FARE, ANNE-LOUIS-HENRI de la. - Cardinal, b. 4 Nov. 1752 at Luçon (Vendée), d. 10 Dec. 1829 in Paris. Of a very ancient family of lower Languedoc, he studied at the Sorbonne. Vicar general of the diocese of Dijon in 1778, bishop of Nancy in 1787, he was elected two years later as a deputy of the clergy to the Estates General. Once the Estates had been constituted as the National Assembly, he opposed in every way the ecclesiastical reforms desired by the majority.
During the discussion on the suppression of the religious orders, F. perceived the aims of this measure and on 13 Feb. 1790 submitted a motion that a decree be issued recognizing the Catholic religion as the religion of the State. The request met with the opposition of the Assembly. Nevertheless, the bishop of Nancy continued the struggle, though less vigorously. Besides speaking on several occasions, in one of his writings he maintained the incompetence of the legislative body to legislate in ecclesiastical matters without the consent of the Holy See (Quelle doit être l'influence de l'Assemblée Nationale de France sur les matières ecclésiastiques et religieuses, Paris 1790). Forced to leave France, he went to Vienna, where he attended to the interests of the émigrés at the Austrian court. Having returned to France in 1814, he became first almoner to the duchess of Angoulême. Archbishop of Sens in 1817, peer of France in 1822, he was created cardinal by Pius VII in the Consistory of 16 May 1823.