboise assisted Cesare Borgia in his quest to marry a French princess, and he also negotiated a French alliance with the Papal States. Borgia secured his appointment as a Cardinal in exchange for his friendship.

Biography[]

Georges d'Amboise 1499

d'Amboise in 1499

Georges d'Amboise was born in Chaumont-sur-Loire and became Bishop of Montauban at the age of fourteen in 1474. He was made an almoner (a man who gives money to deserving poor) of King Louis XI of France, but he was imprisoned after Duke Louis of Orleans' revolt. In 1482 he was not confirmed as Archbishop of Narbonne and he changed his see to Rouen and he became Lieutenant-General of Louis when he became the Governor of Normandy. D'Amboise was made a Cardinal in 1499.

During the Italian Wars, D'Amboise fought under King Louis XII and captured Ludovico Sforza in 1500, sending him as a prisoner to France. As a cardinal, he strove to become the next pope, and in September 1503 he was accompanied by French troops to Rome when a papal conclave was called to succeed the dead Pope Alexander VI. However, when Pope Pius III was elected, he went along with the new pope. After Pius died within the month, Pope Julius II became pope, and d'Amboise was made Papal Legate for Life in France in compensation for his loss of the papacy.

D'Amboise served as a French diplomat in 1504's Treaty of Blois and the 1508 League of Cambrai treaty, and in 1509 he accompanied King Louis XII into Italy. However, he was seized by gout in the stomach while in Lyon in 1510 and suddenly died. 

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