Cardinal Richelieu. Patriot victim of Dumas. The real story of Cardinal Richelieu The development of the fleet, trade, foreign economic relations, finance
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TwitterArmand Jean du Plessis, Duke de Richelieu(in Russian tradition Richelieu; fr. Armand-Jean du Plessis, duc de Richelieu; September 9, Paris - December 4, Paris), also known as Cardinal Richelieu or Red cardinal(fr. l "Éminence rouge) - cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, aristocrat and statesman of France. Cardinal Richelieu was secretary of state from 1616 to 1617 and head of government (chief minister of the king) from 1624 until his death.
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✪ Cardinal Giulio Mazarin - the first minister of France. Historian Natalia Ivanovna Basovskaya. 11/23/2013
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Biography
Origin
The father's family belonged to the well-born nobility of Poitou. Father, Francois du Plessis de Richelieu, was a prominent statesman during the reign of Henry III, and after his death he served Henry IV.
Armand's mother, Suzanne de La Porte, did not belong to the aristocracy. She was the daughter of the lawyer of the Parisian Parliament, Francois de La Porte, a bourgeois who was granted the nobility for long service.
Childhood
Armand was born in Paris, in the parish of Saint-Eustache, on the Rue Boulois (or Bouloir). He was the youngest son in the family. He was baptized only on May 5, 1586, six months after his birth, due to his “frail, sickly” health.
1586, the fifth day of May. Armand Jean was baptized, the son of sir François du Plessis, seigneur de Richelieu ... member of the Council of State, Prevot of the Royal House and Chief Prevot of France, and Dame Suzanne de La Porte, his wife ... The baby was born on September 9, 1585.
From the baptismal certificate in the registers of the parish of St. Eustache in Paris
Armand's godfathers were two marshals of France - Armand de Gonto-Biron and Jean d'Aumont, who gave him their names. The godmother was his grandmother, Francoise de Richelieu, née Rochechouart.
In 1588, Armand's father became one of the organizers of the flight of Henry III from rebellious Paris. Mother and children also left Paris and settled in the family estate of Richelieu's husband in Poitou. After the assassination of the king, Armand's father continued to successfully serve the new king, Henry IV of Bourbon. François du Plessis-Richelieu died unexpectedly of a fever on July 19, 1590, at the age of 42, leaving behind only debts. The family began to experience significant financial difficulties. To organize a worthy funeral, Susanna was even forced to lay the chain of the Order of the Holy Spirit, of which her late husband was a cavalier. King Henry IV, in recognition of the merits of the late Prevost, twice allocated funds to the widow for a total of 36,000 livres.
Back in Paris
A few years later, Armand returned to Paris, where he was enrolled in Navarre College, where both Henry III and Henry IV studied. In college, Armand studied grammar, arts and philosophy. After graduating from college, Arman, by the decision of his family, enters the Pluvinel Military Academy. But suddenly circumstances change, since Armand Richelieu must now take the place of Bishop of Luçon, an ecclesiastical diocese granted to the Richelieu family by Henry III. Armand is forced to change his military uniform to a cassock, since this diocese is the only source of income for his family. At this time he is 17 years old. Armand, with his usual exuberant energy, begins to study theology.
Bishop of Luzon
Soon, Maria Medici appointed Richelieu the confessor of Anna of Austria. A little later, in November 1616, she appointed him to the post of Minister of War. Richelieu was resolutely opposed to the then-existing course of the government, aimed at an unequal alliance with Spain and neglect of the national interests of France, but then the Bishop of Luson did not dare to openly oppose the government. The finances of the state were also in a deplorable state, there was a constant threat of another rebellion and civil war.
But soon the king orders him to follow Mary Medici in order to reason with her (the queen mother wanted to revolt against her own son). Richelieu brilliantly copes with this mission. Peace in the kingdom has been restored. The bishop's disgrace has been removed.
Cardinal of France in the service of the state
Inside the country, Richelieu successfully uncovers a conspiracy against the king, aimed at eliminating the monarch and enthroning his younger brother Gaston of Orleans. Many noble nobles and the queen herself are involved in the conspiracy. It was planned, among other things, to assassinate the cardinal. It was after this incident that the cardinal got personal protection, which later became the regiment of the cardinal's guard.
War with England and the siege of La Rochelle
In 1632, Richelieu uncovered another conspiracy against the king, in which Gaston of Orleans and the Duke de Montmorency took part.
On December 29, 1629, the cardinal, having received the title of lieutenant general of His Majesty, went to command an army in Italy, where he confirmed his military talents and met Giulio Mazarin. The latter became the closest associate of Richelieu, which helped him later become the first minister of France.
Richelieu based his policy on the implementation of Henry IV's program: strengthening the state, its centralization, ensuring the supremacy of secular power over the church and the center over the provinces, eliminating the aristocratic opposition, counteracting the Spanish-Austrian hegemony in Europe. The main result of the state activity of Richelieu is the establishment of absolutism in France. Cold, prudent, often very severe to the point of cruelty, subordinating the sense of reason, Cardinal Richelieu firmly held the reins of government in his hands and, with remarkable vigilance and foresight, noticing the impending danger, warned her at the very appearance.
Facts and memory
Compositions of Richelieu
- Le testament politique ou les maximes d'etat.
- Memoires (ed.).
"My first goal was the greatness of the king, my second goal was the power of the kingdom" - this is how one of the most famous people in the history of France, who for 18 years led the entire policy of the state, the omnipotent Cardinal Richelieu, described his activities.
His activities were assessed differently by contemporaries and descendants, and to this day is the subject of heated discussions. The aristocrats accused him of undermining the feudal foundations, and the “lower classes” considered him the culprit of their plight. Most of us know the activities of the cardinal from the novels of A. Dumas, where he is represented as an intriguer plotting the unfortunate queen, a powerful enemy of the brave royal musketeers - a clearly not attractive person.
But be that as it may, as a statesman, Cardinal Richelieu determined the direction of France's development for 150 years, and the system he created collapsed only during the French Revolution. The revolutionary-minded French, not without reason, saw in him one of the symbols, pillars of the old regime, and in order to please the raging crowd in 1793, they threw the remains of the first minister, Louis XIII, under her feet.
Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu was born in Paris on September 9, 1585. His paternal ancestors have been known since the 14th century. They came from the noble nobility of the French province of Poitou. Being well-born does not mean being rich, and, according to available information, this family was not rich. The father of the future cardinal, Francois du Plessis, was a member of the inner circle of two kings, Henry III and Henry IV. With the first, he was next to 1573, when he was not yet the king of France. It was Francois who informed Henry of Valois about the death of his brother, King Charles IX of France, and in May 1574 returned with him from Poland to Paris. As a reward for his faithful service, the new king of France made François du Plessis prevost of the royal house, with the responsibility of maintaining law and order at court. Two years later, Francois was awarded the Order of the Holy Spirit and the bishopric in Luzon, in the province of Poitou, was transferred to him as hereditary possession. Subsequently, he served as supreme judge, minister of justice of France and head of the secret service of Henry III. On the day of the assassination of the king, François was by his side. The new king of France, Henry IV of Bourbon, left du Plessis in the service, and Francois served this king faithfully. He managed to distinguish himself several times in battles and become the captain of the royal bodyguards. The career of François du Plessis was interrupted by his death on July 19, 1590.
Richelieu's mother was Suzanne de la Porte, the daughter of Francois de la Porte, a successful figure in the Parisian parliament who received the nobility. After the death of her husband, five minor children remained in her arms - three sons, Heinrich, Alphonse and Armand, and two daughters, Francoise and Nicole. She was given a modest pension for their maintenance. Francois du Plessis left everything in such a mess that it was more profitable for the family to refuse the inheritance than to accept it. Susanna's relationship with her mother-in-law was very difficult, and the family experienced serious financial difficulties. In order to somehow exist, Suzanne even had to sell her husband's order chain.
Arman spent the first years of his life in the family castle, where he received his primary education at home. When his father died, the boy was only five years old, and soon the castle was given to creditors and the family moved to Paris. In 1594 he was appointed to the privileged College of Navarre. Even as a child, Armand du Plessis dreamed of a military career, and after graduating from college, he entered the Pluvinel Academy, which trained officers for the royal cavalry. He was not distinguished by good health, but nevertheless decided to choose the service traditional for the male line of the clan.
But family circumstances forced him to bury the dream of military exploits and put on the cassock of a priest. His brother Alphonse unexpectedly renounced the bishopric in Luzon, therefore, in order to save the family inheritance, Armand enters the theological faculty of the Sorbonne in 1602, which he graduates in four years, having received a master's degree in canon law and a chair in Luzon. And although he was only 20 years old, and a person no younger than 23 had the right to head the bishopric, the king approved the young Abbé de Richelieu as Bishop of Luson. For consecration to the dignity of bishop, Richelieu himself went to Rome. He made a favorable impression on Pope Paul I with his deep knowledge and thus obtained permission from the Holy See for ordination. Richelieu became bishop on April 17, 1607.
