Cardinal

Richelieu
1585 – 1642
 Cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal
Richelieu, was a French statesman and clergyman. He became known as l'Éminence rouge, or "the Red
Eminence", a term derived from the title "Eminence" applied to cardinals and from the red robes that they
customarily wear.
Consecrated a bishop in 1607, Richelieu was appointed Foreign Secretary in 1616. He continued to rise
through the hierarchy of both the Catholic Church and the French government, becoming a cardinal in
1622 and chief minister to King Louis XIII of France in 1624. He retained that office until his death in
1642, when he was succeeded by Cardinal Mazarin, whose career he had fostered. Richelieu became
engaged in a bitter dispute with Marie de Médici, the king's mother, and formerly his close ally.
Richelieu sought to consolidate royal power and restrained the power of the nobility in order to transform
France into a strong centralized state. In foreign policy, his primary objectives were to check the power of
the Habsburg dynasty (reigning notably in Spain and Austria) and to ensure French dominance in the Thirty
Years' War of 1618–1648 after that conflict engulfed Europe. Despite suppressing the Huguenot
rebellions of the 1620s, he made alliances with Protestant states like the Kingdom of England and the
Dutch Republic to help him achieve his goals. However, although he was a powerful political figure in his
own right, events such as the Day of the Dupes (French: Journée des Dupes) in 1630 showed that
Richelieu's power still depended on the king's confidence.
 Cardinal Richelieu

An alumnus of the University of Paris and headmaster of the College of Sorbonne, Richelieu renovated and
extended the institution. He became famous for his patronage of the arts and founded the Académie
Française, the learned society responsible for matters pertaining to the French language. As an advocate for
Samuel de Champlain and New France, he founded (1627) the Compagnie des Cent-Associés; he also
negotiated the 1632 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye under which Quebec City returned to French rule after
English privateers took it in 1629. He was created Duke of Richelieu in 1629.

Richelieu is known as the inventor of the table knife. Annoyed by the bad manners that were commonly
displayed at the dining table by users of sharp knives (who would often use them to pick their teeth), in
1637 Richelieu ordered that all of the knives on his dining table have their blades dulled and their tips
rounded. The design quickly became popular throughout France and later spread to other countries.
Richelieu has frequently been depicted in popular fiction, notably as the lead villain in Alexandre Dumas's
1844 novel The Three Musketeers and its numerous film adaptations.
 Cardinal Richelieu
Born in Paris on 9 September 1585, Armand du Plessis was the fourth of five
children and the last of three sons: he was delicate from childhood, and
suffered frequent bouts of ill-health throughout his life. His family belonged to
the lesser nobility of Poitou his father, François du Plessis, seigneur de
Richelieu, was a soldier and courtier who served as the Grand Provost of
France, and his mother, Susanne de La Porte, was the daughter of a famous
jurist.

When he was five years old, Richelieu's father died of fever in the French Wars
of Religion, leaving the family in debt; with the aid of royal grants, however,
the family was able to avoid financial difficulties. At the age of 9, young
Richelieu was sent to the College of Navarre in Paris to study philosophy.
Thereafter, he began to train for a military career. His private life seems to have
been typical for a young officer of the era, or for French officers of any era : in
1605, aged twenty, he was treated by Théodore de Mayerne for gonorrhea. Quesnel Henry III of
France in Polish
hat
Henry III had rewarded Richelieu's father for his participation in the Wars of
Religion by granting his family the Bishopric of Luçon.
Cardinal Richelieu
Frans Pourbus the Younger (Antwerp 1569 - Paris
1622) - Henri IV, King of France (1553-1610)

Henry IV (French: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610),

also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great,
was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France
from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch of France from the
House of Bourbon, a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. He
pragmatically balanced the interests of the Catholic and
Protestant parties in France as well as among the European
states. He was assassinated in 1610 by a Catholic zealot, and
was succeeded by his son Louis XIII.
In 1606, Henry IV nominated Richelieu to become Bishop of
Luçon. As Richelieu had not yet reached the canonical minimum
age, it was necessary that he journey to Rome for a special
dispensation from Pope Paul V.
 Cardinal Richelieu
This secured, Richelieu was consecrated bishop
in April 1607. Soon after he returned to his
diocese in 1608, Richelieu was heralded as a
reformer. He became the first bishop in France
to implement the institutional reforms
prescribed by the Council of Trent between
1545 and 1563.

