Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 6.djvu/811

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GRANVELLE


in


GRANVELLE


pointed as secretary to Cardinal Acton, a position in which he acquired a thorough knowledge of canon law, and an intimate acquaintance with the method of con- ducting ecclesiastical affairs at Rome. In October, 1844, at the early age of twenty-eight, he became rector of the English College, and was made agent for tlie English bishops. In this capacity he was of great assistance to Dr. UUathorne, who was then negotiating for the restoration of the English hierarchy. He also , translated for Propaganda all English documents re- lating to the matter, and furnished the materials for the historical preface to the Decree of 1850. A year later, he was appointed to the new Diocese of South- wark, and was consecrated bishop on 6 July, 1851. Though he came to England almost as a stranger, he soon won the confidence of Catholics and others. As the Government was shy of transacting business di- rectly with Cardinal Wiseman, many negotiations were carried on by Dr. Grant, who was specially successful in obtaining from the Government the appointment of military and naval chaplains, as well as prison chaplains.

To the newly appointed hierarchy he was, as Bishop UUathorne testified, most useful: "His acuteness of learning, readiness of resource and knowledge of the forms of ecclesiastical business made him invaluable to our joint counsels at home, whether in synods or in our yearly episcopal meetings; and his obligingness, his untirmg spirit of work, and the expedition and accu- racy with which he struck off documents in Latin, Italian, or English, naturally brought the greater part of such work on his shoulders." In the administra- tion of his diocese he proved equal to the task of organization, which was necessary in an age of rapid expansion, while the remarkable sanctity of his pri- vate life led to his being generally regarded as a samt, and caused Pius IX, when he heard of his death, to exclaim "Another saint in heaven!" The virtues of charity and humUity in particular were practised by him in an heroic degree. The last years of his life were spent in great suffering, caused by cancer, and when he set out to attend the Vatican Council at Rome in 1870, he knew that he would not return. He was appointed member of the Congregation for the Oriental Rites and the Apostolic Missions, but was too ill to take an active part in the proceedings. After death his body was brought back to England for burial. His works were a translation of the "Hidden Treas- ure" of Blessed Leonard of Port Maurice (Edinburgh, 1855), and " Meditations of the Sisters of Mercy before Renewal of Vows" (London, 1874).

O'Meara (pseudonym Grace Ramsay), Thomas Grant, First Bishop of Southwark (London, 1874); Ullathorne, History of the Restoration of the Catholic Hierarchy in England (London, 1S71); Virtue In The Month. New Series, II; Gillow, Bibl. Did. Enff, Cath., s. v.; Cooper in Did. Nat. Biog., s. v.; Pur- cell, Life of Cardinal Manning (London, 1895), II, 56-57, 77, 113. 149, 423: Ward. Life and Times of Cardinal Wiseman (London, 1897), I, 272; II, 338. 346; Ullathorne. Character of Bishop Grant in Letters of A rchhishop Ullathorne (London, s. d. ); Thnma.-> Grant, The Children's Prelate in The Messenger (New York, 1891), pp. 510-518.

Edwin Burton.

Granvelle, Antoine Perrenot de, known in his- tory as Cardinal de Granvelle (Granvell.^), b. at Ornans in Franche-Comt^, 20 August, 1517; d. at Madrid, 21 September, 1586. He was the son of Nico- las Perrenot, prime minister of Charles V, studied at Padua and Louvain, and at an early age was intro- duced by his father to political life. Ecclesiastical favours and benefices were showeretl upon the young man. He became prothonotary Apostolic in 1529, archdeacon of Besancon, archdeacon of Cambrai, and was made Bishop of Arras in 1538 at the age of twenty- one. He resided very little in his diocese and lived at Brussels, where he had an active share in his father's political negotiations. He was charged with address- ing the Council of Trent in the name of the emperor (9 Jan., 1543), and took an active part in all the im-


portant affairs of Charles V, e. g. the interview of Nice, the Peace of Crepy (1544), the Interim, and the mar- riage of Philip II with Mary Tudor of England. In 1550 he succeeded his father as keeper of the em- peror's seal, but did not bear the title of chancellor. His influence continued to grow under Philip II. He was named Archbishop of Mechlin in 1559 and cardi- nal in 1561.

As member of the Council of State of the Low Countries he was the most valued counsellor of the regent, Margaret of Parma; apropos of this it must be remembered that when leaving the country Philip II recommended his sister to refer all important affairs to a council of three, one of whom should be Granvelle. He was in direct correspondence with the king, and freely judged and criticized the regent. So much power aroused the jealousy of the nobility, especially that of the Prince of Orange antl the Comte d'Egmont, the chief personages of the Low Countries, who were indignant at seeing Ciranvelle preferred be- fore them. Every means was employed to stir up popular opinion against him, caricature, song, and pamphlet. The regent and even the king himself were besieged with protests. Finally the nobles de- clared that they would refrain from assisting at the Council of State as long as they should meet the car- dinal there. The king believed it prudent to .sacrifice his favourite in the face of such stubborn and fierce hostility. Accordingly Granvelle was "authorized to visit his mother in Burgundy" (1564). He was never to see the Low Countries again, though on his de- parture he left behind his papers, books, and pictures, in the hope of a speedy return. He withdrew to his native Besanron, whence he continued to correspond with the king. By the latter he was sent to Rome in 1565, where he took an active part in the formation of the Holy League, which resulted in the celebrated vic- tory of Lepanto. In 1571 the king named him viceroy of Naples, which post he held until 1575 and then re- turned to Rome. In 1577 Philip II offered to allow him to return to the Low Countries under Margaret of Parma, but the cardinal refused to return to a country which he had left under such humiliating circum- stances, and where he could no longer be of use. The king then summoned him to Madrid (1579). At Madrid, as at Brussels, Besanron, Naples, and Rome, he was a faithful and valued counsellor, though towards the end his repute seems to have diminished. Having resigned from his Archdiocese of Mechlin, he received that of Besanron in 1584. He died at Madrid, and was buried at Besanron, but his remains were scattered during the French Revolution.

Comely of person, speaking seven languages, liberal, of an even disposition, unswervingly faithful to his masters, possessing great political penetration, and of an astonishing activity, Granvelle was moreover a generous and enlightened patron of arts and letters. He has been reproached with avarice; in fact he was never satiated with riches and honours, but was un- skilled in the art of gaining popularity. Exclusively preoccupied with the service of his masters, he scorned to win the affection of the multitude, and was as much detested in Germany as in the Netherlands. Owing to his great influence he was held responsible for everything that was done, even when he had ad- vised against it. Worldly and ostentatious, and more than once accused of laxity of morals, Ciranvelle pos- sessed the qualities and defects of a prelate of the Renaissance, with a superiority of intellect and sense of his duties as a statesman which deserve respect. His vast correspondence is an inexhaustible source of in- formation concerning the history of the sixteenth century. It might almost be said, writes the cele- brated archivist Gachard, that no minister ever wrote as much as the Cardinal de Ciranvelle. His corres- pondence has been edited partly in France by Weiss, " Les papiers d'etat de Granvelle" (9 vols., 4to, 1841-