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115-510: Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu ( French: [aʁmɑ̃ ʒɑ̃ dy plɛsi] ; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu , was a French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsize influence in civil and religious affairs. He became known as l'Éminence Rouge (English: " the Red Eminence "), a term derived from the title "Eminence" applied to cardinals and their customary red robes. Consecrated

230-462: A Capuchin friar , who would later become a close confidant. Because of his closeness to Richelieu, and the grey colour of his robes, Father Joseph was also nicknamed L'éminence grise ( lit.   ' the Grey Eminence ' ). Later, Richelieu often used him as an agent during diplomatic negotiations. In 1614, the clergymen of Poitou asked Richelieu to be one of their representatives to

345-555: A phylactery was said to contain a tear shed by Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus. The cathedral of Autun , not far away, is dedicated to Lazarus as Saint Lazaire . The first written records of Christians in France date from the 2nd century when Irenaeus detailed the deaths of ninety-year-old bishop Pothinus of Lugdunum ( Lyon ) and other martyrs of the 177 persecution in Lyon . The emperor Theodosius I (r. 379-95) makes Christianity

460-572: A universal monarchy . When in 1630 French diplomats in Regensburg agreed to make peace with Spain, Richelieu refused to support them. The agreement would have prohibited French interference in Germany. Therefore, Richelieu advised Louis XIII to refuse to ratify the treaty. In 1631, he allied France to Sweden, which had just invaded the empire , in the Treaty of Bärwalde . Military expenses placed

575-676: A Lombard peasant expresses his own conspiracy theories about the bread riots happening in Milan. The 1839 play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy by Edward Bulwer-Lytton portrayed Richelieu uttering the now famous line " The pen is mightier than the sword ." The play was adapted into the 1935 film Cardinal Richelieu . Richelieu and Louis XIII are depicted in Ken Russell's 1971 film The Devils . The Monty Python's Flying Circus episode "How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite

690-519: A Long Way Away", first released in 1969, features the sketch "Court Scene with Cardinal Richelieu", in which Richelieu (played by Michael Palin ) possesses the casual and somewhat smarmy demeanor of a master of ceremonies. Richelieu is a minor and eventually a major character in the Fortune de France novel series (published between 1977 and 2003) by Robert Merle . Also, in the 21st century 1632/Ring of Fire alternative history series by Eric Flint, he

805-546: 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 Jules Mazarin , whose career the cardinal had fostered. Richelieu became engaged in

920-517: 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

1035-414: A considerable strain on royal revenues. In response, Richelieu raised the gabelle (salt tax) and the taille (land tax). The taille was enforced to provide funds to raise armies and wage war. The clergy, nobility, and high bourgeoisie either were exempt or could easily avoid payment, so the burden fell on the poorest segment of the nation. To collect taxes more efficiently, and to keep corruption to

1150-1003: A first physician after the accession of Charles I in 1625. There were fears over the health of Henrietta Maria , and in July 1627 she travelled with Mayerne to take the medicinal spring waters at Wellingborough in Northamptonshire . He successfully championed the effort to produce the first official pharmacopoeia , which would specify treatments that apothecaries should provide for specific ailments. In this he included chemical remedies, which were easier to introduce in Protestant England than in Catholic France. In 1628 his wife died and in 1630 he married Elizabeth Joachimi. They had five children but only one daughter Marie from his first marriage survived to adulthood. At about this time he treated Oliver Cromwell for

1265-656: A large presence in the country, as do other traditionalist priestly societies in full communion with Rome such as the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter , Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest and others. Some of the most famous French saints and blesseds include St. Denis , St. Thérèse of Lisieux , St. Irenaeus , St. John Vianney (the Curé of Ars ), St. Joan of Arc , St. Bernadette , St. Genevieve , Louis IX of France , St. Elizabeth of

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1380-474: A minimum, Richelieu bypassed local tax officials, replacing them with intendants (officials in the direct service of the Crown). Richelieu's financial scheme, however, caused unrest among the peasants; there were several uprisings in 1636 to 1639. Richelieu crushed the revolts violently, and dealt with the rebels harshly. Because he openly aligned France with Protestant powers, Richelieu was denounced by many as

1495-574: A physician of Anne of Denmark and was incorporated at Oxford on April 8, 1606. He probably spent the following years back in France. When Henri IV was murdered in 1610, Mayerne moved to England, again by invitation. In 1611 he became first physician of James I and his queen, succeeding Martin Schöner . He also treated most members of the royal court, including Sir Robert Cecil and Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales . His inability to successfully treat those two individuals, together with his closeness to

1610-606: A reconciliation with the Church through the 1801 Concordat , whereby the State would subsidize Catholicism (recognized as the majority religion of the French), as well as Judaism , Lutheranism , and Calvinism . After the 1814 Bourbon Restoration , the ultra-royalist government, headed by the comte de Villèle , passed the 1825 Anti-Sacrilege Act , which made stealing of consecrated Hosts punishable by death. Never enforced, this law