At about this time, Richelieu became a friend of

François Leclerc du Tremblay (better known as
"Père Joseph" or "Father Joseph"), a Capuchin
friar, who would later become a close confidant.
Because of his closeness to Richelieu, and the
grey colour of his robes, Father Joseph was also
nicknamed L'éminence grise (lit. 'the Grey
Eminence'). Later, Richelieu often used him as
an agent during diplomatic negotiations.
 Cardinal Richelieu
In 1614, the clergymen of Poitou asked Richelieu to be one of their
representatives to the Estates-General. There, he was a vigorous
advocate of the Catholic Church, arguing that it should be exempt
from taxes and that bishops should have more political power. He was
the most prominent clergyman to support the adoption of the decrees
of the Council of Trent throughout France the Third Estate
(commoners) was his chief opponent in this endeavour. At the end of
the assembly, the First Estate (the clergy) chose him to deliver the
address enumerating its petitions and decisions. Soon after the
dissolution of the Estates-General, Richelieu entered the service of
King Louis XIII's wife, Anne of Austria, as her almoner.

Richelieu advanced politically by faithfully serving the queen-mother's

favourite, Concino Concini, the most powerful minister in the kingdom.

In 1616, Richelieu was made Secretary of State, and was given

responsibility for foreign affairs.
Cardinal Richelieu
Louis XIII sometimes
called the Just; 27
September 1601 – 14
May 1643) was King of
France from 1610 until
his death in 1643 and
King of Navarre (as Louis
II) from 1610 to 1620,
when the crown of
Navarre was merged
with the French crown.
Shortly before his ninth
birthday, Louis became
king of France and
Navarre after his father
Henry IV was
assassinated.
 Cardinal Richelieu
Like Concini, the Bishop was one of the closest advisors of Louis
XIII's mother, Marie de Médicis. The queen had become Regent of
France when the nine-year-old Louis ascended the throne; although
her son reached the legal age of majority in 1614, she remained
the effective ruler of the realm. However, her policies, and those of
Concini, proved unpopular with many in France. As a result, both
Marie and Concini became the targets of intrigues at court; their
most powerful enemy was Charles de Luynes. In April 1617, in a
plot arranged by Luynes, Louis XIII ordered that Concini be
arrested, and killed should he resist; Concini was consequently
assassinated, and Marie de Médicis overthrown.

His patron having died, Richelieu also lost power; he was dismissed
as Secretary of State, and was removed from the court.[29] In
1618, the king, still suspicious of the Bishop of Luçon, banished
him to Avignon. There, Richelieu spent most of his time writing; he
composed a catechism titled L'Instruction du chrétien.
 Cardinal Richelieu

In 1619, Marie de Médicis escaped from her confinement in the Château de Blois, becoming the titular
leader of an aristocratic rebellion. The king and the duc de Luynes recalled Richelieu, believing that he
would be able to reason with the queen. Richelieu was successful in this endeavour, mediating between her
and her son. Complex negotiations bore fruit when the Treaty of Angoulême was ratified; Marie de Médicis
was given complete freedom, but would remain at peace with the king. The queen-mother was restored to
the royal council.

After the death of the king's favourite, the duc de Luynes, in 1621, Richelieu rose to power quickly. The
year after, the king nominated Richelieu for a cardinalate, which Pope Gregory XV accordingly granted in
September 1622. Crises in France, including a rebellion of the Huguenots, rendered Richelieu a nearly
indispensable advisor to the king. After he was appointed to the royal council of ministers on 29 April
1624, he intrigued against the chief minister Charles, duc de La Vieuville. On 12 August of the same year,
La Vieuville was arrested on charges of corruption, and Cardinal Richelieu took his place as the king's
principal minister the following day, but the Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld nominally remained president of
the council (Richelieu was officially appointed president in November 1629).
 Cardinal Richelieu
Cardinal Richelieu's policy involved two primary goals:
centralization of power in France and opposition to the
Habsburg dynasty (which ruled in both Austria and
Spain). He saw the reestablishment of the Catholic
orthodoxy as a political maneuver of the Habsburg and
Austrian states which was detrimental to the French
national interests.