Upon his return to Paris in the autumn of the same year, Richelieu defended his dissertation at the Sorbonne for a doctorate in theology. He is well received at court, the king calls him none other than "my bishop", and in the light of Richelieu becomes the most fashionable preacher. Mind, erudition and eloquence - all this allowed the young man to hope for a career as a statesman. But as often happens in the courts of monarchs, if you have friends, you are bound to have enemies. At the court of Henry IV there was a group of people dissatisfied with the policy of the king. It was led by Queen Marie de Medici and her favourite, the Duke de Sully. Richelieu soon felt the ambiguity and insecurity of his position at the court of the monarch, and in order not to tempt fate, he retires to his diocese. Here the bishop plunges headlong into business, showing himself not only as a zealous defender of the church, but also as a reasonable administrator, preventing many conflicts with both decisive and flexible measures. He does not cease to engage in theological research, expressed in a number of his writings. He maintains contact with Paris through extensive correspondence with friends who have remained in the capital. From a letter from one of them, he learns about the assassination of Henry IV. This news stunned him, because he had high hopes for his career with the king. Richelieu was very sorry that he did not have a relationship with Maria Medici, who was proclaimed regent for her young son, the new King of France, Louis XIII. He returns to Paris, but realizes that he was in a hurry - the new court was not up to him. But even the short time that Richelieu spent in Paris allowed him to determine exactly who would soon rule the eccentric queen regent. It was an Italian from the retinue of Queen Concino Concini, who had kept a low profile for the time being. And Richelieu was not mistaken - Concini soon became Marshal d'Ancre and head of the queen's council.
There was nothing to do in Paris, and the bishop returned to Lucon again, devoting himself entirely to the affairs of the diocese. Correspondence began again with Paris. But in Luzon, Richelieu meets the man who launched Richelieu's political career. This is Father Joseph, in the world - Francois Leclerc du Tremblay, and contemporaries will call him "gray eminence." Father Joseph was a prominent figure in the Capuchin order and enjoyed great influence in both religious and political circles. He saw a high purpose in the young bishop and began to patronize him. It was Father Joseph who recommended Richelieu to Marie Medici and her favorite, Marshal d'Ancre, who invited the bishop to Paris to deliver sermons. At the same time, Richelieu managed to establish good relations with the marshal, and the queen and young Louis XIII began to attend his sermons.
In 1614, Richelieu was elected to represent the interests of the clergy of the province of Poitou in the Estates General. He immediately attracted attention with the maturity of his judgments, the fundamental nature of knowledge and initiative. He was entrusted with representing the interests of the first estate (clergy) in other chambers, and in February 1615 he delivered a report, outlining the opinion of the entire clergy on the problems of the state. In it, Richelieu managed to please everyone, not forgetting to create a springboard for himself. He recalled that thirty-five French chancellors were clergy, and suggested that priests be more actively involved in the affairs of government. Concerned about the nobility, he spoke about the prohibition of duels, since duels "exterminate the nobility." He demanded cuts in government spending and a fight against corrupt officials who "oppress the people." Richelieu said laudatory words to the queen regent, which melted her heart. Richelieu was well aware that Maria Medici did not have a "state mind", but he needed to win her trust, and he succeeded. The Queen Regent appoints the bishop as confessor to the young Queen Anne of Austria, and the following year he becomes secretary of state, member of the Royal Council and personal adviser to Marie de Medici. During this period, Richelieu managed to achieve some stabilization in the country, begin the reorganization of the army, restore complete order in office work and significantly upgrade the diplomatic corps. In the field of foreign policy, the new secretary of state failed to achieve good results, although he was not to blame for this. Having come to power, the new government of Marie Medici reoriented foreign policy towards rapprochement with Spain, which crossed out everything that Henry IV managed to do for France. Richelieu had to support this line, although he was closer to the diplomacy of the former king. He quickly went up the career ladder, but this path took only five months. The young king, to whom Richelieu did not pay enough attention, which was his mistake, grew up and wished to rule himself. In April 1617, as a result of a coup carried out with the consent of the king, Marshal d "Ancre was killed, and the Royal Council was dispersed - empty seats were given to the former associates of Henry IV. Maria Medici went into exile, and her secretary of state was sent along with her Richelieu.
Opala, exile, years of wandering - but the Bishop of Luson was not going to give up. At this time, he finally becomes convinced of the perniciousness of the policy pursued by both Maria Medici and the new favorites of Louis XIII. Richelieu wants to see France as a strong state, taking pride of place among European countries. He believes that he is able to rally the state, but for this you need to come back to power and subordinate the king to your influence.
To achieve his goals, Richelieu decided to play on the reconciliation of mother and son. The opportunity for this came in 1622, when the favorite of the king, Albert de Luyne, the sworn enemy of Marie de Medici, died. With his death, the queen and Richelieu return to Paris, and Louis immediately introduces his mother to the Royal Council. The position of the bishop at the king's court improved markedly, and in December 1622 he received the cardinal mantle. Gradually, the cardinal managed to prove his indispensability to Louis XIII and the court. He knew well that for the king, the image of his father - Henry IV - was the ideal that the young king wanted to be like. The Cardinal took advantage of this and, whenever possible, always appealed to Henry's memory. He began to spend a lot of time with the king, unobtrusively directing his actions. The ability to maneuver and use the differences between mother and son attracted everyone's attention to him. And in terms of intrigue, the cardinal had no equal. He managed to discredit the policy pursued by de Sillery, and then de La Vivielle, and came closer and closer to the cherished goal. In 1624, Richelieu was appointed the first minister of France and managed to retain power until the end of his life.
It is difficult to enumerate all the conspiracies that were staged against the first minister during the 18 years of his reign by those who were dissatisfied with his policies. Attempts were made on his life, which made it necessary to create a personal guard for the cardinal. It was made up of musketeers, who wore red cloaks, in contrast to the king's musketeers, who wore blue cloaks.
By the time he was appointed to the post of First Minister, Richelieu was already a man with established convictions and firm political principles, which he would consistently and persistently put into practice. A contemporary of the cardinal, the poet de Malherbe, wrote about him: “... there is something in this cardinal that goes beyond the generally accepted framework, and if our ship nevertheless copes with the storm, this will happen only when his valiant hand holds the reins ".
Richelieu saw the meaning of his activity in the assertion of a strong, centralized state (royal) power and in strengthening the international position of France. To strengthen the power of the king, it was necessary to start with the establishment of peace within the state. In order to bring the “front of princes” who are trying to wrest privileges and money from the king into submission, Richelieu advised the king to stop making concessions to the aristocrats and pursue a tougher domestic policy. The cardinal did not hesitate to shed the blood of the rebels, and the execution of the Duke of Montmorency - one of the first persons of the country - shocked the aristocracy and forced them to humble their pride.
The next were the Huguenots, who received great rights during the reign of Henry IV. They created their own small state in Languedoc with a center in La Rochelle and at any moment could get out of obedience. To put an end to the Huguenot freemen, a pretext was needed. And he did not keep himself waiting. In 1627, due to the construction of the fleet, begun by Richelieu, relations between France and England escalated. The British sent troops to the French lands and provoked the Huguenots to revolt. La Rochelle has risen. The French army quickly coped with the English landing and laid siege to the fortress. Only hunger and the loss of hope for outside help forced the defenders of La Rochelle to lay down their arms. On the advice of the cardinal, Louis XIII granted forgiveness to the defenders of the fortress and confirmed freedom of religion, but deprived the Huguenots of their former privileges. Richelieu understood that it was a utopia to impose religious homogeneity on the country. In the interests of the state, questions of faith receded into the background, no further persecution ensued. The cardinal said: "Both the Huguenots and the Catholics were in my eyes equally French." Thus, the religious wars that had torn the country apart for more than seventy years ended, but such a policy added Richelieu enemies among the ministers of the church.
After bringing the aristocrats into submission and solving the problem with the Huguenots, Richelieu turned to parliaments that wanted to limit royal power. Parliaments - judicial and administrative institutions - were in ten large cities, and the most influential of them was the Parlement of Paris. He had the right to register all royal edicts, after which they received the force of law. Having rights, parliaments used them and constantly sought their greater expansion. The activities of Richelieu put an end to the intervention of parliaments in government. He also curtailed the rights of the provincial states - estate assemblies. The first minister replaced local self-government with the power of officials subordinate to the central government. In 1637, at his suggestion, the provincial administration was unified, which was replaced by commissaries of police, justice and finance, appointed from the center to each province. In addition to strengthening royal power, this provided an effective counterbalance to the power of provincial governors, who often abused this power for personal gain.
With the arrival of Richelieu to power, there were also serious changes in the field of foreign policy. He gradually returned the country to the policy pursued by Henry IV, moving further and further away from the focus on Spain and Austria. Richelieu managed to restore ties with the old allies of France and inspire Louis XIII with the idea of the need to take decisive action against the claims of Spain and Austria. He defended the idea of "European balance", opposing it to the policies of the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs. During the Thirty Years' War, Richelieu's goal was to crush the power of the Habsburgs and secure France's "natural" frontiers. These goals were achieved, but after his death, the Pyrenees became the southwestern border of the country, the sea coast was from the south and northwest, and the eastern border ran along the left bank of the Rhine.
