He was the eldest son of Henri de Clugny, seigneur of Conforgien and Joursenvault, a councillor of Jean sans Peur, duke of Burgundy, and his wife, Pierrette Coullot.

In the transfer of power to the Habsburg, Ferry de Clugny was confirmed in his positions, including that of Chancellor of the Golden Fleece (10 December 1477), where he guided the new sovereign of the order, and as councillor.

On 7 November 1465, he obtained permission from the cathedral chapter of Autun, where he was a canon, to have a chapel built to be his sepulchre; it is called the Chapelle Dorée from the profusion of its gilding.

In the Annunciation attributed to Rogier van der Weyden or one of his disciples, Hans Memling, that is now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Ferry de Clugny's arms appear in the carpet and in the stained glass above the Virgin's head; it too must have been commissioned by him.

[5] He commissioned a suite of at least ten Franco-Flemish tapestry hangings of Illustrious Women, figuring among many armorials his arms and the cardinal's hat; eight fragmentary remains that survived the burning of the Château de Thénisset in 1791 are now at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

On 7 October 1483 he died suddenly, of a stroke; on the following day, he was buried in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, far from the Clugny chapel that he had prepared at Autun.