Charles-Philippe Place was born on 14 February 1814 in
Paris into a family of the industrial bourgeoisie. His brother
Victor Place (1818-1875) was a diplomat and archeologist. He studied at lycée Henri IV and the University of Paris, where he earned a doctorate in civil law in 1841. In 1846 he abandoned his legal career for theology studies at
Collegio Romano. He was ordained a priest on 30 March 1850 by Cardinal
Costantino Patrizi Naro, vicar of Rome. He began his clerical career in the Diocese of Orleans, where he was named honorary canon of the cathedral chapter in July 1850. He became vicar general of the diocese and rector of its minor seminary. In Paris from 1856 to 1863, he was a chaplain and rector of the Minor Seminary of Notre-Dame-des-Champs. Upon the nomination of the government, he was named auditor of the
Sacred Roman Rota in 1864 after being awarded a doctorate in civil and canon law by papal decree. He was nominated bishop of Marseille by Emperor Napoléon III on 13 January 1866. The Holy See expressed reservations because of his reputation for
Gallicanism, but
Pope Pius IX named him bishop of Marseille on 22 June 1866 and consecrated him a bishop on 26 August 1866.
Pope Leo XIII created him a cardinal priest on 7 June 1886 and he received his red biretta and the title of
Santa Maria Nuova on 17 March 1887. He died in Rennes on 5 March 1893. He was buried in the cathedral. ==References==