Shortly after he became Louis' principal minister, he was

faced with a crisis in Valtellina, a valley in Lombardy
(northern Italy). To counter Spanish designs on the
territory, Richelieu supported the Protestant Swiss canton
of Grisons, which also claimed the strategically important Valtellina or the Valtelline is a valley in the
valley. The cardinal deployed troops to Valtellina, from Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering
which the pope's garrisons were driven out. Richelieu's Switzerland. Today it is known for its ski center,
early decision to support a Protestant canton against the hot spring spas, bresaola, cheeses (in particular
pope was a foretaste of the purely diplomatic power Bitto, named after the river Bitto) and wines.
politics he espoused in his foreign policy.
Cardinal Richelieu
To further consolidate power in France, Richelieu sought to suppress the
influence of the feudal nobility. In 1626, he abolished the position of
Constable of France and ordered all fortified castles razed, with the
exception only of those needed to defend against invaders. Thus he
stripped the princes, dukes, and lesser aristocrats of important defences
that could have been used against the king's armies during rebellions. As
a result, Richelieu was hated by most of the nobility.
Another obstacle to the centralization of power was religious division in
France. The Huguenots, one of the largest political and religious factions
in the country, controlled a significant military force, and were in
rebellion. Moreover, Charles I, the king of England, declared war on
France in an attempt to aid the Huguenot faction. In 1627, Richelieu
ordered the army to besiege the Huguenot stronghold of La Rochelle; the
cardinal personally commanded the besieging troops. English troops
under the Duke of Buckingham led an expedition to help the citizens of
La Rochelle, but failed abysmally. The city, however, remained firm for
over a year before capitulating in 1628.
 Cardinal Richelieu

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, KG 28 August 1592 –
23 August 1628), was an English courtier, statesman, and
patron of the arts. He was a favourite and self-described "lover"
of King James I of England. Buckingham remained at the height
of royal favour for the first three years of the reign of James's
son, King Charles I, until a disgruntled army officer assassinated
him.
 Cardinal Richelieu

Although the Huguenots suffered a

major defeat at La Rochelle, they
continued to fight, led by Henri, duc de
Rohan. Protestant forces, however, The Edict of Nantes
were defeated in 1629; Rohan was signed in April
submitted to the terms of the Peace of 1598 by King Henry IV
Alais. As a result, religious toleration and granted the
for Protestants, which had first been minority Calvinist
granted by the Edict of Nantes in Protestants of France,
1598, was permitted to continue, but also known as
the cardinal abolished their political Huguenots, substantial
rights and protections. Rohan was not rights in the nation,
executed (as were leaders of rebellions which was
later in Richelieu's tenure); in fact, he predominantly Catholic.
later became a commanding officer in
the French army.
 Cardinal Richelieu
Habsburg Spain exploited the French conflict with the Huguenots to extend
its influence in northern Italy. It funded the Huguenot rebels to keep the
French army occupied, meanwhile expanding its Italian dominions.
Richelieu, however, responded aggressively; after La Rochelle capitulated,
he personally led the French army to northern Italy to restrain Spain. On
26 November 1629, he was created duc de Richelieu and a Peer of France.
In the next year, Richelieu's position was seriously threatened by his former
patron, Marie de Médicis. Marie believed that the cardinal had robbed her
of her political influence; thus, she demanded that her son dismiss the chief
minister. Louis XIII was not, at first, averse to such a course of action, as he
personally disliked Richelieu. Despite this, the persuasive statesman was
able to secure the king as an ally against his own mother. On 11
November 1630, Marie de Médicis and the king's brother, Gaston, duc
d'Orléans, secured the king's agreement for the dismissal. Richelieu,
however, was aware of the plan, and quickly convinced the king to repent.
This day, known as the Day of the Dupes, was the only one on which Louis
XIII took a step toward dismissing his minister. Thereafter, the king was
unwavering in his political support for him
 Cardinal Richelieu
Meanwhile, Marie de Médicis was exiled to Compiègne. Both Marie and the duc d'Orléans continued to
conspire against Richelieu, but their schemes came to nothing. The nobility also remained powerless. The
only important rising was that of Henri, duc de Montmorency in 1632; Richelieu, ruthless in suppressing
opposition, ordered the duke's execution. In 1634, the cardinal had one of his outspoken critics, Urbain
Grandier, burned at the stake in the Loudun affair. These and other harsh measures were orchestrated by
Richelieu to intimidate his enemies. He also ensured his political security by establishing a large network of
spies in France and in other European countries.

