Maury, Jean-Siffrein

(1746-1817)

   prelate

   Born in Valréas, Jean-Siffrein Maury, a celebrated preacher, was elected as a deputy for the clergy to the estates general (1789) and during the revolution of 1789 was, in the National Constituent Assembly, one of the main defenders of the ancient regime. He opposed the civil constitution of the clergy and demanded that the authority of the pope be recognized in Avignon. An émigré to Rome in 1792, he was named bishop of Montefiascone (1792), and later archbishop of Nicea and cardinal (1794). In favor of the first empire, he returned to France (1806), where napoléon i named him archbishop of Paris (1810). He upheld the emperor's policies (1811) and, upon returning to Rome in 1814, was held in the fortress of Sant' Angelo, then freed on the condition of his resignation. Cardinal Maury is the author of Panégyriques and Essai sur l'éloquence de la chaire. He was elected to the Académie Française in 1785.