A zealous Catholic, Richelieu earned the epithet "cardinal of the heretics." For him, in politics, faith gave way to state interests. The Habsburg dynasty slowly but steadily took over Europe, pushing France out of Italy and almost subjugating Germany. The Protestant princes could not resist the power of the Habsburgs on their own, and Richelieu decides to intervene. He began to subsidize the princes and make alliances with them. Ready to capitulate to the Habsburgs, the German principalities, thanks to the support of the cardinal and the French pistoles, continued to resist. The diplomatic and military intervention of France in the course of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) made it possible not only to continue hostilities, but also to end them with the complete collapse of the imperial designs of Austria and Spain. Back in 1642, shortly before his death, Richelieu said to his king: "Now the song of Spain is sung," and he was right again. During the war, all historical territories were united - Lorraine, Alsace and Roussillon, after many years of struggle, became part of the French kingdom. The "Spanish Party" could not forgive the cardinal for a change in political course and continued to plot against the first minister. His life often hung in the balance. Richelieu's enemy was Maria Medici, who, after a series of attempts to destroy the one who took her place next to the king, and realizing that she could not overthrow her former favorite, simply fled the country and never returned to France. In addition to her, the brother of the king, Gaston of Orleans, who dreamed of taking the throne himself and for this he was ready to collude with the enemies of the state, and Anna of Austria, a Spaniard who became the French queen, but never accepted a new homeland, became the enemies of the cardinal.
Richelieu saw before him the only goal of life - the good of France, and went towards it, overcoming the resistance of opponents and despite almost universal misunderstanding. Few of the statesmen can boast that he managed to carry out all his plans. “I promised the king that I would use all my abilities and all the means that he would like to put at my disposal to destroy the Huguenots as a political party, weaken the illegal power of the aristocracy, establish obedience to royal power everywhere in France and glorify France among foreign powers” - such tasks were set by the first minister, Cardinal Richelieu. And all these tasks were completed by him by the end of his life.
He carried out tax and financial reforms, taking into account the interests of the state. He gave great importance to the ideological support of the existing system, attracting the church and the best intellectual forces for this. Thanks to his efforts, the French Academy was opened in 1635, which still exists today. Under him, classicism was established in French literature and art, singing the greatness of the state and the ideas of civic duty. Peru Richelieu owns several plays that were even staged in the theater and were successful. During his reign, the reconstruction of the capital began. It began with the Sorbonne, where, in addition to the building of the oldest European university, it was decided to carry out an internal reorganization, opening new faculties and a college, which later bore the name of Richelieu. The cardinal allocated more than 50,000 livres from his personal funds for the construction and donated part of the library to the university. After his death, at the behest of Cardinal Sorbonne, the entire book collection of Richelieu was transferred.
Cardinal Richelieu had another enemy all his life - congenital weakness. He was constantly tormented by bouts of fever, chronic inflammation, insomnia and migraines. Diseases were aggravated by constant nervous tension and continuous work. At the end of his life, he wrote a "Political Testament" for Louis XIII, in which he gave the king instructions on all issues of foreign and domestic policy, and also outlined the main directions of his activities.
Cardinal Richelieu died on December 4, 1642 from purulent pleurisy in his palace in Paris, which he left to the king. Since that time, the palace has been called the Royal - Palais Royal. According to his last will, he was buried in the church of the University of Paris, the foundation of which he personally laid the first stone in May 1635.
Armand-Jean du Plessis de Richelieu, later nicknamed the "Red Cardinal" (l "Eminence Rouge), was born on September 9, 1585 in Paris or in the castle of Richelieu in the province of Poitou in an impoverished noble family. His father, Francois du Plessis, was the chief provost - a judicial officer of France under Henry III, and his mother, Suzanne de la Porte, came from the family of a lawyer of the Paris Parliament.Armand-Jean was the youngest son in the family.When Jean was only five years old, his father died, leaving his wife alone with five children, dilapidated estate and considerable debts.The difficult years of childhood affected the character of Jean, because all his subsequent life he sought to restore the lost honor of the family and have a lot of money, surround himself with luxury, which he was deprived of in childhood.Since childhood, Armand-Jean - a sickly and quiet boy, preferred book games with friends.In September 1594, Richelieu entered the College of Navarre in Paris and began to prepare for a military career, inheriting the title of Marquis du Chille.Since childhood, Richelieu dreamed of becoming an officer of the royal cavalry.
The main source of the family's material wealth was the income from the position of the Catholic clergyman of the diocese in the La Rochelle area, granted to Plessy by Henry III in 1516. However, in order to keep it, someone from the family had to take the monastic order. Until the age of 21, Armand, the youngest of three brothers, was expected to follow in his father's footsteps and become a military and courtier.
Since Jean was too young to take the priesthood, he needed the blessing of Pope Paul V. Having gone to the pope in Rome as an abbot, he initially hid his too young age from Pope Paul V, and after the ceremony he repented. The Pope's conclusion was: "It is fair that a young man who has discovered wisdom beyond his age should be promoted early." On April 17, 1607, the twenty-two-year-old Armand-Jean du Plessis took the name of Richelieu and the rank of Bishop of Luson. The church career at that time was very prestigious, and was valued above the secular one. However, Jean Richelieu, on the site of the once flourishing abbey in Luzon, found only ruins - a sad memory of the Wars of Religion. The diocese was one of the poorest and the funds delivered by it were not enough for a more or less decent life. But the young bishop did not lose heart.
The dignity of the bishop made it possible to appear at the royal court, which Richelieu was not slow to take advantage of. Very soon, he completely fascinated King Henry IV with his mind, erudition and eloquence. Heinrich called Richelieu none other than "my bishop." But, as happens in such cases, some influential persons did not like such a rapid rise of the provincial bishop, and Richelieu had to leave the capital.
Estates General 1614-1615.
Richelieu spent several years in Luzon. There, Bishop Richelieu was the first in France to reform the economy of the monastery, and was also the first Frenchman to write a theological treatise in his native language, which reflected the state of affairs in the country destroyed by the Wars of Religion.
All his free time, Richelieu was engaged in self-education, that is, he read. In the end, he read to the point that until the very end of his days he was tormented by terrible headaches.The assassination of Henry IV by Catholic fanatic Ravaillac in 1610 unleashed the hands of the separatists. The government of Marie de Medici, Queen Mother, regent under Louis XIII, was corrupt to the core. The collapse was reinforced by the failures of the military, so the royal court went to negotiations with representatives of the armed masses.
The Bishop of Luson (Richelieu) acted as an intermediary in the negotiations, which was the reason for his election as a representative to the Estates General from the clergy of Poitou in 1614. States General - a collection of estates, established in the Middle Ages and still occasionally meeting the king on one occasion or another. The delegates were divided into the first estate (clergy), the second estate (secular aristocracy) and the third estate (bourgeois). The young Bishop of Luzon was supposed to represent the clergy of his native province of Poitou. In the conflict between the clergy and the third estate (artisans, merchants and peasants) over the relationship between the crown and the Pope, Bishop Richelieu took a neutral position, giving all his strength to bring the parties to a compromise.
Already soon Richelieu was noticed thanks to the dexterity and cunning shown by him in establishing compromises with other groups and eloquent defense of church privileges from the encroachments of secular authorities. In February 1615, he was even instructed to give a ceremonial speech on behalf of the first estate at the final session. The next time the Estates-General would convene was 175 years later, on the eve of the French Revolution.
Rise of Richelieu at the royal court.
At the court of the young Louis XIII drew attention to the 29-year-old bishop.
Richelieu's talents made the greatest impression on the queen mother Marie de Medici, who still actually ruled France, although in 1614 her son had already come of age. Appointed as the confessor of Queen Anne of Austria, the young wife of Louis XIII, Richelieu soon won the favor of the closest adviser and favorite of Maria Concino Concini (also known as Marshal d'Ancre). In 1616, Richelieu joined the royal council and took the post of secretary of state for military affairs and foreign politics.The new post required Richelieu to actively participate in foreign policy, to which he until then had nothing to do.Richelieu's first year in power coincided with the outbreak of war between Spain, which was then ruled by the Habsburg dynasty, and Venice, with which France was at war Union This war threatened France with a new round of religious strife.However, in April 1617, Concini was assassinated by a group of "friends of the king" - opponents of the regency of Marie de Medici. The instigator of this action, the Duc de Luynes, now became the favorite and adviser of the young king. Richelieu was first returned to Luçon and then exiled to Avignon, Papal States, where he struggled with his melancholy by reading and writing. For two years, Richelieu studied literature and theology in complete seclusion. During this time, he wrote two theological works - "Defense of the Fundamentals of the Catholic Faith" and "Instructions for Christians".
The French princes of the blood - Conde, Soissons and Bouillon - were indignant at the arbitrary actions of the monarch and rebelled against him. Louis XIII had to retreat. In 1619, the King allowed Richelieu to join the Queen Mother in the hope that he would have a pacifying effect on her. For seven years, part of which had to be spent in exile, Richelieu was in active correspondence with Marie de Medici and Louis XIII.