On the "Day of the Dupes" in 1630, it appeared that Marie de

Médicis had secured Richelieu's dismissal. Richelieu, however,
survived the scheme, and Marie was exiled as a result.
Cardinal Richelieu

Henri Motte's
depiction of
Cardinal Richelieu
at the siege of La
Rochelle.
 Cardinal Richelieu
Before Richelieu's ascent to power, most of Europe had become enmeshed in the Thirty Years' War (1618–
1648). France was not openly at war with the Habsburgs, who ruled Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, so
subsidies and aid were provided secretly to their adversaries. Richelieu however, believed that war against
Spain would be unavoidable. He considered the Dutch Republic as one of France's most important allies, for
it bordered directly with the Spanish Netherlands and was right in the middle of the Eighty Years' War with
Spain at that time. Luckily for him, Richelieu was a bon français, just like the king, who had already decided
to subsidize the Dutch to fight against the Spanish via the Treaty of Compiègne in June 1624, prior to
Richelieu's appointment to First Minister in August. That same year, a military expedition, secretly financed
by France and commanded by Marquis de Coeuvres, started an action with the intention of liberating the
Valtelline from Spanish occupation. In 1625, Richelieu also sent money to Ernst von Mansfeld, a famous
mercenary general operating in Germany in English service. However, in May 1626, when war costs had
almost ruined France, king and cardinal made peace with Spain via the Treaty of Monçon. This peace quickly
ended after tensions due to the War of the Mantuan Succession. In 1629, Emperor Ferdinand II subjugated
many of his Protestant opponents in Germany. Richelieu, alarmed by Ferdinand's growing influence, incited
Sweden to intervene, providing money. In the meantime, France and Spain remained hostile due to Spain's
ambitions in northern Italy. At that time northern Italy was a major strategic region in Europe's balance of
power, serving as a link between the Habsburgs in the Empire and in Spain.
 Cardinal Richelieu

Had the imperial armies dominated this region, France would have been threatened by Habsburg
encirclement. Spain was meanwhile seeking papal approval for a universal monarchy. When in 1630 French
diplomats in Regensburg agreed to make peace with Spain, Richelieu refused to support them. The
agreement would have prohibited French interference in Germany. Therefore, Richelieu advised Louis XIII to
refuse to ratify the treaty. In 1631, he allied France to Sweden, which had just invaded the empire, in the
Treaty of Bärwalde.

Military expenses placed a considerable strain on royal revenues. In response, Richelieu raised the gabelle
(salt tax) and the taille (land tax). The taille was enforced to provide funds to raise armies and wage war.
The clergy, nobility, and high bourgeoisie either were exempt or could easily avoid payment, so the burden
fell on the poorest segment of the nation. To collect taxes more efficiently, and to keep corruption to a
minimum, Richelieu bypassed local tax officials, replacing them with intendants (officials in the direct service
of the Crown). Richelieu's financial scheme, however, caused unrest among the peasants; there were several
uprisings in 1636 to 1639. Richelieu crushed the revolts violently, and dealt with the rebels harshly.
Cardinal Richelieu

