Under Louis d’Amboise
Cité épiscopale d’Albi
The authority of Louis d’Amboise, uncontested in his position as minister to the King, stopped at the gates of the Collégiale Saint-Salvi.
Albi’s rich families sent their male progeny to Saint-Salvi but these young men were reluctant submit to the austere rule of the St Augustin.
They deserted the stalls and were absent from the priories they were supposed to administer, where they were replaced by curates who were paid the bare minimum, they kept house staff and young, charming servants and frequented taverns, in lay dress and armed with daggers.
In an era where the Church was not especially demanding of the morals of the clergy they nonetheless managed to surpass the limits.
Although not intending to implement a return to a strict rule, Louis d’Amboise sought to put a stop to the more scandalous abuses. He sequestered the tithes to the priories and tried to control the new entrants to the Collégiale.
The existing canons sought to protect their lifestyle with an appeal to tradition. In 1486, weary of their evasions, Louis d’Amboise issued summons and threatened to excommunicate offenders.
The canons barricaded themselves in the collégiale and made an appeal to the Pope. The Pope refused to support the canons but it was necessary to resort to force, and King Charles VIII’s archers, to gain the submission of the canons.
The 100 years war loomed on the horizon.
"Albi, biographie de ma ville", Jean Roques. Col. Rives du Temps
