DU PRAT, ANTOINE. - French statesman, b. at Issoire on 17 Jan. 1493, d. at Nantouillet on 9 July 1535. After completing his studies under the Benedictines, he entered the legal profession and pursued a brilliant career; in 1507 he was appointed president of the Parliament of Paris. Chosen by Francis I as chancellor (1515), he became one of the king’s principal advisers. He was entrusted with the negotiations with Leo X for the conclusion of a concordat.
In 1520 he played an important part in the negotiations at the Field of the Cloth of Gold with the English. Having become a widower in 1517, he entered holy orders and was created cardinal in 1527. In 1530 he became legate a latere for France. In domestic politics he was a staunch advocate of monarchical absolutism, opposing the parliaments; during Francis I’s captivity, he was a trusted counsellor to Louise of Savoy, whom he supported against the Constable of Bourbon. An active defender of orthodoxy, he secured from the king severe measures against the Lutherans. His fiscal policy, culminating in the introduction of the sale of offices, earned him great unpopularity.