Rousseau, Christophe (…-28 Feb. 1512). Musician; Singer

Papal chapel, 1485-1508. Rousseau, a cleric of the diocese (and city) of Nantes joined the chapel in November 1485 and can be documented there more or less continuously until 1508 when he announced his intention of returning home to look after his affairs and for reasons of health ; Julius II allowed him to keep the privileges of a papal singer during his absence (RS 1288, fols. 259v-260r: supplication dated 30 April 1508). He probably returned to Nantes at that time, possibly to take up residence as a canon of the collegiate church of Notre Dame. He had died outside of Rome before 28 February 1512 when this canonry was given to another (RS 1382, fol. 121r). In common with other singers from Brittany, Rousseau concentrated his beneficial interests in Breton dioceses. In this, he occasionally relied on the influence of Robert Guibé (ca. 1460-1513), bishop of Rennes (1502), then of Nantes (1507) who had moved permanently to Rome in 1503 as the ambassador of Louis XII and Anne de Bretagne and was created cardinal priest with the title of Santa Anastasia by Julius II on 1 December 1505 (he was also known as the Cardinal of Nantes) who is often involved in ceding or granting benefices in the dioceses of Rennes and Nantes to papal singers as well as to singers in Anne’s chapel (Sherr 1988). Guibé seems to have assisted Rousseau particularly in his claim to the Benedictine priory of Châteaulin in the diocese of Quimper which had become vacant on the death of Jean Callouet, bishop of Tréguier in 1505 (RS 1216, fols. 61r-61v, RS 1216, fols. 61v-62r: supplications dated 17 October 1505). In June 1507, Rousseau activated the Indult of Innocent VIII which allowed the magister capellae to present singers for the benefices of deceased former singers in order to claim a benefice made vacant by the recent death of his former colleague, fellow Breton, and cleric of the diocese of Nantes Jean Barbé (RS 1258, fols. 159v-160v, supplication dated 28 June 1507 – on the indult see Sherr 1998). He was not successful, probably unable to overcome the influence of the powerful cleric Thomas le Roi (Thomas Regis) who represented the interests of Brittany in Rome and is involved the majority of the other supplications for Barbé’s benefices in one way or another. Occasionally, Rousseau ranged farther, claiming benefices in Cambrai and trying to use the Indult of Innocent VIII to claim benefices in Strasbourg made vacant on the death of the Master of Ceremonies Johannes Burkhard in 1506 (RS 1285, fols. 99v-100r: supplication dated 3 April 1508). He almost certainly did not gain possession of these benefices.
• Nantes (?), 1508-1512. He probably retired in his home town, as was his intention in 1508 (see above).