Hélie de Chambarlhac, Brother of the Archbishop of Nicosia, Longtime Absentee Bishop of Limassol (1352–1357) and Paphos (1357–1377), Elect of Famagusta (1365), and Procurator Regis in Avignon

Abstract

This paper is one of a series of detailed biographies of the bishops of Paphos during the Avignon papacy. At first glance, the life of Hélie de Chambarlhac seems to be a mere reflection of the nepotism, pluralism, and absenteeism of the Western Church in general and of the Latin clergy on Frankish Cyprus in particular during the fourteenth century. Protegé of cardinals and brother of an archbishop, despite his apparent lack of higher education, the Périgordin Hélie received numerous benefices and positions, culminating in a quarter century as largely absentee bishop, first of Limassol and then of Paphos. Yet there is evidence that he had extensive early experience in diplomacy and administration under his brother Philippe. Accordingly, a careful examination of papal letters reveals that Hélie’s long absence from Cyprus is due to his two decades of service as permanent royal agent at the papal curia, at a time when the larger kingdoms were also establishing fixed ambassadors in Avignon.