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Name:
Cardinal Richelieu
Armand-Jean du Plessis
Duke of Richelieu
Dates:
Born: September 9, 1585
Died: December 4, 1642
Secretary of State in France: 1616-1642
Became Cardinal: 1622
Minister of Louis XIII: 1624-1642
Biography:
Cardinal Richelieu was a powerful French Cardinal and a powerful French statesman
who's poor reputation, derived largely from works of literature, is sometimes
deserved and sometimes not. He was not, as sometimes depicted, a traitor to
King Louis XIII and he did not attempt to take power in France for himself. He was,
however, rather machiavellian in his attitudes.
In France, he opposed Jansenism and the Huguenots, even laying siege to the Huguenots stronghold of La Rochelle in 1627 and 1628 in order to eliminate them. He did not, however, repress heresy simply out of love for Roman Catholicism - he also regarded such movements as threats to the unity of the state. This underlying attitude can be seen in the fact that when the German states were torn apart by the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), Richelieu did not encourage Louis XIII to side with the Catholic forces under the Holy Roman Emperor.
Instead, Richelieu supported the Protestant kingdoms in the expectation that continued conflict and an eventual peace would so weaken the German states that France would be left as the only major power in Europe. Pope Urban VIII said of his intrigues: "If there is a God, Richelieu will have much to answer for. If there is not, he has done very well."
Also Known As: none
Alternate Spellings: none
Common Misspellings: none
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