Perault, Raimond

Perault, Raimond a French cardinal, was born May 28, 1435, at Surgeres (Saintonge). The son of poor artisans, he was first a school-teacher in his own village, then at La Rochelle, and, thanks to some benefactors, he entered as burser the College of Navarre, in Paris. Received as doctor, and appointed prior of Saint-Gilles at Surgeres, he went to Rome, and rendered himself useful to popes Paul II, Sextus IV, and Innocent VIII. The latter sent him in 1487 to Germany to collect the alms designed for the expenses of the war against the Turks, and, although this nunciatory had not gained for himself much honor, Raimond was nevertheless rewarded for his travels and labors by the bishopric of Gurck, in Carinthia. Alexander VI made him a cardinal in September, 1493, on the recommendation of king Charles VIII, and it was he who, in the name of this prince, signed at Rome, Sept. 6, 1494, the act of donation or cession of the empire of Constantinople, made to France by Andreas Paleologus, prince of Roumania, sole heir of the empire. His favorable inclinations towards France, his native land, appeared particularly on the occasion of the war of Naples, when he raised his voice to complain of the intrigues and the odious conduct of Alexander VI on the subject of prince Zizim, son of Mohammed II. Cardinal Perault obtained in 1513 the bishopric of Saintes, where he never resided, and was appointed by Julius II legate of the patrimony of St. Peter. The favor which he enjoyed with the different popes excited jealousy against him; also, certain authors have treated him very ill; others, on the contrary, have bestowed the greatest praises upon his probity and manners. He died at Viterbo, Sept. 5, 1505. He has left, among others, works entitled De dignitate sacerdotali super omnes reges: — De Actis suis Lubeci et in Dania Epistole: — different Harangues. See Gallia Christiana, vol. ii; Huguee du Teurs, Le Clerge de France, vol. ii; Aubery, Hist, des Cardin.; Berthier, Hist. de l'Eglise Gallic. vol. xvii; Briand, Hist. de l'Eglise Santone et Aunisienne, vol. ii.