“ GRANVELLA, ANTOINE PERRENOT, Cardinal de (1517–1586) , one of the ablest and most influential of the princes of the church during the great political and ecclesiastical movements which immediately followed the appearance of Protestantism in Europe, was born on the 20th of August 1517 at Besançon, where his father, Nicolas Perrenot de Granvella (1484–1550) , who afterwards became chancellor of the empire under Charles V., was practising as a lawyer. ”

“ In April 1559 Granvella was one of the Spanish commissioners who arranged the peace of Cateau Cambrésis, and on Philip’s withdrawal from the Netherlands in August of the same year he was appointed prime minister to the regent, Margaret of Parma. The policy of repression which in this capacity he pursued during the next five years secured for him many tangible rewards, in 1560 he was elevated to the archiepiscopal see of Malines, and in 1561 he received the cardinal’s hat ”

“ Later Nicolas held an influential position in the Netherlands, and from 1530 until his death he was one of the emperor’s most trusted advisers in Germany. On the completion of his studies in law at Padua and in divinity at Louvain, Antoine held a canonry at Besançon, but he was promoted to the bishopric of Arras when barely twenty-three (1540) . In his episcopal capacity he attended several diets of the empire, as well as the opening meetings of the council of Trent ”