POLIGNAC, MELCHIOR de. — Cardinal, diplomat, and apologist, b. at Puy-en-Velay on 11 Oct. 1661, d. in Paris on 20 Nov. 1741. He studied in Paris, becoming devoted to the philosophy of Descartes. In Rome in 1689, he composed a resolution to the question of the four Gallican articles of 1682, averting a schism.
In 1693 he was ambassador to Poland. Falling into disfavour, he was confined to the abbey of Bonport (1698–1702). In 1704 he succeeded Bossuet in the Académie Française; in 1706, appointed auditor of the Rota, he transferred to Rome. In 1710 he took part in the Conference of Gertruydenberg and in 1713 in the Peace of Utrecht. On 8 May 1712 he was created cardinal and in 1726 became archbishop of Auch. Having taken part in the Cellamare conspiracy, he was relegated to the abbey of Auchin.
A lover of art and letters, he distinguished himself as an orator, philosopher, and poet. During his exile at Bonport he composed the celebrated poem Anti-Lucrétius sive de Deo et natura (2 vols., Paris 1747; 1749) in 9 books of about 1,000 verses each. It was translated into Italian by F. Ricci (3 vols., Verona 1767). The author sets out to refute the ancient materialism of Lucretius and the contemporary materialism of P. Bayle, and to demonstrate the existence of God and of the supernatural world and the spirituality and immortality of the soul.