1725-571: A special dispensation from Pope Paul V . This secured, Richelieu was consecrated bishop in April 1607. Soon after he returned to his diocese in 1608, Richelieu was heralded as a reformer . He became the first bishop in France to implement the institutional reforms prescribed by the Council of Trent between 1545 and 1563. At about this time, Richelieu became a friend of François Leclerc du Tremblay (better known as " Père Joseph " or "Father Joseph"),

1840-404: A total of 5.5 million cases of sexual abuse of people under 18 in France. These crimes were committed by between 2900 and 3200 priests and community members. A number of alleged Marian apparitions are associated with France. The best known are the following: The 1905 French law on the separation of Church and State removed the privileged status of the state religion (Catholic Church) and of

1955-704: A traitor to the Roman Catholic Church. (He ordered ships of war from Jean Bicker .) Military action, at first, was disastrous for the French, with many victories going to Spain and the Empire. Neither side, however, could obtain a decisive advantage, and the conflict lingered on after Richelieu's death. Richelieu was instrumental in redirecting the Thirty Years' War from the conflict of Protestantism versus Catholicism to that of nationalism versus Habsburg hegemony. In this conflict France effectively drained

2070-734: A variety of physical and emotional symptoms, including a severe depression. In response to the Plague of 1630 , he suggested the institution of a centralized 'Office of Health', with free royal hospitals, trained officials, and regulatory power. During the English Civil War Mayerne kept a low profile in his practice in London and retained the favour of the parliament. After the execution of Charles I in 1649, he became nominal physician to Charles II but soon retired to Chelsea . Mayerne died at Chelsea on 22 March 1654 or 1655. He

2185-547: Is a character. Actors who have portrayed Cardinal Richelieu on film and television include Nigel De Brulier , George Arliss , Miles Mander , Vincent Price , Charlton Heston , Aleksandr Trofimov , Tcheky Karyo , Stephen Rea , Tim Curry , Christoph Waltz and Peter Capaldi . Richelieu is one of the clergymen more frequently portrayed in film, notably as the lead villain in Alexandre Dumas 's 1844 novel The Three Musketeers and its numerous film adaptations . He

2300-494: Is one of the primary antagonists to the nascent United States of Europe. Many sites and landmarks were named to honor Cardinal Richelieu. They include: There is also an ornate style of lace, Richelieu lace, named in honor of the cardinal. Catholic Church in France The French Catholic Church , or Catholic Church in France is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with

2415-678: Is organised into 98 dioceses , which in 2012 were served by 7,000 sub-75 priests. 80 to 90 priests are ordained every year, although the church would need eight times as many to compensate the number of priest deaths. Approximately 45,000 Catholic church buildings and chapels are spread out among 36,500 cities, towns, and villages in France, but a majority are no longer regularly used for mass. Notable churches of France include Notre Dame de Paris , Chartres Cathedral , Dijon Cathedral , Reims Cathedral , Saint-Sulpice, Paris , Basilique du Sacre-Coeur , Strasbourg Cathedral , Eglise de la Madeleine , and Amiens Cathedral . Its national shrine , Lourdes ,

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2530-411: Is usually portrayed as a sinister character, but the 1950 Cyrano de Bergerac shows Richelieu (played by Edgar Barrier in a scene not from Rostand's original verse drama ) as compassionate to Cyrano's financial plight, and playfully having enjoyed the duel at the theatre. Richelieu is indirectly mentioned in a famous line of Alessandro Manzoni 's novel The Betrothed (1827–1840), set in 1628, as

2645-507: Is visited by 5 million pilgrims yearly. The capital city, Paris , is a major pilgrimage site for Catholics as well. In recent decades, France has emerged as a stronghold for the small but growing Traditionalist Catholic movement, along with the United States , England and other English-speaking countries. The Society of Saint Pius X , a canonically irregular priestly society founded by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre has

2760-576: 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. Born in Paris on 9 September 1585, Armand du Plessis was the fourth of five children and the last of three sons: he was delicate from childhood and suffered frequent bouts of ill-health throughout his life. His family belonged to

2875-480: The Congregationists and the authorities. Anti-clericalism slowly declined among the French left-wing throughout France in the twentieth century , while the question of religion and of freedom of thought seemed to have been resolved. However, it is still present as a defining trait of the left-wing, while most right-wing Frenchmen describe themselves as Catholics (although not necessarily practicing). Thus,

2990-930: The Frankokratia existed where French Latin Catholics took over parts of the Byzantine Empire . A crusade also took place on French territory in the County of Toulouse (contemporary Languedoc ) with the Albigensian Crusade in the 13th century, called by Pope Innocent III . This played out on local level with fighting between the Catholic White Brotherhood and the Cathar Black Brotherhood . The Cathars lost and were subsequently exterminated. In 1312,

3105-749: The Estates-General . There, he was a vigorous advocate of the Catholic Church, arguing that it should be exempt from taxes and that bishops should have more political power. He was the most prominent clergyman to support the adoption of the decrees of the Council of Trent throughout France; the Third Estate (commoners) was his chief opponent in this endeavour. At the end of the assembly, the First Estate (the clergy) chose him to deliver

