Étienne-René Potier de Gesvres (Paris, January 2, 1697 – Paris, July 24, 1774) was a French Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.
Biography
He was the son of François-Bernard Potier de Gesvres, Duke of Tresmes, and his wife Marie Geneviève de Seiglières. His uncle was Cardinal Léon Potier de Gesvres; Cardinal Nicolas de Saulx-Tavannes was a distant maternal cousin.
Potier studied in Paris, where he earned a licentiate in theology in 1718 and later a licentiate in canon and constitutional law. He was ordained a priest in 1725 and subsequently served for two years as Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Bourges, where his uncle was Archbishop.
Appointed Bishop of Beauvais on April 24, 1728, he received episcopal consecration on June 6, 1728, in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône. He was also Abbot commendatario of the royal abbey of Notre-Dame d'Ourscamp (1723–1734) and of the Abbey of Saint-Étienne, Caen (1759–1774).
Pope Benedict XIV created him a cardinal-priest on April 5, 1756, and on August 2, 1756, granted him the titular church of Sant'Agnese fuori le mura. In 1758, he was made a commander of the Order of the Holy Spirit.
He participated in the conclave of 1758, but was absent in the conclave of 1769. He resigned his diocese on May 22, 1772.