LE CAMUS, ETIENNE. - Cardinal, born in Paris on 4 September 1632, died in Grenoble on 22 September 1707. Doctor of Theology in 1650, for his preaching against clerical abuses and the persecution of the Reformed, he was exiled by Cardinal Mazarin and became a Carthusian monk. Recalled, he served as royal chaplain and then as Bishop of Grenoble in 1671. Due to his firm opposition to Louis XIV in the matter of the "religions" and his open condemnation of the Gallican propositions of the clergy in 1682, he incurred the king's wrath. However, this courageous and loyal stance led to his creation as cardinal by Innocent XI on 2 September 1685. Louis XIV refused to recognize him as such and prevented him from participating in the Conclave at the death of Innocent XI; he did not, however, prevent him from doing so at the death of Alexander VIII.
The accusation of Jansenism, which was based mainly on the strictness and severity of his life and his relations with Jansenist figures, gave the king pretext to confine him to his diocese.