However, the dowager queen was not such a person to immediately forget everything after reconciliation. As it should be for any woman, especially a regal one, she broke down a little more before agreeing to a final reconciliation. And when she decided that it was time, she demanded that her son appoint Richelieu a cardinal. On September 5, 1622, Bishop Richelieu received the rank of cardinal. And if someone was appointed a cardinal, then he certainly had to be included in the Royal Council, the then French government, especially since almost all of the ministers of Father Louis XIII had already died.
But only in 1624, Marie de Medici was returned to Paris, and with her Richelieu, without whom she could no longer take a step. Louis continued to treat Richelieu with distrust, as he understood that his mother owed all diplomatic victories to the cardinal. When on April 29, 1624, Richelieu first entered the meeting room of the French government, he looked at those present, including the chairman, the Marquis La Vieville, in such a way that it immediately became clear to everyone who was now the boss here. A few months later, in August, the current government collapsed, and at the urging of the Queen Mother, on August 13, 1624, Richelieu became the "first minister" of the king - a post in which he was destined to stay for 18 years.
Cardinal Richelieu - First Minister of France.
Despite his fragile health, the new minister achieved his position through a combination of patience, cunning and an uncompromising will to power. Richelieu never ceased to use these qualities for his own advancement: in 1622 he became a cardinal, in 1631 a duke, all the while continuing to increase his personal fortune.
From the very beginning, Richelieu had to deal with many enemies and unreliable friends. At first, Louis himself was among the latter. As far as one can judge, the king never found sympathy for Richelieu, and yet, with each new turn of events, Louis became increasingly dependent on his brilliant servant. The rest of the royal family remained hostile to Richelieu. Anna of Austria could not stand the ironic minister, who deprived her of any influence on state affairs. Duke Gaston of Orleans, the king's only brother, plotted innumerable plots to increase his influence. Even the queen mother, always ambitious, felt that her former assistant stood in her way, and soon became his most serious opponent.
Suppression of the nobility under Richelieu.
Various factions of rebellious courtiers crystallized around these figures. Richelieu responded to all challenges thrown to him with the greatest political skill and brutally suppressed them. In 1626, the young Marquis de Chalet became the central figure in the intrigue against the cardinal, who paid for it with his life.
The king himself felt like an instrument in the hands of the cardinal and, apparently, was not without sympathy with the last attempt to overthrow Richelieu - the conspiracy of Saint-Mar. Just a few weeks before his death in 1642, Richelieu uncovered a final conspiracy centered on the Marquis de Saint-Mar and Gaston d'Orléans. The latter, as always, was saved from punishment by royal blood, but Saint-Mar, a friend and favorite of Louis, was beheaded. In the period between these two conspiracies, the most dramatic test of the strength of Richelieu's position was the famous "day of the fools" - November 10, 1631. On this day, King Louis XIII promised for the last time to dismiss his minister, and rumors spread throughout Paris that the Queen Mother had defeated her enemy. However, Richelieu managed to obtain an audience with the king, and by nightfall all his powers were confirmed and his actions were sanctioned. "Fooled" were those who believed false rumors, for which they paid with death or exile.Resistance, which manifested itself in other forms, met with no less resolute rebuff. Despite his aristocratic tastes, Richelieu crushed the rebellious provincial nobility by insisting on their obedience to royal officials. In 1632, he secured the death sentence for participation in the rebellion of the Duke de Montmorency, governor-general of Languedoc, who was sent against Richelieu by Marie de Medici, and one of the most brilliant aristocrats. Richelieu forbade parliaments (the highest judicial bodies in cities) from questioning the constitutionality of royal legislation. In words, he glorified the papacy and the Catholic clergy, but by his deeds it was clear that the head of the church in France was the king.
Cold, prudent, very often severe to the point of cruelty, subordinating the sense of reason, Richelieu firmly held the reins of government in his hands and, with remarkable vigilance and foresight, noticing the impending danger, warned her at the very appearance. In the fight against his enemies, Richelieu did not disdain anything: denunciations, espionage, gross forgeries, previously unheard-of deceit - everything went into action. His heavy hand in particular crushed the young, brilliant aristocracy that surrounded the king.
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From the very first day in power, Richelieu became the object of constant intrigues on the part of those who tried to “hook him up”. In order not to become a victim of betrayal, he preferred not to trust anyone, which caused fear and misunderstanding of those around him. "Whoever recognizes my thoughts must die," said the cardinal. Richelieu's goal was to weaken the position of the Habsburg dynasty in Europe and strengthen the independence of France. In addition, the cardinal was an ardent supporter of absolute monarchy.
Suppression of the Huguenot Protestants under Richelieu.
Another important source of opposition, crushed by Richelieu with his usual decisiveness, was the Huguenot (Protestant) minority. The conciliatory Edict of Nantes by Henry IV of 1598 guaranteed the Huguenots complete freedom of conscience and relative freedom of worship. He left behind them a large number of fortified cities - mainly in the south and south-west of France. Richelieu saw this semi-independence as a threat to the state, especially in times of war. The Huguenots were a state within a state, they had strong supporters in the cities and a powerful military potential. The cardinal preferred not to bring the situation to a crisis, but the fanaticism of the Huguenots was fueled by England, the eternal rival of France. The participation taken by the Huguenots in 1627 in the attack of the English from the sea on the coast of France served as a signal for the government to take action. By January 1628, the fortress of La Rochelle, a stronghold of the Protestants on the shores of the Bay of Biscay, was besieged.
Richelieu took personal leadership of the campaign, and in October the recalcitrant city capitulated after about 15,000 of its inhabitants starved to death. In 1629, Richelieu ended the religious war with a generous reconciliation - a peace agreement in Ala, according to which the king recognized for his Protestant subjects all the rights guaranteed to him in 1598, with the exception of the right to have fortresses. True, the Huguenots were deprived of political and military privileges. But their freedom of worship and judicial guarantees put an end to the wars of religion in France and left no room for disagreement with their Protestant allies outside the country. Protestant Huguenots lived in France as an officially recognized minority until 1685, but after the capture of La Rochelle, their ability to resist the crown was undermined.Administrative and economic reforms under Richelieu.
In an effort to strengthen the sovereignty of royal power in the field of domestic and foreign policy and finance, Richelieu initiated the codification of French laws ("Michod's Code", 1629), carried out a number of administrative reforms (the establishment in the provinces of quartermaster positions appointed by the king), fought against the privileges of parliaments and nobility (prohibition of duels, destruction of fortified noble castles), reorganized the postal service. He stepped up the construction of the fleet, which strengthened the military position of France at sea and contributed to the development of foreign trade companies and colonial expansion. Richelieu developed projects for the financial and economic recovery of the country in the spirit of mercantilism, but internal and external wars did not allow them to be implemented. Forced loans led to an increase in tax oppression, which, in turn, caused riots and peasant riots (the "Krokan" uprising of 1636-1637), which were brutally suppressed.
As far as economics was concerned, Richelieu understood almost nothing about it. He declared wars without thinking about supplying the army, and preferred to solve problems as they came. The cardinal followed the doctrine of Antoine de Montchristien and insisted on the independence of the market. At the same time, he emphasized the production of goods for export and prevented the import of luxury goods. In the sphere of his economic interests were glass, silk, sugar. Richelieu advocated the construction of canals and the expansion of foreign trade, and he himself often became a co-owner of international companies. It was then that the French colonization of Canada, Western Western India, Morocco and Persia began.
French Wars under Richelieu.
By the end of the 1620s, the French government was in a position to become more involved in international affairs, prompting Richelieu to take action. By the time Richelieu came to power, the grandiose (called the Thirty Years) War in Germany between the Catholic sovereigns, led by the Holy Roman Emperor and the union of Protestant princes and cities, was already in full swing. The House of Habsburg, including the ruling families in Spain and Austria, was the main enemy of the French monarchy for more than a century, but at first Richelieu refrained from interfering in the conflict. Firstly, in this case, the Protestant powers were to become France's allies, so the cardinal and his chief adviser, the monk of the Capuchin order, Father Joseph (nicknamed, in contrast to his boss, l "Eminence grise, that is," Cardinal Gray ") understood that it is necessary to have a clear and legal justification for such a step.Secondly, the freedom of action outside the country was long held back by the turbulent situation within France itself.Thirdly, the main threat to French interests did not come from the Austrian Habsburgs, but from the even more powerful Spanish branches, prompting the French to focus on the Pyrenees and Spanish possessions in Italy rather than Germany.
Nevertheless, France was still involved in the war. By the end of the 1620s, the Catholics had achieved such impressive victories within the Empire that it seemed that the Austrian Habsburgs would become complete masters of Germany.
