Description
Original Letter Signed as Bishop of Orleans, requesting from his correspondent, on behalf of the King, an exact copy of his letters of appointment to his priorship. In French. 1 page 9 x 6 inches, corner clipped, in very good condition. With a typed English translation. Versailles, 26 January 1763. Louis-Sextius de Jarente de La Bruyère (1706-1788), Bishop of Orleans from 1757. “Well liked in court, he was appointed Minister of Profit Sheets and was responsible for distributing the revenues of the various abbeys, churches and their farmland from 1757 to 1771. During this period, 75 bishoprics and 337 abbeys are attributed, which alludes to the importance of this very coveted and lucrative position. The solicitors crowd around him. … Finding church life mundane, he frequented salons earning a good living. Jarente was the victim of numerous pamphlets accusing him of having had for his mistress Guimard”. Thus, at the end of the 1770s, Mlle. Guimard, who was in need of money, had the idea – which may have been suggested to him – to open an “income bureau”, offering to forward Jarente requests from clergy for salary increases, these claims with varying bribes depending on the size of the claim.” Jarente was dismissed by Louis XVI in 1771, [Wikipedia entry]