Jacques-Bonne Gigault de
Bellefonds was born at the
Château de Montifray, near
Beaumont-la-Ronce, on 1 May 1698. He was appointed
Bishop of Bayonne on 8 October 1735.
Pope Clement XII confirmed this appointment on 27 February 1736 and
Cardinal Melchior de Polignac,
Archbishop of Auch,
consecrated de Bellefonds as a
bishop on 25 March 1736. On 20 August 1741 he was appointed
Archbishop of Arles, with
Pope Benedict XIV confirming the appointment on 20 December 1741. De Bellefonds was appointed
Archbishop of Paris on 4 March 1746, with Benedict XIV confirming the appointment on 2 May 1746. He died in
Paris of
smallpox only months after becoming Archbishop, on 20 July 1746. His career was marked by his opposition to
Jansenism within the
Catholic Church in France. Shortly before his death from
smallpox, he had denounced
Denis Diderot's
Pensées philosophiques. ==References==