Jean Balue

His Eminence Jean Balue
Cardinal-Priest
Church	Santa Susanna
Diocese	Evreux (1465-1467) Angers (1467-1483) Albano (1483-1491) Autun (1484-1491) Palestrina (1491)
Orders
Consecration	4 August 1465 by Guillaume Chartier Bishop of Paris
Created cardinal	18 September 1467 by Pope Paul II
Rank	Cardinal Priest, then Cardinal Bishop
Personal details
Born	c. 1421 Basse d'Angles-sur-Langlin FR
Died	5 October 1491 (aged 69–70) Ripatransone, (Ascoli Piceno) IT
Nationality	French
Residence	France, Rome
Occupation	courtier, politician, diplomat
Profession	bishop
Education	University of Angers, Licenciate in Law

Jean Balue^[1] (c. 1421 – 5 October 1491) was a French cardinal and minister of Louis XI. Born without resources, he managed to climb the political ladder by exploiting connections, to whom he often did not remain loyal, and by making himself an indispensable agent of the king's purposes in a time of political disorder in France. His services were as much military as ecclesiastical, bringing him the critical task of defending the city of Paris against the King's enemies. His work as a diplomat in dealing with Duke Francis of Brittany and with Charles de France brought him the office of first minister to the King. Balue overreached himself in negotiating a treaty between the King and Charles the Bold, who had become Duke of Burgundy and was trying to recover all his family inheritance. Secret correspondence revealed that he might have been playing both sides in the negotiation, and he was arrested, and held on charges of treason from 1469 to 1481, while King and Pope argued over jurisdiction. After the death of King Louis and Pope Sixtus, the new French king, Charles VIII, appointed Balue his ambassador in Rome.