**L'HOSPITAL, MICHEL de.** – Statesman, born at the château of La Roche near Aigueperse in 1503, and died at the château of Bellévat near Étampes on 13 March 1573. He studied law at Padua; on his return to France (1533), he entered the order of advocates in Paris. In 1547, he was sent by Chancellor Olivier to the Council of Trent as an envoy of King Henry II.
In addition to various other offices, he was promoted by the King to Superintendent of Finances and on 6 February 1554 to First President of the Court of Audit. In 1560, he became Chancellor to King Charles IX, and among other things, he advocated for freedom of conscience, promoted the publication in 1562 of the decree of tolerance in favor of the Huguenots, and prevented the promulgation of the decrees of the Council of Trent.
It is difficult to define the personal line of government and guiding ideas of M. de l'H. Generally, in French historiography, he is regarded as a legendary figure, embodying common sense, political wisdom, and mutual tolerance; but perhaps it is more accurate to say that he was a skilled and prudent interpreter of Catherine de’ Medici’s policy of balance, placing, like her, the interests of the State foremost in his actions. He served the Queen in her designs to neutralize, for the benefit of monarchical power, the two factions at odds with each other: the Huguenots and the Catholics. This was evident in the convocation of the Estates-General at Orléans (December 1560), which led to the proclamation of Catherine’s regency, in the Ordinance of Orléans (1561), a wise plan of reforms but one-sided in ecclesiastical matters, and in the futile Colloquy of Poissy (August 1561) between Catholic and Protestant theologians. He refused to have the papal bull of excommunication against the Queen of Navarre inserted into the papal bullarium. Gradually, he lost the confidence of Catherine de’ Medici.
From 1568, after the third civil war, he was stripped of the administration of his office, and on 6 February 1573, he resigned. Despite what has been said about his conduct, which was sometimes hostile to Rome, he remained a Catholic until his death, although his family converted to Protestantism.
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