3220-608: The French Revolution (1789–1799) was followed by heavy persecution of the Catholic Church. Since the beginning of the 20th century, Laïcité , absolute neutrality of the state with respect to religious doctrine, is the official policy of the French Republic . Estimates of the proportion of Catholics in 2020 range between 47% and 88% of France's population, with the higher figure including lapsed Catholics and " Catholic atheists ". The Catholic Church in France

3335-477: The Gallicanists . As he neared death, Richelieu faced a plot that threatened to remove him from power. The cardinal had introduced a young man named Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, marquis de Cinq-Mars to Louis XIII's court. The cardinal had been a friend of Cinq-Mars's father. More importantly, Richelieu hoped that Cinq-Mars would become Louis's favourite, so that he could indirectly exercise greater influence over

3450-607: The Gonzaga collection at Mantua by French military forces in 1630, as well as numerous antiquities. Richelieu's tenure was a crucial period of reform for France. Earlier, the nation's political structure was largely feudal , with powerful nobles and a wide variety of laws in different regions. Parts of the nobility periodically conspired against the king, raised private armies, and allied themselves with foreign powers. This system gave way to centralized power under Richelieu. Local and even religious interests were subordinated to those of

3565-505: The Pope in Rome . Established in the 2nd century in unbroken communion with the bishop of Rome , it was sometimes called the " eldest daughter of the church " ( French : fille aînée de l'Église ). The first written records of Christians in France date from the 2nd century when Irenaeus detailed the deaths of ninety-year-old bishop Saint Pothinus of Lugdunum ( Lyon ) and other martyrs of

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3680-882: The Royal College of Physicians . His influence on the administration of medicine - including the first suggestion of socialized medicine in England, and the standardisation of chemical cures, has been widely recognised. His 'Paracelsian' outlook, which viewed the world as 'abounding in chemical secrets waiting to be exploited', led him to devise projects to enhance Scottish coal mines, to reopen lead mines in Europe and to monopolize oyster beds. He made chemical and physical experiments, created pigments and cosmetics , introduced calomel to medical use and created black-wash (lotio nigra). It also led him to an interest in cooking, and he grew obese in later years. In 1634, he wrote

3795-773: The Society of St. Pius X , push for the return to the Ancien Régime or at least pre-separation situation, contending that France has forgotten its divine mission as a Christian country (an argument already upheld by the Ultras presenting the 1825 Anti-Sacrilege Act ). 2006 Statistics from the Catholic Church in France: 74% of French Catholics support same-sex marriage and 24% oppose it. 87% of French Catholics believe society should accept homosexuality , while 10% believe society should not accept homosexuality. Within France

3910-724: The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). France was not openly at war with the Habsburgs , who ruled Spain and the Holy Roman Empire , so subsidies and aid were provided secretly to their adversaries. Richelieu however, believed that war against Spain would be unavoidable. He considered the Dutch Republic as one of France's most important allies, for it bordered directly with the Spanish Netherlands and

4025-670: 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

4140-629: The Vatican 's influence. Anti-clericalism was popular among Republicans , Radicals , and Socialists , in part because the Church had supported the counterrevolutionaries throughout the 19th century. After the 16 May 1877 crisis and the fall of the Ordre Moral government led by Marshall MacMahon , the Republicans voted Jules Ferry's 1880 laws on free education (1881) and mandatory and secular education (1882), which Catholics felt

4255-636: The archbishop of Strasbourg . They are approved by the Pope and in practice selected by him, but formally nominated by the French president following diplomatic exchanges with the Holy See through the nunciature. During the application of the 1905 law, prime minister Emile Combes , a member of the Radical-Socialist Party , tried to strictly enforce measures which some Catholics considered humiliating or blasphematory, leading to clashes between

4370-533: The official state religion of the Roman Empire in 380. In 496, Remigius baptized Clovis I , who was converted from paganism to Catholicism. Clovis I, considered the founder of France, made himself the ally and protector of the papacy and his predominantly Catholic subjects. On Christmas Day 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire , forming the political and religious foundations of Christendom and establishing in earnest

4485-413: The "father of the modern nation-state , modern centralised power [and] the modern secret service ." His legacy is also important for the world at large; his ideas of a strong nation-state and aggressive foreign policy helped create the modern system of international politics. As a statesman and churchman, Richelieu played an important role in shaping France's prominence in the 17th century and influencing

4600-461: The 177 AD persecution in Lyon . In 496 Remigius baptized King Clovis I , who therefore converted from paganism to Catholicism. In 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire , forming the political and religious foundations of Christendom in Europe and establishing in earnest the French government's long historical association with the Catholic Church. In reaction,

4715-567: The Académie's protector . Since 1672, that role has been fulfilled by the French head of state. In 1622, Richelieu was elected the proviseur or principal of the Sorbonne. He presided over the renovation of the college's buildings and over the construction of its famous chapel, where he is now entombed. As he was Bishop of Luçon, his statue stands outside the Luçon cathedral. Richelieu oversaw

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4830-460: The Bishop was one of the closest advisors of Louis XIII's mother, Marie de' Medici . The queen had become Regent of France when the nine-year-old Louis ascended the throne; although her son reached the legal age of majority in 1614, she remained the effective ruler of the realm. However, her policies, and those of Concini, proved unpopular with many in France. As a result, both Marie and Concini became