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During the Richelieu siege of the fortress of La Rochelle, the Spaniards managed to mobilize forces in northern Italy and capture the fortress of Casal. Then Richelieu showed extraordinary mobility: immediately after the fall of La Rochelle, the French army was thrown over the Alps and caught the Spaniards by surprise. In 1630, in the course of complex intrigues, Richelieu refused to sign the Peace of Regensburg, in response, Spain turned to Pope Urban VIII with a request to excommunicate Louis XIII from the church. Richelieu was on the verge of failure, because his relationship with the king was very difficult, and the zealous Catholic Maria Medici simply fell into hysterics. When Richelieu returned to France, she demanded the resignation of the cardinal, but Louis did not agree to this, seeking to maintain political independence from his mother. Richelieu was the only one who could help him in this, so he retained the rank of cardinal and the position of first minister. The offended queen mother left the court and went to the Netherlands, which was under the rule of the Spanish Habsburgs, taking with her the younger brother of the king, Gaston of Orleans.
Overcoming the opposition of the pro-Spanish "party of saints", Richelieu pursued an anti-Habsburg policy. He counted on an alliance with England, arranging the marriage of Charles I of England to Henrietta Maria of France, sister of Louis XIII, which was concluded on June 12, 1625. Richelieu sought to strengthen French influence in northern Italy (expedition to Valtelina) and in the German lands (support for the league of Protestant princes). He managed to keep France from direct participation in the Thirty Years' War for a long time.
After the landing of the Swedish king in Germany, Richelieu found it necessary to intervene, indirectly so far. On January 23, 1631, after lengthy negotiations, Richelieu's envoy signed an agreement with Gustavus Adolf in Berwald. Under this agreement, the French Catholic prelate provided the Swedish Lutheran warrior king with financial means for waging war against the Habsburgs in the amount of one million livres per year. Gustav promised France that he would not attack those states of the Catholic League ruled by the Habsburgs. Nevertheless, in the spring of 1632, he turned his troops east against just such a state - Bavaria. Richelieu tried in vain to keep his ally. Only with the death of Gustavus Adolphus at the Battle of Luzen (November 16, 1632) was the cardinal's difficult dilemma resolved.
At first, Richelieu had a glimmer of hope that monetary subsidies to the allies would be enough to save his own country from the risk of an open conflict. But by the end of 1634, the remaining Swedish forces in Germany and their Protestant allies were defeated by the Spanish forces.
In 1635, Spain occupied the Bishopric of Trier, which caused the unification of French Catholics and Protestants, who, hand in hand, opposed the external enemy - Spain. This was the beginning of the Thirty Years' War for France.
In the spring of 1635, France formally entered the war, first against Spain and then, a year later, against the Holy Roman Empire. At first, the French suffered a series of unfortunate defeats, but by 1640, when the superiority of France began to manifest itself, she began to overcome her main enemy - Spain. Moreover, French diplomacy was successful, causing an anti-Spanish uprising in Catalonia and its fall (from 1640 to 1659 Catalonia was under French rule) and a full-scale revolution in Portugal that ended Habsburg rule in 1640. Finally, on May 19, 1643, at Rocroix in the Ardennes, the army of the Prince de Condé achieved such a crushing victory over the famous Spanish infantry that this battle is considered to be the end of Spanish dominance in Europe.
In the last years of his life, Cardinal Richelieu was involved in yet another religious conflict. He led the opposition to Pope Urban VIII, as France's plans included expanding its sphere of influence in the Holy Roman Empire. At the same time, he remained devoted to the ideas of absolutism and fought against the Gallicans, who encroached on the Papal power.
Death of Cardinal Richelieu.
In the autumn of 1642, Richelieu visited the healing waters of Bourbon-Lancy, for his health, undermined by many years of nervous tension, was melting before his eyes. Even being ill, the cardinal, until the last day, dictated orders to the armies, diplomatic instructions, orders to the governors of various provinces for several hours until the last day. On November 28, there was a sharp deterioration. Doctors make another diagnosis - purulent pleurisy. Bloodletting did not give a result, only weakened the patient to the limit. The cardinal at times loses consciousness, but, having regained consciousness, tries to work more. These days, his niece, the Duchess d'Aiguilon, is inseparably next to him. On December 2, Louis XIII visits the dying. “Here we say goodbye,” Richelieu says in a weak voice. steps of glory and unprecedented influence, while all your enemies are defeated and humiliated. The only thing I dare to ask Your Majesty for my labors and my service is to continue to honor my nephews and relatives with your patronage and your favor. I will give them my blessing only on the condition that they will never break their loyalty and obedience and will be devoted to you to the end."
Then Richelieu ... names Cardinal Mazarin as his only successor.
Left with the doctors, Richelieu asks to be told how much he still has left. The doctors answer evasively, and only one of them - Monsieur Chicot - dares to say: "Monsignor, I think that within 24 hours you will either die or get on your feet." - "Well said," Richelieu said quietly and concentrated on what -something his.
The next day, the king pays one more, last, visit to Richelieu. They talk face to face for an hour. Louis XIII left the room of the dying man very excited about something. True, some of the witnesses claimed that the king was in a cheerful mood. Priests gather at the bedside of the cardinal, one of whom gives him communion. In response to the traditional appeal in such cases to forgive his enemies, Richelieu says: "I had no other enemies, except for the enemies of the state." Those present are surprised by the clear, clear answers of the dying man. When the formalities were over, Richelieu said with complete calm and confidence in his innocence: "Very soon I will appear before my Judge. From the bottom of my heart I will ask him to judge me by that measure - whether I had other intentions than the good of the church and state. "
In the early morning of December 4, Richelieu receives the last visitors - the messengers of Anne of Austria and Gaston of Orleans, who assure the cardinal of their best feelings. The Duchess d'Aiguilon, who appeared after them, with tears in her eyes, began to tell that the day before, a Carmelite nun had a vision that His Eminence would be saved by the hand of the Almighty. "Complete, complete, niece, all this is ridiculous, one must believe only the Gospel."
They spend some time together. Somewhere around noon, Richelieu asks his niece to leave him alone. “Remember,” he says to her in parting, that I loved you more than anyone else in the world. It would not be good if I died in front of you ... “The place of d” Aiguilon is taken by Father Leon, who gives the dying man the last absolution. Lord, into your hands," whispers Richelieu, shudders and falls silent. Father Leon brings a lighted candle to his mouth, but the flame remains motionless. The cardinal is dead."
Richelieu died in Paris on December 5, 1642, not having lived to see his triumph in Rocroix and broken by numerous illnesses. Richelieu was buried in a church on the grounds of the Sorbonne, in memory of the support given to the university by His Eminence the Cardinal.
Achievements of Cardinal Richelieu.
Richelieu contributed in every possible way to the development of culture, trying to put it at the service of French absolutism. At the initiative of the cardinal, the reconstruction of the Sorbonne took place. Richelieu wrote the first royal edict on the creation of the French Academy and gave the Sorbonne, according to his will, one of the best libraries in Europe, created the official propaganda organ of Theophrastus Renaudo's Gazette. In the center of Paris, the Palais Cardinal grew up (later it was presented to Louis XIII and has since been called the Palais Royal). Richelieu patronized artists and writers, in particular Corneille, encouraged talents, contributing to the flourishing of French classicism.
Richelieu, among other things, was a very prolific playwright, his plays were published in the first royal printing house opened on his initiative.
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On the whole, Richelieu directed by no means "in a Hamletian way." He reconciled the French (Catholics and Huguenots) among themselves and, thanks to the "pistol diplomacy", quarreled their enemies, having managed to create an anti-Habsburg coalition. To divert the Commonwealth from the Habsburgs, he sent messengers to the Russian state to the first of the Romanovs, Mikhail, with a call to trade duty-free.
Richelieu had a strong influence on the course of European history. In domestic politics, he eliminated any possibility of a full-scale civil war between Catholics and Protestants. He failed to put an end to the tradition of dueling and intrigue among the provincial nobility and courtiers, but through his efforts, disobedience to the crown was considered not a privilege, but a crime against the country. Richelieu did not introduce, as was customary to say, the positions of quartermasters to carry out government policy on the ground, but he significantly strengthened the position of the royal council in all areas of government. The trading companies he organized to deal with overseas territories proved ineffective, but the protection of strategic interests in the colonies of the West Indies and Canada opened a new era in the creation of the French Empire.
Steady service to clearly conscious goals, a broad practical mind, a clear understanding of the surrounding reality, the ability to use circumstances - all this provided Richelieu with a prominent place in the history of France. The main activities of Richelieu are formulated in his "Political Testament". The priority of domestic policy was the fight against the Protestant opposition and the strengthening of royal power, the main foreign policy task was to increase the prestige of France and fight against the hegemony of the Habsburgs in Europe. "My first goal was the greatness of the king, my second goal was the power of the kingdom," the famous musketeer fighter summed up his life path.
1. Robert Knecht. Richelieu. - Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 1997.
2. All the monarchs of the world. Western Europe / under the tutelage K. Ryzhova. - Moscow: Veche, 1999.
3. Encyclopedia "The World Around Us" (cd).
4. Great Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius 2000 (cd).
Power over souls, ecclesiastical power can also be state power - which was fully demonstrated by the famous Cardinal Richelieu. Everyone knows about him who at least once in his life opened the Three Musketeers. The enemy of d'Artagnan and his friends died, hated by all classes and even by the king and the pope, despite the fact that the power of the first was made absolute, and the power of the second was strengthened by "cleansings" of homegrown Protestant Huguenots.
