CHOLET, CARDINAL JEAN

(c. 1212/1220-1292)

   Jean Cholet was made cardinal in 1281 by Pope Martin IV. He served as legate in Gerona, Spain, where in 1285 he crowned Charles of Valois, son of Philip III the Bold, king of Aragon, with his own hat after Martin IV had deposed Peter III the Great for his recent conquest of Sicily. Cardinal Cholet commissioned Arnolfo di Cambio and Pietro Cavallini to embellish Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, Rome, his titular church. Arnolfo was charged with creating the baldachin or ceremonial canopy (1293) over the main altar and Cavallini with painting a series of frescoes, including the Last Judgment (c. 1290). Cholet had a magnificent collection of manuscripts and bequeathed approximately 2,400 volumes to the Abbey of Saint Lucien, Beauvais, where he is buried.