4945-593: The Church". The King of France was known as "His Most Christian Majesty". Following the Protestant Reformation , France was riven by sectarian conflict as the Huguenots and Catholics strove for supremacy in the Wars of Religion until the 1598 Edict of Nantes established a measure of religious toleration . The French Revolution radically shifted power away from the Catholic Church. Church property

5060-581: The French conflict with the Huguenots to extend its influence in northern Italy. It funded the Huguenot rebels to keep the French army occupied, meanwhile expanding its Italian dominions. Richelieu, however, responded aggressively; after La Rochelle capitulated, he personally led the French army to northern Italy to restrain Spain. On 26 November 1629, he was created duc de Richelieu and a Peer of France . In

5175-635: The French government's longstanding historical association with the Catholic Church. The Council of Clermont , a mixed synod of ecclesiastics and laymen led by Pope Urban II in November 1095 at Clermont-Ferrand triggered the First Crusade . The Kingdom of France and its aristocracy were prominent players in the Crusades in general. Following the Fourth Crusade , a period known as

5290-590: The French had a foothold since Jacques Cartier , had no more than 100 permanent European inhabitants. Richelieu encouraged Louis XIII to colonize the Americas by the foundation of the Compagnie de la Nouvelle France in imitation of the Dutch West India Company . Unlike the other colonial powers, France encouraged a peaceful coexistence in New France between natives and colonists and sought

5405-492: The French monarch Philip IV of France was involved in the suppression of the Knights Templar by Pope Clement V ; Philip was in deep financial dept to the Templars. The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1377 during which seven French popes, resided in Avignon . Prior to the French Revolution , the Catholic Church had been the official state religion of France since the conversion to Christianity of Clovis I , leading to France being called "the eldest daughter of

5520-498: The French who are accustomed to this country [New France], together with all the Indians who will be brought to the knowledge of the faith and will profess it, shall be deemed and renowned natural Frenchmen, and as such may come to live in France when they want, and acquire, donate, and succeed and accept donations and legacies, just as true French subjects, without being required to take letters of declaration of naturalization. The 1666 census of New France , conducted some 20 years after

5635-410: The Holy Land, traversed the Mediterranean in a frail boat with neither rudder nor mast and landed at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer near Arles . Provençal tradition names Lazarus as the first bishop of Marseille , while Martha purportedly went on to tame a terrible beast in nearby Tarascon . Pilgrims visited their tombs at the abbey of Vézelay in Burgundy . In the Abbey of the Trinity at Vendôme ,

5750-457: The Palais-Cardinal, for which Simon Vouet executed the paintings, were of solid gold – crucifix, chalice, paten , ciborium, candlesticks – set with 180 rubies and 9,000 diamonds. His taste also ran to massive silver, small bronzes and works of vertu , enamels and rock crystal mounted in gold, Chinese porcelains, tapestries and Persian carpets, cabinets from Italy, and Antwerp and the heart-shaped diamond bought from Alphonse Lopez that he willed to

5865-457: The Trinity , St. Vincent de Paul , St. Louise de Marillac , St. Catherine Labouré , St. Louis de Montfort , St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle , St. Francis de Sales , St. Margaret Mary Alacoque , Bl. Nicholas Barré , St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort and St. Bernard of Clairvaux . According to long-standing tradition, Mary , Martha , Lazarus (Marie, Marthe and Lazare in French) and some companions, who were expelled by persecutions from

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5980-442: The Virgin by Andrea del Sarto , the two famous Bacchanales of Nicolas Poussin , as well as paintings by Veronese and Titian , and Diana at the Bath by Rubens , for which he was so glad to pay the artist's heirs 3,000 écus , that he made a gift to Rubens' widow of a diamond-encrusted watch. His marble portrait bust by Bernini was not considered a good likeness and was banished to a passageway. The fittings of his chapel in

6095-458: The address enumerating its petitions and decisions. Soon after the dissolution of the Estates-General, Richelieu entered the service of King Louis XIII 's wife, Anne of Austria , as her almoner . Richelieu advanced politically by faithfully serving the queen-mother's favourite, Concino Concini , the most powerful minister in the kingdom. In 1616, Richelieu was made Secretary of State, and was given responsibility for foreign affairs. Like Concini,

6210-425: The already overstretched resources of the Habsburg empire and drove it inexorably towards bankruptcy. The defeat of Habsburg forces at the Battle of Lens in 1648, coupled with their failure to prevent a French invasion of Catalonia , effectively spelled the end for Habsburg domination of the continent, and for the personal career of Spanish prime minister Olivares . When Richelieu came to power, New France , where

6325-460: The bad manners that were commonly displayed at the dining table by users of sharp knives (who would often use them to pick their teeth), in 1637 Richelieu ordered that all of the knives on his dining table have their blades dulled and their tips rounded. The design quickly became popular throughout France and later spread to other countries. As of April 2013, the Internet Movie Database listed 94 films and television programs in which Cardinal Richelieu

