He was born in the
Free Imperial City of Besançon, now in France, then a self-governing city surrounded by the Imperial territory of the
County of Burgundy (
Franche-Comté). His father,
Nicholas Perrenot de Granvelle (1484–1550), afterwards became chancellor of the empire under
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, held an influential position in the Netherlands, and from 1530 until his death he was one of the emperor's most trusted advisers in Germany. On the completion of his studies in law at
Padua and in divinity at
Leuven, Antoine held a canonry at
Besançon, nowadays in eastern France, then was promoted to the
bishopric of Arras with a dispensation due to his age of barely twenty-three (1540). He was ordained into the priesthood in 1540. In his episcopal capacity he attended several diets of the empire, as well as the opening meetings of the
Council of Trent, which he addressed on behalf of Charles V. The influence of his father, now chancellor, led to Granvelle being entrusted with many difficult and delicate pieces of public business. In the execution of these tasks he developed a talent for diplomacy, while at the same time acquiring an intimate acquaintance with most of the currents of European politics. He was involved in the settlement of the terms of peace after the defeat of the
Schmalkaldic League at the
Battle of Mühlberg in 1547, a settlement in which, to say the least, some particularly sharp practice was exhibited. In 1550, he succeeded his father in the office of secretary of state; in this capacity he attended Charles in the war with
Maurice of Saxony, accompanied him in the flight from
Innsbruck, and afterwards drew up the
Peace of Passau (August 1552). The policy of repression which in this capacity he pursued during the next five years secured for him many tangible rewards: in 1560 he was elevated to the archepiscopal see of
Mechelen, and in 1561 he became a cardinal; but the growing hostility of a people whose religious convictions he had set himself to oppose ultimately made it impossible for him to continue in the Netherlands. On the advice of his royal master he retired to
Franche-Comté in March 1564. In 1570, Granvelle, at the request of Philip, helped to arrange the alliance between the Papacy, Venice and Spain against the Turks, which was responsible for the victory of
Lepanto the next year. In the same year he became
viceroy of Naples, a post of some difficulty and danger, which for five years he occupied with ability and success. He was summoned to
Madrid in 1575 by Philip II to be president of the
Council for Italian affairs. Among the more delicate negotiations of his later years were those of 1580, which had for their object the ultimate union of the crowns of Spain and Portugal, and those of 1584, which resulted in a check to France by the marriage of the Spanish infanta Catherine to
Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy. In the same year he was made
archbishop of Besançon, but meanwhile he had been stricken with a lingering disease; he was never enthroned, but died at Madrid in 1586. His body was taken to
Besançon Cathedral, where his father had been buried. There is a cenotaph in his honor within
Saint Rumbold's Cathedral, Mechelen. ==Collector of art==