Eustace Chapuys
Eustace Chapuys ([østas ʃapɥi]; c. 1489/90/92 – 21 January 1556),[1] the son of Louis Chapuys and Guigonne Dupuys, was a Savoyard diplomat who served Charles V as Imperial ambassador to England from 1529 until 1545 and is best known for his extensive and detailed correspondence.[1][2]
Eustace Chapuys
c. 1489/90/92
21 January 1556 (63-67 years of age)
Chapel of the College of Savoy
50°52′42″N 4°42′17″E / 50.878333°N 4.704722°E
Imperial ambassador to the court of Henry VIII
Césare
Louis Chapuys
Guigonne Dupuys
Early life and education[edit]
Eustace Chapuys was the second son, and one of six children, of Louis Chapuys, a notary and syndic, and Guigonne Dupuys, who may have been of noble birth.[1][3][4] It was believed that he was born between 1490 and 1492 in Annecy, then in the Duchy of Savoy,[1] however his biographer, Lauren Mackay, has argued that this is far too late, and that it was more likely to be 1489. This would make him a more plausible eighteen years old when he entered university in 1507.[5] Chapuys began his education at Annecy and from 1507, attended the University of Turin, where he remained for at least five years. Around 1512, having chosen law as a career, he continued his studies at the University of Valence.[3] In early 1515, he attended the Sapienza University of Rome, where he attained the degree of doctor of civil and canon laws, and received the Pope's blessing.[3]
Chapuys was a humanist and acted as both friend, correspondent and patron to men of similar interests. He enjoyed the friendship of the Annecy humanists Claude Blancherose and Claude Dieudonné, the German Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, and the English Thomas More and John Fisher.[6] He corresponded with Erasmus, with whom he shared a deep mutual respect and admiration, although they never met.[7]
Later years[edit]
After his retirement, Chapuys resided in Leuven, in the Low Countries, now Belgium and was, by 1545, a man of considerable wealth. His income was derived from his ambassadorial pensions, the inheritance of an estate at Annecy, and various ecclesiastical sinecures, which included the deanery at Vuillonnex, canonries at Toledo, Osma and Málaga, ecclesiastical posts in Flanders and the profitable abbacy of Sant'Angelo di Brolo in Sicily, which he acquired in 1545. He had increased his wealth over the years through prudent investments in Antwerp.[15]
Chapuys used his wealth to set up a college in May 1548, for promising students from his native Savoy.[15] This College of Savoy, in Leuven, of which now only the gateway survives, is incorporated into M – Museum Leuven, the city's museum.[16] He also founded a grammar school at Annecy in December 1551.[1][15]
During his retirement, Chapuys acted as an advisor to Charles V between 1547 and 1549. According to C.S.L. Davies, "His last known state paper is an acute analysis of the political situation" as Henry VIII was dying in January 1547.[1] He was subsequently asked to recall his negotiations, and the previous attitude of the regime of Henry VIII, on the issue of the betrothal of Mary I. In his reply, he wrote he was uncertain of the possibility of convincing John Dudley to agree to any proposed marriage. At the end of the letter, Chapuys wrote that Mary had "no other desire or hope than to be bestowed at the hands of your majesty." He felt nothing was more fond in Mary's mind than marriage.[17]
Chapuys had a son, Césare, who was made legitimate in 1545, and who died in 1549.[15][18] The death of his son ensured that the college and grammar school that he had founded would benefit from his vast fortune on his own demise.[15] In 1555 he decided that his English pension should go towards setting up a scholarship for English students at Leuven.[1]
Death[edit]
Eustace Chapuys died on 21 January 1556 and was buried in the chapel of the College of Savoy.[1][3] A portrait of Chapuys, which may be contemporary, is located at the musée-château d'Annecy at Annecy.[19]