6440-412: The besieging troops. English troops under the Duke of Buckingham led an expedition to help the citizens of La Rochelle, but failed abysmally. The city, however, remained firm for over a year before capitulating in 1628. Although the Huguenots suffered a major defeat at La Rochelle, they continued to fight, led by Henri, duc de Rohan . Protestant forces, however, were defeated in 1629; Rohan submitted to

6555-431: The bishop of Luçon. Alphonse, who had no desire to become a bishop, became instead a Carthusian monk. Thus, it became necessary that the younger Richelieu join the clergy. He had strong academic interests and threw himself into studying for his new post. In 1606, Henry IV nominated Richelieu to become Bishop of Luçon. As Richelieu had not yet reached the canonical minimum age, it was necessary that he journey to Rome for

6670-409: The cardinal's arms. The library was transferred to the Sorbonne in 1660. He funded the literary careers of many writers. He was a lover of the theatre, which was not considered a respectable art form during that era; a private theatre, the Grande Salle , was a feature of his Paris residence, the Palais-Cardinal . Among the individuals he patronized was the famous playwright Pierre Corneille . Richelieu

6785-582: The church floor enabled the head to be photographed in 1895. Richelieu was a chess player and a famous patron of the arts. An author of various religious and political works (most notably his Political Testament ), he sent his agents abroad in search of books and manuscripts for his unrivaled library, which he specified in his will – leaving it to Armand Jean de Vignerot du Plessis , his great-nephew, fully funded – should serve not merely his family but to be open at fixed hours to scholars. The manuscripts alone numbered some 900, bound as codices in red Morocco with

6900-466: The circle of Hermeticists that had grown up around him. These devotees of Paracelsus believed they were reviving the wisdom of the mythical pre- Platonic natural philosophers - men known as the prisci theologi that included Zoroaster and Hermes Trismegistus . The alchemical nature of their experiments was greatly resented by Galenists at the University of Paris . In the same year he briefly visited England by invitation and met James I . He became

7015-735: The construction of his own palace in Paris, the Palais-Cardinal . The palace, renamed the Palais-Royal after Richelieu's death, now houses the French Constitutional Council , the Ministry of Culture, and the Conseil d'État . The Galerie de l'avant-cour had ceiling paintings by Philippe de Champaigne , the cardinal's chief portraitist, celebrating the major events of the cardinal's career; the Galerie des hommes illustres had twenty-six historicizing portraits of great men , larger than life, from Abbot Suger to Louis XIII; some were by Simon Vouet , others were careful copies by Philippe de Champaigne from known portraits; with them were busts of Roman emperors. Another series of portraits of authors complemented

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7130-423: The controversy twenty years later, although the dividing lines also passed through each political side due to the complexity of the subject. On this occasion, several Muslim associations have allied themselves with conservative Catholics to reject the law. One consequences of the law was that some Muslim middle and high school students who refused to remove their veils or "conspicuous religious symbols" withdrew from

7245-412: The death of Cardinal Richelieu, showed a population of 3,215 habitants in New France, many more than there had been only a few decades earlier, but also a great difference in the number of men (2,034) and women (1,181). Toward the end of his life, Richelieu alienated many people, including Pope Urban VIII . Richelieu was displeased by the pope's refusal to name him the papal legate in France; in turn,

7360-469: The draft laws presented by François Mitterrand 's government in the early 1980s, concerning restrictions on the state funding of private (and in majority Catholic) schools, were countered by right-wing demonstrations headed by the then mayor of Paris, the Gaullist Jacques Chirac , who was to be his prime minister in 1986 and would succeed him in 1995 as president. In the same way, the 2004 law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools , revived

7475-413: The family was able to avoid financial difficulties. At the age of 9, young Richelieu was sent to the College of Navarre in Paris to study philosophy. Thereafter, he began to train for a military career. There, he learned mathematics, fencing, horse riding, dancing skills, courtly manners, and military drill. His private life seems to have been typical for a young officer of the era; in 1605, aged twenty, he

7590-414: The favour of the King, who appointed him to travel with the Duc de Rohan in his diplomatic missions to Germany and Italy. When the King intended to make Mayerne his first physician, the queen opposed the decision because Mayerne refused to convert to Catholicism. Mayerne continued in his lower post until 1606 when he sold it to another physician. At this time he continued his association with du Chesne and

7705-424: The fledgling colony along the St. Lawrence River . The retention and promotion of Canada under Richelieu allowed it – and through the settlement's strategic location, the St. Lawrence-Great Lakes gateway into the North American interior – to develop into a French empire in North America, parts of which eventually became modern Canada and Louisiana. Richelieu is known as the inventor of the table knife . Annoyed by

7820-416: The hierarchy consists of: Immediately subject to the Holy See : Other: France is the location of one of the world's major Catholic pilgrim centres at Lourdes . Growing discontent with respect to the influence of the Catholic Church in education and politics led to a series of reforms during the Third Republic reducing this influence, under the protests of the Ultramontanists who supported

7935-403: The integration of Indians into colonial society. Samuel de Champlain , governor of New France at the time of Richelieu, saw intermarriage between French and Indians as a solution to increase population in its colony. Under the guidance of Richelieu, Louis XIII issued the Ordonnance of 1627 by which the Indians, converted to Catholicism, were considered as "natural Frenchmen": The descendants of

