Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal, Duc de

b Paris 1585; d1642

He was originally intended for the army, but when, in 1607, his elder brother resigned the bishopric of Luçon, in the family preferment, Richelieu was given the benefice. He soon showed a flair for politics. In 1614 he was a clerical deputy at the States-General. He then became almoner to Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII, and gaining the favour of the Queen Mother, Marie de Médici, and her confidants he was made secretary of state. After Concini's murder Richelieu accompanied Marie to Blois, and eventually procured her return and reconciliation with her son. He was rewarded with a cardinal's hat (1622), and by 1624 was chief minister and the supreme power in the country. In 1631 he received a dukedom. Many plots were directed against him: the duc d'Orléans waged a constant struggle with Richelieu between 1626 and 1632, and Richelieu broke the conspiracy of Cinq-Mars in the last year of his life.

His ability, patriotism, and resolution are undoubted. Personally frail, and frequently ill, he still managed to conducted campaigns in person; incapable of inspiring affection, he nevertheless retained the confidence of the King from the time of his accession to power until his death, in spite of the ceaseless antagonism of the court. His courage and competence, coupled with a highly efficient system of espionage, made him proof against all intrigues and assured his successive triumphs.

During the period of his power he kept constantly before him the ideal of a state in which the power of the Crown would be absolute, and which should be supreme and unassailable in Europe, and he did much towards its realisation. When he took office the royal power was limited in two directions. The Huguenots still enjoyed a certain amount of dangerous freedom, and the great nobles retained a degree of power and privilege which was incompatible with unfettered monarchical authority. Richelieu devoted all his energies to the subjugation of Huguenots and nobles. At La Rochelle (1628) the Huguenots were crushed as rebels, but were allowed to retain their civic privileges and religious toleration. The nobility's power was curbed; fortified castles were destroyed, and local administration placed into the hands of civil servants. The nobles were encouraged to become court parasites. Abroad, France was still menaced on every frontier by the power of the Hapsburgs. Richelieu intervened in the Thirty Years' War with the skill of the master-intriguer, giving subsidies to the Hapsburg's opponents, even to the King of Sweden, the champion of Protestantism. He saw the struggle as a war of territory, not of religion, and his efforts ensured that, at the Peace of Westphalia, France gained strengthened frontiers and enhanced prestige. As a patron of science and literature Richelieu rebuilt and endowed the Sorbonne, and founded the royal printing house at Paris, the botanic garden, and the French Academy. Of his writings his memoirs are still of interest.

Richelieu prepared the way for absolute monarchy in France, and he destroyed the Hapsburg menace to French independence. The worthiness, to France, of his ends has made him a national hero; but his means were more questionable. He was extravagant and improvident. In his selection of ministers he looked for subservience rather than initiative, and it is significant that the most decisive French victories in the Thirty Years' War were won after his death. Under him the checking of natural political developments began, which led eventually to the Revolution; but he laid the foundations for the glorious expansion of France under Louis XIV.

© JM Dent/Historybookshop.com

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