Louis de Luxembourg was Bishop of Thérouanne and chancellor of Henry VI and was the brother of the rough Burgundian captain, Jean, who sold the Maid to the Bishop of Beauvais.

He was elected dean of the church of Beauvais on May 31, 1414, and at times resided at Rouen before 1430, living in the archbishop's palace, He espoused the interests of the English entirely and responded to the call that Bedford issued to the nobility of Picardy. We know that he occupied himself in putting Paris in a defensiveposition when Bedford retired to Normandy.

He was present at the coronation of Henry VI at Nôtre Dame and was the executor of the will of Isabelle of Bavaria. On April 7, 1432, King Henry ordered his treasurer-general in Normandy, Jean Stanlawe, to pay to Louis de Luxembourg, his chancellor in France, 1,000 livres "to help him support the great expenses which in the cause of our service he had had, and has, to pay."

He was very much in favor with the English government. In 1422 he had been head of the embassy which went from France to London to felicitate the young Henry VI upon his accession to the throne. He was favorably looked upon by the Chapter of Nôtre Dame of Rouen which, on the news that the Bishop of Thérouanne had been named Archbishop by the Pope, decided, on January 13, 1430, to take steps to urge him to accept the nomination.

He was strongly allied with Bedford; he was the executor of Bedford's will, and we see that after the death of Bedford's duchess, Anne, Louis placed his niece, Jacquette de Saint Paul in his hands. She was a girl of seventeen, and Bedford married her, to the amazement of Philippe le Bon of Burgundy. This marriage contributed not a little to alienating the Duke of Burgundy from the English alliance.

In 1436, during the Parisian insurrection against the English, Louis de Luxembourg took refuge in the Bastille, where Richemont besieged him. He had to abandon his property to the conquerors and was transported to Rouen down the Seine. On January 15, 1437, as he was disposed to journey to England, the Chapter of Rouen had mass said for his happy voyage and reminded him of Bedford's legacies to the churches of Rouen. He was named Archbishop of Rouen on October 24, 1436, and was later made Cardinal by Eugene IV (1440). He became Bishop of Ely when he finally went to England, but kept all his prerogatives as Archbishop of Rouen.

Raoul Roussel, who replaced him, was, moreover, one of his intimates. Louis de Luxembourg did not lack, however, means of indemnifying himself for his losses. Henry VI gave him a pension of 1,000 marks from the Exchequer and 1,000 livres from the revenues of Normandy. The church of Ely was worth 2,000 livres. He resided rarely in his See, which he administered through a procureur.

He lived splendidly in his manors, moving with a great train of baggage and horses. He was appointed ambassador by Henry VI in December, 1442, to treat for peace with Charles VII, his adversary, and died on September 18, 1443, in his castle of Hatfield. Pasquier de Vaux was the executor of his will. His heart was sent to Rouen and his body was buried in a magnificent tomb in Ely Cathedral, near the altar of holy relics.

While charged with the defense of Paris, Louis de Luxembourg, then Bishop of Thérouanne, -- who, the Journal dun Bourgeois de Paris assures us, was a "full-blooded man" -- had brought from Saint Denis the Maid's armor, negotiated her sale to the English, was present at the Trial, her abjuration and torture.

Upon the testimony of André Marguerie he could even weep: singular tears on the part of him whom Percival de Cagny denounced as one of the authors of Jeanne's death.