Because he openly aligned France with

Protestant powers, Richelieu was denounced
by many as a traitor to the Roman Catholic
Church. Military action, at first, was disastrous
for the French, with many victories going to
Spain and the Empire. Neither side, however,
could obtain a decisive advantage, and the
conflict lingered on after Richelieu's death.
Richelieu was instrumental in redirecting the
Thirty Years' War from the conflict of
Protestantism versus Catholicism to that of
nationalism versus Habsburg hegemony. In
this conflict France effectively drained the
already overstretched resources of the
Habsburg empire and drove it inexorably
towards bankruptcy.
 Cardinal Richelieu
Gaspar de Guzmán y Pimentel,
The defeat of Habsburg forces at 1st Duke of Sanlúcar, 3rd
the Battle of Lens in 1648, Count of Olivares, GE, known
coupled with their failure to as the Count-Duke of Olivares
prevent a French invasion of (taken by joining both his
Catalonia, effectively spelled the countship and subsequent
end for Habsburg domination of dukedom) (6 January 1587 –
22 July 1645), was a Spanish
the continent, and for the
royal favourite of Philip IV
personal career of Spanish prime and minister.
minister Olivares. Indeed, in the
subsequent years it would be
France, under the leadership of
Louis XIV, who would attempt to
fill the vacuum left by the
Habsburgs in the Spanish
Netherlands and supplant Spain
as the dominant European power.
 Cardinal Richelieu

When Richelieu came to power, New France, where the

French had a foothold since Jacques Cartier, had no more
than 100 permanent European inhabitants. Richelieu
encouraged Louis XIII to colonize the Americas by the
foundation of the Compagnie de la Nouvelle France in
imitation of the Dutch West India Company. Unlike the
other colonial powers, France encouraged a peaceful
coexistence in New France between natives and colonists
and sought the integration of Indians into colonial society.
Samuel de Champlain, governor of New France at the time
of Richelieu, saw intermarriage between French and Indians
as a solution to increase population in its colony. Under
the guidance of Richelieu, Louis XIII issued the Ordonnance
of 1627 by which the Indians, converted to Catholicism,
were considered as "natural Frenchmen":
Cardinal Richelieu

Toward the end of his life, Richelieu

alienated many people, including Pope Urban
VIII. Richelieu was displeased by the pope's
refusal to name him the papal legate in
France; in turn, the pope did not approve of
the administration of the French church, or of
French foreign policy. However, the conflict
was largely resolved when the pope granted
a cardinalate to Jules Mazarin, one of
Richelieu's main political allies, in 1641.
Despite troubled relations with the Roman
Catholic Church, Richelieu did not support
the complete repudiation of papal authority
in France, as was advocated by the
Gallicanists
 Cardinal Richelieu
As he neared death, Richelieu faced a plot that threatened to remove him from power. The cardinal had
introduced a young man named Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, marquis de Cinq-Mars to Louis XIII's court. The
cardinal had been a friend of Cinq-Mars's father. More importantly, Richelieu hoped that Cinq-Mars would
become Louis's favourite, so that he could indirectly exercise greater influence over the monarch's
decisions. Cinq-Mars had become the royal favourite by 1639, but, contrary to Cardinal Richelieu's belief,
he was not easy to control. The young marquis realized that Richelieu would not permit him to gain
political power.
However, Richelieu was now dying. For many years he had suffered from recurrent
fevers (possibly malaria), strangury, intestinal tuberculosis with fistula, and
migraine. Now his right arm was suppurating with tubercular osteitis, and he
coughed blood (after his death, his lungs were found to have extensive cavities and
caseous necrosis). His doctors continued to bleed him frequently, further
weakening him.
Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, Marquis of Cinq-Mars 1620 – 12 September
1642) was a favourite of King Louis XIII of France, who led the last
and most nearly successful of many conspiracies against the
Cardinal Richelieu, the king's powerful first minister.
 Cardinal Richelieu
Richelieu died on 4 December 1642, aged 57. His body was embalmed and interred at the church of the
Sorbonne. By that time, the populace detested him. In many provinces of the kingdom, bonfires were
kindled to celebrate his death. During the French Revolution, the corpse was removed from its tomb, and
the mummified front of his head, having been removed and replaced during the original embalming
process, was stolen. It ended up in the possession of Nicholas Armez of Brittany by 1796, and he
occasionally exhibited the well-preserved face. His nephew, Louis-Philippe Armez, inherited it and also
occasionally exhibited it and lent it out for study. In 1866, Napoleon III persuaded Armez to return the face
to the government for re-interment with the rest of Richelieu's body. An investigation of subsidence of the
church floor enabled the head to be photographed in 1895.

The Parc de Richelieu at

Richelieu, Indre-et-Loire