Nowadays, in France, Richelieu is a highly respected politician, although the attitude towards him is different: like all authoritarian reformers, the uncrowned king built a bright future for the country, not really caring about the present. And all because Cardinal Richelieu treated economics with disdain, considering it a more speculative science, which is suitable for theoretical reasoning, but not for practical application.
Under the wing of the "family"
The future cardinal, duke and first minister was born on September 9, 1585 in an impoverished noble family, and then his name was not yet Richelieu, but Armand-Jean du Plessis. The blood of lawyers flowed in his veins: his father was the chief prevost (highest judicial official) under Henry III, and his mother came from a family of lawyers. From childhood, the sickly boy liked to communicate more with books than with his peers, nevertheless he dreamed of a military career. But to a greater extent - about wealth: when Armand-Jean was 5 years old, his father died, leaving only debts to a large family.
After graduating from the Navarre College in Paris, the young man began to prepare for admission to the royal guard. But fate decreed otherwise.
In those days, one more or less reliable source of income for the du Plessis family remained the family position of Bishops of Luson, which was bestowed by Henry III. The diocese was located near the port of La Rochelle, which played an important role in the career of the future Cardinal Richelieu. After the middle brother, who was destined for the diocese, abandoned it and went to the monastery, the family insisted that the youngest, Armand-Jean, sit at the feeder. But then he was only 21 years old - at that age they were not ordained to the priesthood. The applicant had a chance to go to Rome - to beg for papal permission.
There, the future great intriguer spent the first intrigue in his life: at first he hid his real age from the pope, and then he repented to him. Cleverness and wisdom beyond his years impressed the head of the Vatican, and he blessed the newly-baked Bishop of Luzon, who took the surname Richelieu. Contrary to expectations, he got a frail diocese, ruined to the ground during the years of religious wars, but the young ambitious man took full advantage of his new position in another field: the rank of bishop opened the way for him to the court.
King Henry IV, who reigned at that time, himself being a bright and strong nature, openly favored the same personalities, and not the faceless court sycophants. He drew attention to an educated, intelligent and eloquent provincial priest and brought him closer to himself, calling him nothing more than "my bishop." What caused the understandable jealousy of other applicants for fortune: as a result of their intrigues, Richelieu's rapidly starting court career immediately ended. He had to return to his diocese without salt and wait for better times.
He didn't mean to be discouraged, though. The Bishop of Luson actively began to engage in self-education (having read to the point that later he suffered from headaches all his life) and reforms - so far at the level of the diocese. In addition, he had the opportunity to repeatedly mediate in conflicts between the central government and regional ones: after the assassination of Henry IV by a Catholic fanatic and the establishment of the regency of Queen Mother Mary Medici, the country plunged into chaos and civil strife. Restoring order in the monastic economy and Richelieu's diplomatic talent did not go unnoticed: in 1614, the local clergy chose him as their representative in the Estates General. In modern terms, a senator.
The tradition of gathering the Estates General, an advisory body under the king with representation of the three estates (clergy, nobility and bourgeois), has been going on since the Middle Ages. Kings rarely and reluctantly condescended to listen to the opinions of their subjects (the next States-General, for example, did not meet until 175 years later), and Richelieu did not miss a rare chance to again make a career at court.
The young Louis XIII drew attention to the eloquent, intelligent and tough politician, who at the same time knew how to find a compromise. But unlike his father, the new French king was a weak-willed and narrow-minded person, which cannot be said about his mother Marie de Medici and her entourage.
In those days, the country was actually ruled by the court "family", which included both well-born aristocrats and upstart favorites of the Queen Mother. The family was internally split, and the queen needed an intelligent, cunning and moderately cynical assistant. With her participation, Richelieu was quickly promoted to a strategically important place: he became the confessor of the young wife of the king, the Austrian princess Anna, after which he was automatically introduced to the royal council - the then government of France.
At this stage of his career, the aspiring politician made his first significant miscalculation: he bet on the wrong horse. Richelieu decided to enlist the support of the all-powerful favorite of the Queen Mother - Marshal D'Ancre. But this Italian adventurer Concino Concini, who knocked out his marshal's baton, was a typical temporary worker who considered the state treasury as his wallet. As a result, it cost him his life: in 1617, the court conspirators stabbed the hated "Italian" in the chambers of the Louvre.
And after that, they began to systematically move away from the power trough the supporters of the favorite, among whom was Richelieu. He was escorted first to Lucon, and then sent even further - to Avignon, where the unlucky courtier found peace in writing literary and theological books.
Equidistant feudal lords
True, this seclusion was short-lived. In the absence of Richelieu, the king's closest relatives, the princes of the blood, took advantage of the weakness and lack of will of the king, who actually raised a rebellion against the king. The party of the palace opposition was led by the vengeful Maria Medici, who was thirsting for blood for her murdered lover. To pacify mother, who defiantly left the capital and joined the rebels, the monarch again had to resort to the diplomatic talent of Richelieu. He was able to reach a truce, and the Queen Mother, who returned to Paris, insisted that her son make the disgraced bishop a cardinal.
September 1622 - Richelieu changed his white and gold miter to a red cardinal's cap. Now, for the first time, the cherished goal - the post of first minister - really loomed before the newly minted head of the French clergy. Less than two years later, Richelieu's dream came true: the monarch made him the second person in the state.
With a weak king, he received virtually complete and unlimited power over France. Unlike many rulers, Richelieu used this power primarily in the interests of the state, and only then - in his own. He took money, lands, and titles from the royal hands. But always the main thing in life for Richelieu was power, he subordinated his temperament, character, personal tastes and passions to it.
First of all, Richelieu naturally considered the court mired in intrigues as a danger to the country (and to himself personally). The first steps of the new de facto ruler of the kingdom to strengthen the power of the legitimate ruler - the king - caused sharp opposition from the nobility.
Among the enemies of Richelieu were the closest relatives of the king: brother Gaston of Orleans, wife Anna of Austria and even Marie de Medici, who had time to regret that she had raised not a manual favorite, but a strong statesman politician. Yes, and the monarch himself was weary of the purely decorative functions left to him by the first minister, and secretly wished for his downfall. Richelieu, on the other hand, saw state power as exclusively individual (formally royal, but in fact personal) and, in order to strengthen its vertical, he began to decisively remove all applicants: some to exile, and some to the next world.
The second method was more reliable, but in order to execute the king’s close associates, especially his relatives, it was necessary to prove their participation in conspiracies against him - or at least convince him of the existence of such conspiracies. Therefore, during his 18-year reign, Richelieu revealed more of them than all his predecessors.
This is easy to believe, given the unprecedented flourishing of investigation, denunciation, espionage, fabrication of court cases, provocations, etc., under Cardinal Richelieu. Joseph.
We owe him the stable phrases “gray cardinal” (Richelieu himself was nicknamed “red cardinal”) and “black cabinet” (the so-called special secret chambers in the Louvre, where the mail was read). And to the very first minister - no less famous aphorism: "Give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest person, and I will find in them a reason to send the author to the gallows."
The first galaxy of noble conspirators who ascended the chopping block was discovered by the unfortunate Count de Chalet, to whom a volunteer soldier (the regular executioner was kidnapped by the friends of the convict) was able to cut off his head only with the tenth blow. And the bloody list of victims was completed by the favorite of the king, the Marquis de Saint-Mar, whose conspiracy, real or imaginary, was revealed by the vigilant first minister a few weeks before his own death.
In addition to the court nobility, the first minister of the kingdom brutally suppressed the provincial noble freemen, who roamed the country back in the years of the regency. It was under him that they began to systematically destroy the fortified castles of the feudal lords. In the provinces, positions of plenipotentiary representatives of the king were established - quartermasters, endowed with judicial-police, financial and partly military power. The city's highest judicial authorities (parliaments) were prohibited from questioning the constitutionality of royal legislation. In the end, as readers of Dumas will remember, Cardinal Richelieu strongly forbade duels, believing that the nobility should give their lives for the king on the battlefield, and not in senseless skirmishes over trifling reasons.
Counter-terrorist operation in La Rochelle
Equally successful, Richelieu suppressed another source of threat to his plans to strengthen royal power - the Huguenots. Under the Edict of Nantes in 1598, by which Henry IV planned to put an end to the religious wars in France, certain political and religious freedoms were granted to the Protestant minority (full freedom of conscience and limited freedom of worship). In addition, under the rule of the Huguenots there were many cities and fortresses, including the main stronghold in the west of the country - the fortress of La Rochelle, almost native to the ex-bishop.
The existence of these almost independent states within a state, especially at a time when France was at constant war with its neighbors, was a direct challenge to the "architect of French absolutism."
Richelieu accepted this challenge.
