"This book is a study of the career and activities of a neglected but important figure in the French Counter-Reformation Church. François de La Rochefoucauld (1558-1645) -- great uncle to the more famous author of the same name -- was successively Bishop of Clermont, cardinal, diplomat in Rome, Bishop of Senlis, Grand Almoner of France, President of the King's Council and, finally, Papal Commissioner for the reform of the old religious orders in France. The time-span of his public career, beginning in 1584 when he became Bishop of Clermont, and ending with his death in 1645, makes his career a useful vantage-point for observing the changing face of the French Church during the crucial early period of the Counter-Reformation, which has often been neglected by historians." [Book jacket].