last of the cardinals of the House of Guise, brother of Charles, 4th duc de Guise.

In 1605 Guise became archbishop of Reims and in 1615 cardinal de Guise, but he was scarcely given to the religious life. He formed a long-lived liaison with Charlotte des Essarts, comtesse de Romorantin, after she had ceased being the mistress of King Henry IV; she bore him two children, and rumour had it that they were secretly married.