[8] Having participated with distinction at the Lateran Council, La Baume was selected as Roman Catholic bishop of Geneva, 10 October 1522, following the death of the recent adversary of the Genevois, Jean de Savoie of the ducal house.

[9] He disappointed those who might have expected him to uphold the independent liberties of the city of Geneva against the violent pretensions of the Charles III, duke of Savoy by devolving local responsibilities on his vicar, Amé Lévrier, during his frequent absences.

La Baume, returned from a two-year absence, was unable to raise any support for Savoyard claims of sovereignty; in 1527 the complaisant bishop devolved the administration of justice upon a tribunal of citizens, and withdrew to his favorite abbey of Condat.

In a successful effort to bring his bishop to heel, Charles sequestered his benefices of Saint-Claude de Pignerol and of Suze, and La Baume made a complete submission in order to regain his revenues.

[12] Survivals of La Baume's taste as a patron are the predella panels of the grand retable he commissioned for the abbey of Saint-Oyend at Saint-Claude, today the cathedral of Saint-Pierre, Saint-Paul et Saint-André.