Cardinal
1585-1642
Richelieu was born in Paris on September
9, 1585, and embarked on a military career. In order to retain
the bishopric of Luçon (near La Rochelle) in the family,
however, he switched to theology and at age 22 was ordained a
bishop. As a representative to the Estates-General in 1614, he
found a footing in political life and soon won the favour of the
queen mother of France, Marie de Medici. He became secretary of
state in 1616 but fell into political disfavour the following
year and, along with the queen mother, was banished from court.
Reconciliation in 1622 brought him a cardinal's hat, and in 1624
he became King Louis XIII's chief minister. After 1630, when Marie
de Medici unsuccessfully intrigued to have her former protégé
removed from his position, Richelieu was the virtual ruler of
France.
To assure friendly relations with England, Richelieu's first important
measure was to arrange a marriage between the king's sister, Henrietta
Maria, and the Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles I of England.
To restore the prestige of France in the affairs of Europe and
to limit the further growth of Habsburg power, already entrenched
in Spain and Austria, Richelieu next made alliances with and gave
encouragement to the Dutch and German enemies of the dynasty.
To gain strategic strongholds in Italy and thwart the Habsburgs
there Richelieu involved France in a fight with Austria and Spain
when the succession to the throne in Mantua was in question (1628-1631).
In 1631 he subsidised the invasion of Germany by the champion
of the Lutheran cause, Gustav II Adolph, king of Sweden. Still
later, Richelieu made France an active ally of the German Protestants
by committing French troops to fight in the Thirty Years' War.
Meanwhile, viewing the power of the French Huguenots as a threat
to the absolute power of the king, Richelieu laid siege to the
Huguenot stronghold of La Rochelle in 1628. The Huguenots thus
were broken militarily and politically, although they were assured
of religious freedom.
Richelieu, by vigorous and effective measures, succeeded in breaking
the political power of the great families of France-making the
king an absolute ruler-and in establishing France as the first
military power of Europe. He encouraged French exploration and
colonisation in Canada and the Indies. A liberal patron of literature,
Richelieu was the founder of the French Academy. He died in Paris
on December 4, 1642.