8050-604: The intention of liberating the Valtelline from Spanish occupation. In 1625, Richelieu also sent money to Ernst von Mansfeld , a famous mercenary general operating in Germany in English service. However, in May 1626, when war costs had almost ruined France, king and cardinal made peace with Spain via the Treaty of Monçon . This peace quickly ended after tensions due to the War of the Mantuan Succession . In 1629, Emperor Ferdinand II subjugated many of his Protestant opponents in Germany. Richelieu, alarmed by Ferdinand's growing influence, incited Sweden to intervene, providing money. In

8165-718: The introduction for and edited one of the first treatises ever published on Insects (usually attributed to Thomas Muffet ), under the title Insectorum, sive minimorum animalium Theatrum: Olim ab Edoardo Wottono, Conrado Gesnero, Thomaque Pennio inchoatum: Tandem Tho. Moufeti Londinâtis operâ sumptibusque maximis concinnatum, auctum, perfectum: Et ad vivum expressis Iconibus suprà quingentis illustratum. Londini ex Officinâ typographicâ Thom. Cotes. Et venales extant apud Benjam. Allen, in diverticulo, quod Anglicè dicitur Popes-head Alley. In 1701 Joseph Browne produced an edition of Mayerne's Latin casebooks which includes details of medical treatments given to several courtiers, documents concerning

8280-481: The king nominated Richelieu for a cardinalate, which Pope Gregory XV accordingly granted in September 1622. Crises in France, including a rebellion of the Huguenots , rendered Richelieu a nearly indispensable advisor to the king. After he was appointed to the royal council of ministers on 29 April 1624, he intrigued against the chief minister Charles, duc de La Vieuville . On 12 August of the same year, La Vieuville

8395-407: The king's brother, Gaston, duc d'Orléans , secured the king's agreement for the dismissal. Richelieu, however, was aware of the plan, and quickly convinced the king to repent. Meanwhile, Marie de Médicis was exiled to Compiègne . Both Marie and the duc d'Orléans continued to conspire against Richelieu, but their schemes came to nothing. The nobility also remained powerless. The only important rising

8510-424: The king's brother, the duc d'Orléans) to raise a rebellion; he also signed a secret agreement with the king of Spain, who promised to aid the rebels. Richelieu's spy service, however, discovered the plot, and the cardinal received a copy of the treaty. Cinq-Mars was promptly arrested and executed; although Louis approved the use of capital punishment, he grew more distant from Richelieu as a result. However, Richelieu

8625-638: 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)

8740-480: The king, still suspicious of the Bishop of Luçon, banished him to Avignon. There, Richelieu spent most of his time writing; he composed a catechism titled L'Instruction du chrétien . In 1619, Marie de Médicis escaped from her confinement in the Château de Blois , becoming the titular leader of an aristocratic rebellion. The king and the duc de Luynes recalled Richelieu, believing that he would be able to reason with

8855-478: The king. Richelieu died on 4 December 1642, aged 57. His body was embalmed and interred at the church of the Sorbonne . By that time, the populace detested him. In many provinces of the kingdom, bonfires were kindled to celebrate his death. During the French Revolution , the corpse was removed from its tomb, and the mummified front of his head, having been removed and replaced during the original embalming process,

8970-715: The king. When the Palais-Cardinal was complete, he donated it to the Crown, in 1636. With the queen in residence, the paintings of the Grand Cabinet were transferred to Fontainebleau and replaced by copies, and the interiors were subjected to much rearrangement. Michelangelo 's two Slaves were among the rich appointments of the château Richelieu, where there were the Nativity triptych by Dürer , and paintings by Mantegna , Lorenzo Costa and Perugino , lifted from

9085-526: The lesser nobility of Poitou : his father, François du Plessis , seigneur de Richelieu , was a soldier and courtier who served as the Grand Provost of France, and his mother, Susanne de La Porte, was the daughter of a famous jurist. When he was five years old, Richelieu's father died of fever in the French Wars of Religion , leaving the family in debt; however, with the aid of royal grants ,

9200-759: The library. The architect of the Palais-Cardinal, Jacques Lemercier , also received a commission to build a château and a surrounding town in Indre-et-Loire ; the project culminated in the construction of the Château Richelieu and the town of Richelieu . To the château, he added one of the largest art collections in Europe and the largest collection of ancient Roman sculpture in France. The heavily resurfaced and restored Richelieu Bacchus continued to be admired by neoclassical artists . Among his 300 paintings by moderns, most notably, he owned Leonardo 's Virgin and Child with Saint Anne , The Family of

9315-810: The many works of art and architecture he saw in his travels in Germany and Italy, especially liking the paintings of Albrecht Dürer and the Kunstkammer in Munich of curios kept by the Duke of Bavaria . Mayerne moved to Paris, lectured on anatomy and pharmacy and founded a medical practice . By that time he had begun to support the views of Paracelsus and used many chemical remedies. He kept detailed notes about his patients, among them Armand du Plessis, later Cardinal Richelieu , whom he treated for gonorrhea in 1605. In 1600 French royal physician Jean Ribit de la Rivière (1571–1605) sponsored him to become one of

