D'Estouteville was born c. 1412 in either
Valmont or
Estouteville-Écalles in the
Duchy of Normandy, a member of the most powerful family in the region. His father, Jean d'Estouteville, Sieur de Vallemont and Grand Chamberlain of France, had fought at Agincourt, was captured, and spent twenty years as a prisoner of war. His mother was Marguerite d'Harcourt, the daughter of Catherine de Bourbon, the sister of
Jeanne de Bourbon who was the wife of King Charles V of France. Guillaume had an elder brother Louis, who became Grand Bouteiller of France. As the custom was, the younger brother was destined for a career in the Church. The family lost a great deal of property and income as a result of the English occupation of Normandy after the Battle of Agincourt. A collateral ancestor (uncle?), also called Guillaume d'Estouteville, had been Bishop of Évreux (1375–1376) at the age of twenty, Bishop of Auxerre (1376–1382), and Bishop of Lisieux (1382–1415). It was first said by
Alfonso Chacón, and often repeated thereafter, that Guillaume became a
Benedictine monk at the
Saint-Martin-des-Champs Priory in Paris, where he soon became
prior. Both of these statements, however, have been shown to be mistaken. Documentary evidence written at Saint-Martin in 1500 shows that he was a secular priest, and that he was Administrator of Saint-Martin. Chacon also states that d'Estouteville was
Doctor Decretorum (Doctor of Canon Law), but various papal documents of
Pope Eugenius IV, in particular one of 1435, call him a Papal Notary, a relative of the Kings of France, a Master of Arts, and of Canon Law, as a result of having passed rigorous examinations. Henri Denifle states that d'Estouteville's degree in Canon Law did not come from the University of Paris. Guillaume did possess a Canonry in the Church of Évreux, and in 1432 he was Canon in Lyon as well. In 1433 he became Canon in Angers. He later became commendatory
abbot simultaneously of the Abbeys of
Mont Saint-Michel (1444–1483), of
Saint-Ouen at
Rouen and of
Montebourg.
Bishop The
Bishop of Angers, Hardouin du Brueil, died on 18 January 1439. Guillaume D'Estouteville, who was ambitious for the post, immediately rushed to Rome and obtained bulls from Pope Eugene IV on 20 February naming him to the bishopric. On 28 February the Canons of the Cathedral Chapter met and duly elected Jean Michel of Beauvais, a Councillor of Rene of Anjou and Canon of Rouen and of Angers, though d'Estouteville received several votes in the election. The election of Jean Michel was confirmed by the Vicars-General of the Archbishop of Tours. The bulls which d'Estouteville had obtained in Rome were presented to the Chapter of Angers on 24 April by d'Estouteville's procurator, but the majority of the Chapter rejected his bid. In the meantime Bishop Jean Michel was sitting as Bishop of Angers in the Council of Basel. King
Charles VII of France was angered at the interference of the Pope in French church affairs and threatened, in support of the Gallican church, to apply the Pragmatic Sanction and exclude the Pope's bulls. Pope Eugene escaped from the danger by giving d'Estouteville the bishopric of
Digne in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, a suffragan of Embrun. He renounced his claim on Angers on 27 October 1447. On 18 April 1440, he was named the
Apostolic Administrator of the
Diocese of Mirepoix; his commission was revoked upon the appointment of a new bishop on 17 May 1441. He never visited Mirepoix, but he did collect a year's income.
Cardinal A few months after the affair of Angers, Guillaume d'Estouteville was named a
cardinal priest in the
consistory of 18 December 1439 by
Pope Eugene IV, and assigned the
titular church of
San Martino ai Monti. The Cardinal's hat probably softened the disappointment of losing the bishopric of Angers. Pope Eugene probably derived a bit of satisfaction at granting a red hat to a member of the French royalty without the request or consent of the King. He was
consecrated a bishop in January 1440. In 1440 he was briefly administrator of the diocese of Conserans (St. Lizier) The following year he was additionally appointed Administrator of the Dioceses of
Béziers and
Nîmes. In 1443, Cardinal d'Estouteville was appointed Archpriest of the Basilica Liberiana (Santa Maria Maggiore) by
Pope Eugene IV, in succession to Cardinal Niccolò Albergati, who had died on 9 May 1443. He held the position for life. In March 1451 Pope Nicholas V granted a new set of Statutes to the Canons of the Basilica, which emphasized the decisive power that the Archpriest had over the physical structure of the church and its property. On 7 January 1450 D'Estouteville was appointed Administrator of the
Diocese of Lodève. He served in this office for three years, before being appointed bishop of the
Diocese of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in Savoy. He was Bishop of Maurienne from 26 January 1453 to 20 April 1453, though he continued to act as Administrator of the diocese for the rest of his life. In April 1453 he was released from his obligation as Bishop of Maurienne and appointed
Archbishop of Rouen by Nicholas V. The Canons of Rouen protested the violation of their rights, and Pope Nicholas granted them an Indult on 16 November promising them that, on the death of Guillaume d'Estouteville, they could elect whomever they wished. D'Estouteville took possession of the diocese of Rouen on 30 April 1453 through a Procurator, Bishop Louis d'Harcourt of Narbonne.
