Paul d'Albert, Cardinal de Luynes

Paul d'Albert (; 5 January 1703 – 21 January 1788) was a French prelate. He was elected the seventh occupant of Académie française seat 29 in 1743.

Early life Paul d'Albert was born on 5 January 1703 in the city of Versailles, where his family occupied the Hôtel de Luynes, a grand hôtel particulier. He was the second son of Marie Anne Jeanne de Courcillon (d. 1718) and Honoré-Charles d'Albert de Luynes (1669–1704). His elder brother was Charles Philippe d'Albert de Luynes, who became the 4th Duke of Luynes (and married Louise-Léontine de Bourbon, Princess of Neuchatel and a granddaughter of Louis de Bourbon, Count of Soissons).

His father was the eldest son of Charles Honoré d'Albert, 3rd Duke of Luynes, but did not become the Duke of Luynes because he died before his father. His maternal grandfather was Philippe de Courcillon, the French officer and diarist. He was also the great-great-grandson of the Charles d'Albert, duc de Luynes, a favorite of King Louis XIII.

Career On 17 February 1729, he was selected Bishop of Bayeux, France. He was confirmed on 17 August 1729 and ordained on 25 September 1729. He resigned as Bishop of Bayeux on 21 September 1753 and was confirmed as Archbishop on 26 November 1753.

"Everything he had prepared had been composed in order to recall high society to the unassuming ways of real Christians. Some hundred of peasants, sitting on their clogs, surrounded by the baskets they had used to carry their vegetables or fruit to market, listened to His Eminence without understanding a single word he addressed to them...[But he was heard] to cry out, in the vehemence of the perfect pastor, 'My dear brethren, why do you bring this luxury with you into the very entrance to the sanctuary? Why do these velvet cushions, these laced and fringed handbags, lie in front of your entry into the Lord's house?"

Personal life He had a summer residence in Sommervieu in the Normandy region in northwestern France.

De Luynes died in Paris on 21 January 1788.

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