9430-457: The meantime, France and Spain remained hostile due to Spain's ambitions in northern Italy. At that time northern Italy was a major strategic region in Europe's balance of power, serving as a link between the Habsburgs in the Empire and in Spain. Had the imperial armies dominated this region, France would have been threatened by Habsburg encirclement. Spain was meanwhile seeking papal approval for

9545-419: The monarch's decisions. Cinq-Mars had become the royal favourite by 1639, but, contrary to Cardinal Richelieu's belief, he was not easy to control. The young marquis realized that Richelieu would not permit him to gain political power. In 1641, he participated in the comte de Soissons 's failed conspiracy against Richelieu, but was not discovered. Then, the following year, he schemed with leading nobles (including

9660-613: The most powerful monarch, and France the most powerful nation, in all of Europe during the late seventeenth century. Richelieu is also notable for the authoritarian measures he employed to maintain power. He censored the press, established a large network of internal spies, forbade the discussion of political matters in public assemblies such as the Parlement de Paris (a court of justice), and had those who dared to conspire against him prosecuted and executed. The Canadian historian and philosopher John Ralston Saul has referred to Richelieu as

9775-482: The next year, Richelieu's position was seriously threatened by his former patron, Marie de Médicis. Marie believed that the cardinal had robbed her of her political influence; thus, she demanded that her son dismiss the chief minister. Louis XIII was not, at first, averse to such a course of action, as he personally disliked Richelieu. Despite this, the persuasive statesman was able to secure the king as an ally against his own mother. On 11 November 1630, Marie de Médicis and

9890-401: The personal physicians, physician in ordinary, of the king Henri IV . His other pursuits were thwarted because he was not a Catholic and because most French physicians still followed the principles of Galen . In 1603 he tried to support his views to Medical Faculty of Paris, stating that his views were not opposed to Galenic and Hippocratic principles. Despite their opposition, he retained

10005-407: The pope did not approve of the administration of the French church, or of French foreign policy. However, the conflict was largely resolved when the pope granted a cardinalate to Jules Mazarin , one of Richelieu's main political allies, in 1641. Despite troubled relations with the Roman Catholic Church, Richelieu did not support the complete repudiation of papal authority in France, as was advocated by

10120-407: The position of Constable of France and ordered all fortified castles razed, with the exception only of those needed to defend against invaders. Thus he stripped the princes, dukes, and lesser aristocrats of important defences that could have been used against the king's armies during rebellions. As a result, Richelieu was hated by most of the nobility. Another obstacle to the centralization of power

10235-399: The public school system in favour of the private, but publicly funded, Catholic schools (where the law does not apply, being restricted to the public education system). In any case, since the 1905 law on the separation of the Church and State, the prevailing public doctrine on religion is laïcité – that is, neutrality of the state with respect to religious doctrine, and separation of

10350-424: The queen. Richelieu was successful in this endeavour, mediating between her and her son. Complex negotiations bore fruit when the Treaty of Angoulême was ratified; Marie de Médicis was given complete freedom, but would remain at peace with the king. The queen-mother was restored to the royal council. After the death of the king's favourite, the duc de Luynes, in 1621, Richelieu rose to power quickly. The year after,

10465-718: The reestablishment of the Catholic orthodoxy as a political maneuver of the Habsburg and Austrian states which was detrimental to the French national interests. Shortly after he became Louis' principal minister, he was faced with a crisis in Valtellina , a valley in Lombardy (northern Italy). To counter Spanish designs on the territory, Richelieu supported the Protestant Swiss canton of Grisons , which also claimed

10580-607: The religious and the public spheres, except in Alsace-Lorraine and in some oversea territories. This state neutrality is conceived as a protection of religious minorities as well as the upholding of freedom of thought, which includes a right to agnosticism and atheism . Although many Catholics were at first opposed to this secular movement, most of them have since changed opinions, finding that this neutrality actually protects their faith from political interference. Only some minority traditionalist Catholic groups, such as

10695-466: The same vein as the cardinal, he enacted policies that further suppressed the once-mighty aristocracy, and utterly destroyed all remnants of Huguenot political power with the Edict of Fontainebleau . Moreover, Louis took advantage of his nation's success during the Thirty Years' War to establish French hegemony in continental Europe. Thus, Richelieu's policies were the requisite prelude to Louis XIV becoming

10810-630: The scandal surrounding the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury coloured his first years in England. Nevertheless, he was sometimes sent on diplomatic missions to France. In 1616 Mayerne was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians . He helped the Society of Apothecaries to obtain a royal charter separate from the Grocers and helped to found the Company of Distillers . He was knighted in 1624. Next year he briefly visited Switzerland, where he had become Baron Aubonne . Mayerne retained his post as

10925-404: The secularization of international policies during the Thirty Years' War. His pioneering approach to French diplomatic relations using raison d'etat vis-a-vis the power relationship at play were first frowned upon but later emulated by other European nation-states to add to their diplomatic strategic arsenal. A less renowned aspect of his legacy is his involvement with Samuel de Champlain and