He waited for a suitable occasion - an attack on the French ports of the English squadron, during which the "fifth column" from La Rochelle helped the attackers - and by January 1628 he personally led the siege of the rebellious fortress.
After 10 months, having lost almost 15,000 citizens only from starvation, the Huguenots capitulated. Having achieved the desired result, the pragmatic Cardinal Richelieu did not begin to crush the vanquished: the peace treaty signed the following year reserved for the Protestants all the rights and freedoms named in the Edict of Nantes, with the exception of the right to have fortresses.
In order to stay in power, there are no better means, wars are victorious and at the same time permanent. The burnt-out politician Richelieu quickly learned this paradoxical truth, therefore, immediately after the fall of La Rochelle, he moved French troops outside the country's borders - to northern Italy, where there was one of the theaters of military operations of the Thirty Years' War that was then raging on the continent.
It was one of the most bloody and devastating European wars, in which the Habsburg bloc (the Catholic German princes led by the Holy Roman Emperor) was opposed by the union of the German Protestant princes and the free cities that joined them. The first were supported by two tribal branches of the Habsburgs - the royal houses of Spain and Austria, as well as Poland; Sweden and Denmark supported the Protestants with the support of England and Russia.
France had to maneuver between two fires: on the one hand, she was afraid of the strengthening of the Habsburgs, and on the other, she did not want to openly take the side of the Protestants, having a bleeding Huguenot problem at her side.
For Cardinal Richelieu, the decisive argument was always political expediency, he often repeated that "the difference in religious beliefs can cause a split in the next world, but not in this one." The first minister of the Catholic kingdom saw the main danger in Catholic Spain, therefore at first he supported the Protestant sovereigns with money, and then, albeit belatedly, plunged his country into hostilities on the side of the same Protestants.
In the course of it, the fellow soldiers of d'Artagnan and his fellow musketeers thoroughly ruined Germany (which is evidenced by the ruins of the fortified castles blown up by them on both banks of the Rhine), inflicted a number of sensitive defeats on the Spaniards, and ultimately tipped the scales in favor of the anti-Habsburg coalition . At the same time, the war greatly undermined the economy and France itself, and besides this, Louis quarreled with the Vatican. The question was even about the excommunication of the apostate king. Even before the end of the war, Pope Urban II, having heard about the death of the hated French cardinal, said in his hearts: “If there is a God, I hope Richelieu will answer for everything. And if there is no God, then Richelieu is lucky.”
Until the last days, Cardinal Richelieu had to wage war on two fronts. The pro-Spanish faction at the French court, which the cardinal called the "party of saints", was extremely strong, it was led by Prince Gaston of Orleans and the queen mother, who now treated her protégé with undisguised hatred. But Richelieu managed to win this internal war too: the king, trying to get out of dependence on his power-hungry mother, refused to dismiss Richelieu. After that, Marie de Medici and the Prince of Orleans left France in protest, finding shelter in Holland, which was then ruled by the Habsburgs.
Managed autocracy
During those 18 years, when France, under the living king, was almost completely ruled by his first minister, Cardinal Richelieu was able to carry out many political, administrative and military reforms. And not a single economic one.
The asset of the first minister can be recorded as the first codification of French laws (the so-called Michaud code), the already mentioned strengthening of the vertical of power (suppression of the noble freemen, provincial and religious independence), the reorganization of the postal service, the creation of a powerful fleet. In addition, the cardinal renovated and expanded the famous Sorbonne University and had a hand in creating the first weekly newspaper in France (perhaps in the world).
As for the projects he developed to improve the national economy, they were not destined to be realized for at least two reasons. The first was the endless wars into which Cardinal Richelieu himself plunged France: they necessitated loans, which, in turn, led to higher taxes, and those inevitably led to mutinies and peasant uprisings. Richelieu brutally suppressed the riots, but he was not able to suppress the economic reasons that caused them.
The second reason lay in the relative economic illiteracy of the first minister. In general, he was quite well-read, including in economics, but he never took it seriously, considering it only a servant of politics. Richelieu declared wars without thinking about supplying the army, advocated the independence of the market - and at the same time did not allow the thought that this sphere of public life would be beyond the power of the king. The cardinal gave impetus to the colonial expansion of France, sought to expand foreign trade - and he himself interfered in every possible way with it either by petty control or by protectionist measures. At the same time, the cardinal did not disdain to personally head a number of international trading companies, motivating this, of course, solely by the interests of the state.
The main obstacle to his economic plans was that the first minister made the strengthening of royal power the goal of his life, and absolutism, centralization and total control do not get along well with a free economy.
Odessa "Duke"
Be that as it may, the name of Cardinal Richelieu is forever inscribed in French history. And also in the history of the city, located very far from the homeland of the cardinal.
When, at the end of 1642, the 57-year-old ruler of France felt that his days were numbered (nervous exhaustion, to which purulent pleurisy was added), he asked for a last meeting with the monarch. Reminding the king that he leaves his country strengthened, and the enemies defeated and humiliated, the first minister conjured not to leave his nephew-heir to the royal patronage, and also to appoint Cardinal Mazarin as the first minister of the kingdom.
Both requests were granted. France later bitterly regretted the second, but the first had an unexpected impact on Russian history. Because one of the descendants of the cardinal, the grandson of the Marshal of France, Armand Emmanuel du Plessis, Duke de Richelieu, who also bore the title of Count de Chinon, at the age of 19 became the first chamberlain of the court, served in the dragoon and hussar regiments, and when the revolution took place, he fled from the Jacobin terror in Russia. Where he turned into Emmanuel Osipovich de Richelieu and made a good career: in 1805 the tsar appointed him governor-general of New Russia.
At the end of the emigration, the duke returned to France and even was a member of two cabinets. But he achieved greater fame in his second homeland. And today the main street of Odessa, the city that owes its flourishing to him, bears his name. And at the top of the famous Potemkin Stairs, he himself stands: the bronze honorary Odessa Duke de Richelieu, whom everyone in the city simply calls “Duke”.
THE DU PLESSY FAMILY
Armand Jean du Plessis was born on September 9, 1585 in Paris into a family of minor nobles from the borders of Poitou and Anjou.
Françoise Hildeheimer
Cardinal Richelieu's father was a very worthy man.
Talleman de Reo
The image of Richelieu evokes many memories. For example, his filthy bishopric in Luzon; however, this is a generally recognized mistake of the cardinal. The version about humble origin of the du Plessis family - which probably made Richelieu turn over more than once in his grave, rejected by Messrs. Tapier and Mousnier, but still present in some authors. Today it is recognized that "the name of Richelieu was very famous at the court of Henry III" (M. Carmona); but there is a divergence of opinions regarding the antiquity and nobility of the family.
Rejecting the opinion about the origin of the "small aristocracy", the historiographer Andre Du Chen in 1631 published a genealogical tree that erected "evidence" of the nobility of the minister right up to 1201. The du Plessis were considered natives of Poitou, belonging to an old knightly family. Unfortunately, Du Chen had neither the education nor the intuition of Sheren, although even Sheren could not guarantee a family connection pleasing to the then authorities. In fact, one can speak with confidence about the nobility only starting from the sixth ancestor, a certain Sauvage du Plessis, lord of Vervolier, who lived in 1388, the wife of Isabeau Le Groy de Belarbe. Before 1400, no noble roots can be traced; although in the 18th century such an origin would allow the use of court honors.
The son of this Sauvage, Geoffroy, married the maiden Perrine de Clerambault, a noble lady and heiress of the seigneury Richelieu; thus, Richelieu became part of the surname as a generic name. It was a small fief, which became a duchy in 1631 and had greatly expanded by that time. Du Plessis-Richelieu do not refuse the patronage of their compatriots in power - the Dukes of Montpensier and Rochechouart - and enter into very profitable and honorable marriages. Three of them are very important: in 1489 an alliance with the famous house of Montmorency is concluded - Francois II du Plessis marries Guyonne de Laval. In 1542 Louis du Plessis, grandfather of the cardinal, married Francoise de Rochechouart. In 1565 Louise du Plessis, the minister's aunt, and Francois de Camboux were married. These few details explain the words of Tallemand de Reo: "The father of Cardinal Richelieu was a very worthy man," as well as the even more specific phrase of Cardinal de Retz: "Richelieu was of noble birth."
The antiquity of the clan and the concluded marriage alliances were two important points under the monarchy that allowed the family to take a place in the aristocratic hierarchy. We should not forget about the value of the service and the reward for it. The grandfather of the minister-cardinal Louis I du Plessis († 1551) died “in the prime of life”, “honestly serving the kings Francis I and Henry II” (Father Anselm); his brother Jacques was Bishop of Luçon; his other brothers became famous as tireless warriors. One of them, François, nicknamed Wooden Leg († 1563), who specialized in siege warfare and cut down the Huguenots, was the governor of Le Havre. Another, Antoine († 1567), who also possessed the art of conducting a siege and fought with the Huguenots, was the governor of Tours. The military service of these undaunted du Plessis boosted the career of François III de Richelieu (1548–1590), father of the cardinal.
