LA CHIAIZE, François de. - Confessor and spiritual adviser of Louis XIV, b. 25 Aug. 1624 at Château d'Aix (Forez), d. 20 Jan. 1709 in Paris. Having entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus in 1639, he soon taught literature, philosophy and theology at the Collège de la Trinité in Lyon, where he had completed his studies. He subsequently became rector of the two Colleges of Lyon and Provincial; in 1675 Louis XIV summoned him to his side as his confessor and spiritual adviser.
In that difficult situation, the man of God nevertheless succeeded in winning the esteem and complete trust of his penitent. From 1675 to 1680, while Louis XIV could not bring himself to break off his guilty loves for Madame de Montespan and Mademoiselle de Fontanges, the father had recourse, when it was necessary, especially at Easter, to "political illnesses" which, however, did not deceive the king. This gentle firmness allowed Queen Maria Theresa to live her last years in the joy of a restored accord with her spouse. Later, the king, having entered into a second marriage with Madame de Maintenon, always preserved a most vivid gratitude toward the one who had helped him abandon his deviations of conduct and regain his dignity before the court and the nation.
At the same time, the discreet and often effective influence of the spiritual adviser came to light. He succeeded in part in unmasking the intrigues that the Jansenists multiplied in Rome during the pontificate of Innocent XI; but, a conciliatory spirit, "he never wished," says Saint-Simon, to push as far as the destruction of Port-Royal des Champs. He was not favorable to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. He had
XIV, Lyon 1899; R. Duhr, I Gesuiti, Favole e leggende, trans. it., II, Florence 1908, pp. 193-200; Pastor, XIV, 2, see index: L. Koch, Jesuiten-Lexikon, Paderborn 1934, coll. 314-15.