Cardinal Richelieu: Louis XIII's Chief Minister (1624–1642)

Cardinal Richelieu served as chief minister to Louis XIII of France from August 1624 until his death on 4 December 1642, dominating French government for almost two decades. He broke the military power of the Huguenots, punished noble conspiracies, strengthened royal administration and took France into war against the Habsburgs of Spain and Austria. His career, often summed up in the idea of raison d’état, the interest of the state, laid foundations for the absolute monarchy of Louis XIV.

Early life and rise

Armand-Jean du Plessis was born in Paris on 9 September 1585 into a family of minor nobility from Poitou. Destined at first for the army, he entered the Church when the family needed someone to keep the bishopric of Luçon, which it controlled. He was consecrated bishop in 1607, at the age of twenty-one.

He came to national notice as a speaker for the clergy at the Estates General of 1614–15. During the regency that followed the assassination of Henry IV, he attached himself to the queen mother, Marie de’ Medici, and became a secretary of state in 1616. The murder of her favourite Concini in 1617 brought his fall and a period of exile.

Richelieu worked his way back by mediating between Louis XIII and his mother. He became a cardinal in 1622, entered the royal council in April 1624 and by August of that year had become its leading figure.

Crushing the Huguenot state within a state

The Edict of Nantes of 1598 had allowed French Protestants to hold fortified towns, of which the Atlantic port of La Rochelle was the strongest. When the Huguenots rose in revolt and England sent fleets to help them, Richelieu directed the siege of La Rochelle in 1627–28, sealing the harbour with a great sea wall.

The starving city surrendered in October 1628, after its population had fallen dramatically. The Peace of Alès in 1629 removed the Huguenots’ fortresses and political assemblies but left their freedom of worship in place. Richelieu’s aim was obedience to the crown, not forced conversion.

Taming the nobles and the royal family

Richelieu faced repeated plots by great nobles, often involving the king’s brother Gaston of Orléans and the queen mother. He responded firmly. The Count of Chalais was executed in 1626, the Duke of Montmorency, governor of Languedoc, in 1632 after an armed rising, and the king’s young favourite Cinq-Mars in 1642 after conspiring with Spain.

The decisive crisis came on 10–11 November 1630, the Day of the Dupes, when Marie de’ Medici demanded Richelieu’s dismissal. Courtiers thought he was finished, but Louis XIII stood by his minister. The queen mother soon left France and never returned.

Richelieu also enforced royal edicts against duelling, and in 1627 the Count of Montmorency-Bouteville was executed for fighting a duel in defiance of them. Over time he made greater use of intendants, royal commissioners sent to the provinces, to oversee justice, finance and the army.

War against the Habsburgs

Richelieu regarded the power of the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs, who surrounded France, as the main danger to the kingdom. At first he fought indirectly, intervening in the War of the Mantuan Succession in northern Italy (1628–31) and, by the Treaty of Bärwalde in 1631, paying subsidies to Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in the Thirty Years’ War.

After Sweden’s defeat at Nördlingen in 1634, France entered the war openly, declaring war on Spain in May 1635. The early campaigns went badly: in 1636, the “year of Corbie”, Spanish troops advanced to within reach of Paris. France recovered, gaining ground in Alsace, Artois and Roussillon and supporting revolts against Spain in Catalonia and Portugal in 1640.

Richelieu never lived to see the outcome. When he died, French armies were fighting on several fronts and peace talks had not yet opened, but the foundations had been laid for the gains France secured in 1648 and 1659.

The cost was enormous. Taxes rose steeply, and peasant revolts broke out, including the Croquants in the south-west in 1636–37 and the Nu-pieds in Normandy in 1639, which were suppressed by force.

Culture, trade and the navy

Richelieu understood the power of words and images. In 1635 he obtained letters patent founding the Académie française, a body of writers charged with regulating and refining the French language; it still exists. He supported the official newspaper, the Gazette, founded by Théophraste Renaudot in 1631, and patronised writers and artists, including the painter Philippe de Champaigne.

He rebuilt the Sorbonne, where he is buried, and built the Palais-Cardinal in Paris, later known as the Palais-Royal. He also worked to build a royal navy and promoted overseas trade, sponsoring the Company of One Hundred Associates in 1627 to develop New France in North America.

Death and legacy

Richelieu died in Paris on 4 December 1642, aged 57, and Louis XIII followed him on 14 May 1643. He had recommended Cardinal Mazarin as his successor, and Mazarin continued his policies through the regency of Louis XIV, though resentment of the cardinals’ rule fed the revolt known as the Fronde.

Historians debate how far Richelieu deliberately planned an absolutist state and how far he simply responded to crises. His Political Testament, published in 1688, sets out his ideas on government; its authenticity was long questioned but is now widely accepted as reflecting his views. Many sayings attributed to him, however, are doubtful.

Key people

• Louis XIII (1601–1643): king of France from 1610, who backed Richelieu against powerful opponents and took an active part in government and war.
• Marie de’ Medici (1575–1642): queen mother and Richelieu’s first patron, who later became his bitter enemy.
• Gaston of Orléans (1608–1660): the king’s younger brother and heir until 1638, involved in several plots against the cardinal.
• Father Joseph (1577–1638): Capuchin friar and Richelieu’s trusted diplomatic adviser, nicknamed the “Grey Eminence”.
• Jules Mazarin (1602–1661): Italian-born diplomat whom Richelieu trained and recommended as his successor.

Myths and facts

Myth: Louis XIII was Richelieu’s puppet. Modern historians stress that the king took the major decisions and could have dismissed his minister at any time. The partnership worked because Louis shared Richelieu’s main aims.

Myth: Richelieu persecuted Protestants for their faith. He destroyed the Huguenots’ military and political power, but he left their religious rights under the Edict of Nantes in place and allied with Protestant states abroad.

Myth: the cardinal of The Three Musketeers is the real Richelieu. Dumas created a memorable villain for his 1844 novel, mixing history with invention. The real Richelieu was harsh with enemies but was above all an administrator and statesman, and often in poor health.

Timeline

• 1585, 9 September: Armand-Jean du Plessis is born in Paris.
• 1607: He is consecrated Bishop of Luçon.
• 1622, September: He is made a cardinal.
• 1624, August: He becomes Louis XIII’s leading minister.
• 1628, October: La Rochelle surrenders after a long siege.
• 1630, 10–11 November: The Day of the Dupes confirms his power.
• 1635: The Académie française is founded; France declares war on Spain.
• 1642, 4 December: Richelieu dies in Paris.

Why it matters

Richelieu reshaped France at a decisive moment. By subduing the Huguenots and the great nobles, strengthening royal administration and opposing Habsburg power, he set France on course to become the leading power in Europe under Louis XIV, while his methods and their human cost remain the subject of debate.