The Duke of Richelieu | |
---|---|
![]() | |
First Minister of State | |
In office 12 August 1624 – 4 December 1642 | |
Monarch | Louis XIII |
Preceded by | The Marquis of Ancre Vacant (1617–1624) |
Succeeded by | Jules Mazarin |
Governor of Brittany | |
In office 17 April 1632 – 4 December 1642 | |
Monarch | Louis XIII |
Preceded by | The Marquis of Thémines |
Succeeded by | Queen Anne |
Grand Master of Navigation | |
In office 1626–1642 | |
Monarch | Louis XIII |
Preceded by | The Duke of Montmorency |
Succeeded by | The Marquis of Brézé |
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs | |
In office 30 November 1616 – 24 April 1617 | |
Monarch | Louis XIII |
Preceded by | Claude Mangot |
Succeeded by | The Marquis of Sillery |
Secretary of State for War | |
In office 25 November 1616 – 24 April 1617 | |
Monarch | Louis XIII |
Preceded by | Claude Mangot |
Succeeded by | Nicolas Brulart de Sillery |
Personal details | |
Born | Armand Jean du Plessis 9 September 1585 Paris, France |
Died | 4 December 1642 Paris, France | (aged 57)
Resting place | Sorbonne Chapel |
Alma mater | College of Navarre |
Profession | Clergyman, statesman |
Cardinal, Bishop of Luçon | |
Metropolis | Bordeaux |
Diocese | Luçon |
See | Luçon |
Appointed | 18 December 1606 |
Installed | 17 April 1607 |
Term ended | Before 29 April 1624 |
Predecessor | François Yver |
Successor | Emery de Bragelongne |
Orders | |
Consecration | 17 April 1607 by Anne d'Escars de Givry |
Created cardinal | 5 September 1622 by Pope Gregory XV |
Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
Personal details | |
Previous post(s) |
|
Signature | ![]() |
Coat of arms | ![]() |
Styles of Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Reference style | His Grand Eminence |
Spoken style | Your Grand Eminence |
Informal style | Cardinal |
See | Luçon |
Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (French: [aʁmɑ̃ ʒɑ̃ dy plɛsi]; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu,[a] was a French statesman and prelate of the Catholic Church. 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.
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.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha>
tags or {{efn}}
templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
template or {{notelist}}
template (see the help page).