Diplomat On 13 August 1451 Cardinal d'Estouteville was sent to France as
legate by
Pope Nicholas V, at the instigation of the Duc de Bourbon, to make peace between King
Charles VII of France and England; at the same time Cardinal
Nicholas of Cusa was sent to England on the same mission. Both failed. At the behest of the
Inquisitor General Jean Brehal, Estouteville undertook an
ex officio revision of the
trial of Joan of Arc. He afterwards reformed the statutes of the
University of Paris, issuing his decree on 1 June 1452. He shortened the course leading to the Doctorate in theology from fifteen to fourteen years, and he removed the requirement that Doctors of Medicine be in holy orders. He then presided over the
Assembly of the French clergy which met at Bourges in July and August 1452 to discuss the implementation of the
Pragmatic Sanction. He finally returned to
Rome on 3 January 1453, where he passed almost all the rest of his life. His official mission was to attempt to persuade Charles VII to join in yet another crusade, the one that Nicholas V had tried to launch on 30 September 1453, following the Fall of Constantinople.
Rome On his return, he built as his residence the Palazzo Apollinare to the west of the Church of S. Agostino and adjacent to the Church of S. Apollinare.
Conclaves D'Estouteville participated in the
papal conclave of 4–10 March 1447 that elected
Pope Nicholas V. He was absent from Rome, however, during the
sede vacante of 24 March–8 April 1455, prior to the election of
Pope Calixtus III. On 20 February 1456 he was one of the cardinals who subscribed the bull of Pope Calixtus III which created Rodrigo Borgia a cardinal. D'Estouteville took part in the Conclave of 6–19 August 1458 and was a candidate for the papacy in the Conclave. He was able to command six votes out of the nineteen participants, but he was defeated by Cardinal Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini of Siena, who chose the name
Pope Pius II. In 1458 Cardinal d'Estouteville was asked by the
Teutonic Knights to be their Protector at the Roman Curia, an honor and office which he accepted. D'Estouteville also was
cardinal protector of the
Augustinian Hermits. In January 1459 he accompanied
Pope Pius II in his journey to Mantua to meet with the princes of Europe to arrange for a crusade against the Ottoman Turks. He became
Cardinal Bishop of Porto-Santa Rufina on 19 March 1459. He was named the
Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia on 26 October 1461, and became the
Dean of the College of Cardinals after the death of Cardinal Bessarion on 18 November 1472. He took part in the Conclave of 27/28–30 August 1464, in which
Pope Paul II (Pietro Barbo of Venice) was elected in the first Scrutiny. On 11 January 1468 the Cardinal was elected Chamberlain of the College of Cardinals for a one-year term. This was a burdensome office, requiring the holder to see to it that monies due to the College of Cardinals from all sources, including the Pope, were collected, and to see to it that they were disbursed to the cardinals who were in the Roman Curia.
Campaign for the papacy Pope Paul died on 26 July 1471, and Cardinal d'Estouteville immediately began campaigning openly for the papacy. He wrote to
Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan, seeking his support and that of the four cardinals who were 'Friends of the Prince'. But there were other candidates, notably Cardinal Bessarion, who was being supported by Venice. Eighteen cardinals, out of the twenty-five living cardinals, attended the Conclave, which began on 6 August 1471. In the second Scrutiny, on 9 August, Cardinal Francesco della Rovere was elected with thirteen of the eighteen votes. D'Estouteville had received six votes. Della Rovere chose as his papal name
Sixtus IV. On 25 August 1471, Cardinal d'Estouteville, availing himself of the traditional privilege of the Bishops of Ostia, consecrated Cardinal Francesco della Rovere, O.F.M.Conv., who had been elected Pope
Sixtus IV, a bishop. The Coronation took place on the same day on the front steps of the Vatican Basilica by Cardinal Rodrigo Borja, the senior Cardinal Deacon. The Cardinal also owed a vineyard near the Porta S. Maria del Popolo. On 15 May 1472 he gave a luncheon there in honor of Cardinal Rodrigo de Borja, who was leaving Rome on a mission to Catalonia and Spain. Earlier that day, the seals of the Chamberlain of the Sacred College were transferred from Cardinal Borjia, who was Chamberlain for the year, to Cardinal d'Estouteville, who was to fill out the rest of his term. On 12 October 1472, he was appointed in Consistory to be Legate in France. He was appointed
Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church (
S.R.E. Camerarius) by Pope Sixtus IV in 1477, in succession to Cardinal
Latino Orsini, who had died on 11 August 1477. D'Estouteville held the position until his death; he was the last non-Italian cardinal to hold the office for nearly five hundred years, until
Jean-Marie Villot in 1970.
Patron of the arts Rouen (the episcopal palace), Mont Saint-Michel (the choir of the church), Pontoise (the episcopal palace), and the Château de Gaillon owe the construction of many buildings to his initiative. In his capacity as Bishop of Ostia d'Estouteville had the walls of the town restored, and built the Cathedral of Saint Aurea. In Velletri he rebuilt the episcopal palace. The cardinal also financed the rebuilding of the
Church of St. Agostino in Rome. He then had the remains of
Saint Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, brought from
Ostia Antica for entombment in a marble sarcophagus he had built for them. His name prominently embellishes the façade. He is also credited with building the Church of S. Agostino at Cori and the Church of S. Agostino at
Tolentino. He was a generous donor of sacred articles to the Church of
San Luigi dei Francesi in March 1482. D'Estouteville died in Rome on 22 January 1483. A bust of him was placed at the entrance to the
sacristy of S. Agostino, with an inscription dated 1865.
Family With his mistress, Girolama Togli, Guillaume d'Estouteville had five children, including Girolamo Tuttavilla (Tuttavilla is an Italian version of Estouteville), a son Agostino, a daughter Margherita, and a daughter Giulia. ==Works==