This character is surrounded by mystery. Premature death at the peak of honors and rise through the ranks (Chief Provost of France, Councilor of State, Captain of the Royal Guards), he appears in the list of those awarded the Order of the Holy Spirit - blue ribbon - December 31, 1585. It's almost flawless cursus honorum. The chief provost was not among the highest officials who were under the king, but, being the head of the institution and the highest official at the court, he enjoyed almost all the privileges that belonged to the highest nobility. His duties were considered very important: he was a judge, like a royal prevost, but a military judge. He was also a policeman who looked after the safety of not only the royal family, but the entire court, when he accompanied the sovereign on trips, and his police powers were unlimited. Henry III trusted him: Francois Richelieu, rather hostile towards the Protestants, was in the camp of the "good French" and in 1588, after the murder of the Duke of Guise, did not feel the slightest remorse, arresting the head of the League - La Capel-Marto, city provost. However, no one dared to reproach him for the fact that he could not protect Henry III, who became a victim of the monk Clement. Henry IV not only left him in the position of chief provost, but also made him captain of the royal guard. At the turning point of the change of two reigns, the chief provost took a chance and received a Protestant ruler; the cardinal, his son, would curse Protestantism, but would kindly negotiate with the Protestant Turenne. If we were not afraid of being accused of groundless conjectures, we could put forward the following hypothesis: Henry IV promoted the career of the chief provost, and the latter (although he took a wife from the middle of the bourgeoisie and got deep into debt) possessed all the necessary virtues to become duke. His appointment was probably already on the king's table.
When Francois du Plessis became a knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit on December 31, 1585 (the future Cardinal Minister had already been born, but had not yet been baptized), in France there were - or rather remained - only one hundred and forty knights of this order, representing ninety families. From now on, the du Plessis are not mentioned among the minor nobles. Their place is at court, and they are fine there. A little more and they would have become dukes. Under Louis XIII, the duchies are handed out with ease: five in six years of regency (1610-1616), then eight in seven years of the joint reign of mother and son (1617-1624) and finally eleven - of which three for the Richelieu family and one for the Puylorans - for eighteen years of the minister's reign. If François III Richelieu had not died so early, the monarchy would not have waited until 1631 to introduce house Richelieu to the privileged club of dukes and peers.
What happens to the Richelieu clan between 1590, a murderous year for the family, and 1622, the year one of its representatives, lucky and over-gifted, received the cardinal title? They were forgotten, forgotten for a whole generation. The fact is that our hero had everything necessary, with the exception of the privilege of birth. During this period, he was hardly five years old, and the place of the head of the family was taken first by the widow of the chief provost, then by her eldest son Henri, born in 1580. He proclaims himself the head of the family and "Marquis de Richelieu" - such is the fashion - seeking to preserve the "rather expensive than profitable" legacy of François III, forcing him to recognize himself in the army and at court, and gaining the confidence of Marie de Medici. A clever man, acting for sure!
After the death of the chief provost, his widow Suzanne de La Porte left five children: Francoise(born in 1578); Henri the so-called Marquis of Richelieu (born in 1580); Alphonse Louis(born in 1582); Armand Jean(1585–1642), hero of our book; Nikol(born in 1586). She has no reason to be ashamed of their origin. Her father, the lawyer François de La Porte († 1572), served the interests of the Order of Malta, which, in gratitude, knighted his son Amador, half-brother of Madame Richelieu. Amador, active and successful, succeeded one of the Bourbon-Vendomes as Grand Prior, and his career elevated the La Porte clan. In any case, Madame de Richelieu, née La Porte, although without a fortune, was not left without support. In addition, the position of the widow of the Knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit provided her with a certain weight in society.
Beginning in 1586, the Richelieus practically got rid of their provinciality; the award of a blue ribbon, marking their position at court and marking their ascent, also played a role here. The baptism of their third son Arman looks significant. The boy was born in Paris, in the parish of Saint-Eustache, on the Rue Boulois (or Bouloir), September 9, 1585. Apparently, he was baptized immediately after birth, but the "additional baptism", a solemn ceremony, will not take place in the church of Saint-Eustache until May 5, 1586. The reason for this delay was "the health of the newborn, frail, sickly, prone to childhood ailments" (R. Mousnier). Such a long delay allowed the child to improve his health, and his father, who was recently presented for an award and “proud of his newfound glory,” worthy of emphasizing his position. In honor of this event, the house of the chief prevost, the Lose mansion, is decorated with a real triumphal arch - a huge portico hammered together by carpenters with heraldic and symbolic panels. Four large canvases, each with its own Latin motto, are dedicated to little Armand and illustrate the family's religious and royalist tradition. In the midst of a war with the League, this double acknowledgment of loyalty certainly makes a lot of sense.
Armand Jean's godfathers were two marshals of France, Armand de Gonto-Biron and Jean d'Aumont; godmother - his grandmother Francoise de Richelieu, née Rochechouart. A real princely procession moved from the Lose mansion to the huge, forever unfinished church of Saint-Eustache. At the head of the procession is a noble godmother, all in black, but adorned with a diadem with precious stones. Following are two marshals, the father of the child, his friends, cousins and associates, lieutenant commanders of the guard, many knights of the Order of Malta and a blue ribbon, and, finally, the field gendarmerie with halberds in their hands. From the Soissons mansion, the royal family follows the procession: Catherine de Medici, Henry III, Joyeuse and d'Epernon. The king looks delighted. He granted his chief provost 118,000 ecu. Why did François Richelieu, so beloved, so welcomed at court, so mediocrely managed this money?
Before following the amazing career of our hero, we should mention the fate of the Minister's brothers and sisters. The eldest, Françoise (1578–1615), was married for the first time to Bovo, a Poitevin nobleman. The second time she will marry in 1603 to another native of Poitou, a middle-class nobleman Rene de Vignero († 1625), seigneur du Pont de Courlet, an ordinary nobleman of parliament. The second child of the chief provost, "Marquis" Henri (1580-1619), we will soon find among the subjects and close associates of Marie de Medici. He will contribute to the ascent of his younger brother. Alphonse Louis (1582-1653) will become famous as the archbishop of Aixen-Provence, the archbishop of Lyon (1625), the cardinal (1629) and the king's confessor. The last offspring of the great Prevost, the daughter of Nicole (1586-1635), in 1617 will marry Urbain de Maillet from an old Touraine noble family, the Marquis de Brezet and from 1632 Marshal of France - a commander not very successful, but devoted to the cardinal minister, his brother-in-law and patron. Their son Armand de Maillet, Duke of Brezet (1619–1646), would become a famous sailor; daughter Claire Clemence de Maillet-Brese in 1641 will marry the Duke d'Enghien.
The du Plessis family, at least since Francis I, has never been a private. There were enough strong personalities here: François Wooden Leg, the chief provost, and even Henri the “marquis”, who quite early began to hope for a marshal's baton. On the other hand, in history there has rarely been such an amount of malice and slander directed at one person - the Cardinal Duke. Combine these two points - and you will understand why the Richelieu family was considered crazy.
Of course, the French of the Baroque era, little versed in medicine, were even less versed in psychiatry. They did not know - and we do not know to this day - whether madness is hereditary. But four members of the Richelieu family were found to be half-crazy, including the Cardinal Minister himself - according to Tallemand de Reo, he sometimes imagined himself a horse. The Cardinal of Lyons periodically imagined himself to be God the Father. There is still Marshall Breze - they say Nicole de Richelieu refused to sit down in public, fearing to break her "seat", because she considered it glass.
This symptom is strange. What can he mean? It happens that some individuals lose the concept of their bodily integrity; if so, why shouldn't they be afraid of losing their "seat"? Surprisingly, it seemed to be made of glass. Perhaps there is a connection here with an obsessive desire for stool. Suspicions were heightened when the Princess of Condé, her daughter, forcibly married off to the future conqueror at Rocroi, began to behave so strangely that she had to be politely but firmly removed from court. It is possible that both mother (Nicole de Vrezet) and daughter (Princess Condé) were - hereditarily or under the influence of the environment - somewhat neurotic; but this is no reason to consider their whole family as insane, especially the minister.
COMPARATIVE AGES OF HISTORICAL CHARACTERS (BIRTH DATES)
1553 Henry IV
1555 Malherbe
1563 Michel de Marillac
1573 Marie de Medici
1581 Saint-Cyran
1581 Vincent de Paul
1585 Richelieu
1585 Jansenii
1587 Olivares
1588 Father Mersenne
1589 Madame de Rambouillet
1592 Buckingham
1594 Gustav Adolf
1595 Henri de Montmorency
1597 Gay de Balzac
1598 Francois Mansart
1601 Louis XIII
1601 Anna of Austria
1602 Philippe de Champin
1606 Pierre Corneille
This table gives us a wealth of information. The Cardinal Minister was 12 years younger than the Queen Mother and 16 years older than Louis XIII.
Richelieu was a contemporary of his enemy Olivares.
And, finally, he was born four years after Saint-Cyran and in the same year as Jansenius. And between them - two theologians and two political philosophers.
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