Toussaint de Forbin-Janson

[1] As a boy, Janson joined the Knights of Malta and then the army of the Kingdom of France (as was the custom).

[dubious – discuss] But he left the army in his late teens and went to study letters.

He was appointed titular bishop of Filadelfia in 1655 and was forced to leave the Knights of Malta.

In 1673, King Louis XIV of France sent Janson to Tuscany to repair his relationship with his cousin, Marguerite Louise d'Orléans, wife of Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.

In February 1690, the newly elected Pope Alexander VIII elevated Janson to cardinal and appointed him cardinal-priest of the church of Sant'Agnese fuori le mura in July of that year.