Evrard De La Marck
Evrard De La Marck [1]
cardinal bishop and lord of Liege, was born about 1475. His personal qualities, as well as the services rendered to the Church of Liege by his ancestors, caused him to be chosen bishop of that city in 1506. He at once applied to Rome for approbation, and, on the reception of the papal bull of installation by pope Julius II, repaired to Liege, where he was received with great enthusiasm. He confirmed the privileges of the city, which he governed with such wisdom that, while war was raging outside, his diocese continued to enjoy undisturbed peace. He restored the old discipline of St. Hubert, first bishop of Liege, and devoted himself to the spiritual and temporal improvement of his charge. In acknowledgment of services he had rendered to Louis XII in the affairs of Italy, he was made bishop of Chartres. Francis I even promised to procure him a cardinal's hat, but a protege of the duchess of Angouleme obtaining it in his stead, he entered in 1518 into the league of Austria against France, and even warred against his own brother, Robert de la Marck, who had made peace with Francis I. In the Diet of Frankfort he advocated the nomination of Charles V as emperor of Germany, and was rewarded with the archbishopric of Valencia. In 1521 he was created cardinal, and thereafter became a zealous opponent of the Reformation. According to Abraham Bzovius, he appointed in each district men on whom he could rely to ferret out and punish all heretics. A great many were found and punished by exile or death, while their possessions were sequestered. He is said to have cruelly tortured Protestant theologians. He had at first welcomed Erasmus, who dedicated to him his paraphrase on the Epistle to the Romans, but turned about and called him a heathen and a publican when he saw him incline towards the new doctrines. In 1529 he was called to Cambrai, where the Ladies' Peace was concluded. In 1532 he equipped at his own expense a body of troops to war against the Turks. Appointed legate a latere in 1533, he labored with new zeal to uproot all heresy. For this object he assembled a synod at Liege in 1538, but the priests, dissatisfied with his austerity, declared against him. He hoped to subdue their opposition, but suddenly died, February 16, 1538. See Chapeauville, Hist. des Carsdinaux, volume 3, chapter 5 and 6; Auber, Histoire des Cardinaux. 3:331, Louis Doni d'Attichy, Flores Cardinalium, volume 3; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, 29:52. (J.N.P.)