11040-427: The strategically important valley. The cardinal deployed troops to Valtellina, from which the pope's garrisons were driven out. Richelieu's early decision to support a Protestant canton against the pope was a foretaste of the purely diplomatic power politics he espoused in his foreign policy. To further consolidate power in France, Richelieu sought to suppress the influence of the feudal nobility. In 1626, he abolished

11155-408: The targets of intrigues at court; their most powerful enemy was Charles de Luynes . In April 1617, in a plot arranged by Luynes, Louis XIII ordered that Concini be arrested, and killed should he resist; Concini was consequently assassinated, and Marie de Médicis overthrown. His patron having died, Richelieu also lost power; he was dismissed as Secretary of State, and was removed from the court. In 1618,

11270-527: The terms of the Peace of Alais . As a result, religious toleration for Protestants, which had first been granted by the Edict of Nantes in 1598, was permitted to continue, but the cardinal abolished their political rights and protections. Rohan was not executed (as were leaders of rebellions later in Richelieu's tenure); in fact, he later became a commanding officer in the French army. Habsburg Spain exploited

11385-432: The three other state-recognised religions (Lutheranism, Calvinism, Judaism), but left to them the use without fee, and the maintenance at government expense, of the churches that they used prior to 1905. A notable exception is Alsace-Lorraine , which at the time of the separation was part of Germany , and where the pre-1905 status, including the concordat, is still in force. This was negotiated in 1918 when Alsace-Lorraine

11500-887: The use of chemical remedies in medicine, under the guidance of Joseph du Chesne ; this was the first intimation of his interest in Paracelsian theories. In May 1599, Mayerne joined Henri de Rohan , a Huguenot nobleman very powerful in Brittany, on his grand tour of Europe, visiting Germany, Italy, Bohemia, the Netherlands, England, and Scotland. During their visit to London in October 1600, Rohan and Mayerne were received by Queen Elizabeth I at her court, and in November 1600, when they reached Edinburgh , they were received by King James VI , before returning to France in early 1601. Despite his austere Calvinism, Mayerne greatly admired

11615-567: The whole nation, and of the embodiment of the nation – the king. Equally critical for France was Richelieu's foreign policy, which helped restrain Habsburg influence in Europe. Richelieu did not survive to the end of the Thirty Years' War. However, the conflict ended in 1648, with France emerging in a far better position than any other power, and the Holy Roman Empire entering a period of decline. Richelieu's successes were extremely important to Louis XIII's successor, King Louis XIV . He continued Richelieu's work of creating an absolute monarchy ; in

11730-535: Was a Protestant French historian who had fled Lyon following the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre and his godfather was Theodore Beza . Mayerne's first wife was Marguerite de Boetslaer and they had three children. Mayerne studied first in Geneve and later moved to the University of Heidelberg . Later he moved to Montpellier to study medicine , graduated 1596 and received his doctorate in 1597. His dissertation defended

11845-687: Was a gross violation of their rights. The 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State established state secularism in France, led to the closing of most Church-run schools. Since the Fifth Republic, most of the participating Catholics in France support Gaullist and Centrist Christian democratic parties. Th%C3%A9odore de Mayerne Mayerne was born in a Huguenot family in Geneva , Republic of Geneva. His father

11960-457: Was also the founder and patron of the Académie française , the pre-eminent French literary society. The institution had previously been in informal existence; in 1635, however, Cardinal Richelieu obtained official letters patent for the body. The Académie française includes 40 members, promotes French literature, and remains the official authority on the French language. Richelieu served as

12075-514: Was arrested on charges of corruption, and Cardinal Richelieu took his place as the king's principal minister the following day, but the Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld nominally remained president of the council (Richelieu was officially appointed president in November 1629). Cardinal Richelieu's policy involved two primary goals: centralization of power in France and opposition to the Habsburg dynasty (which ruled in both Austria and Spain). He saw

12190-811: Was buried in St Martin-in-the-Fields with most of his family and his godson Sir Theodore des Vaux sponsored a monument for him. Des Vaux later published Mayerne's medical notes in the book Praxis Medica in 1690. Mayerne compiled the so-called 'de Mayerne manuscript' between 1620 and 1646 based on conversations with painters (and others). The manuscript includes contributions from Rubens , van Dyck , Mytens , Paul van Somer , and Cornelius Johnson . His estate included copious amount of medical manuscripts, including detailed notes about his patients, most of it in Latin and French; his patients ranged from John Donne to Oliver Cromwell . His papers are kept in

12305-595: Was confiscated, and the church crop tax and special clergy privileges were eliminated. With the 1790 Civil Constitution of the Clergy , the clergy became employees of the State, and the Catholic Church became a subordinate arm of the secular French government . During the Reign of Terror, traditional Christian holidays were abolished and Catholic priests were brutally suppressed , locally through mass imprisonment and executions by drowning . Napoleon Bonaparte negotiated

12420-516: Was now dying. For many years he had suffered from recurrent fevers (possibly malaria), strangury, intestinal tuberculosis with fistula, and migraine. Now his right arm was suppurating with tubercular osteitis, and he coughed blood (after his death, his lungs were found to have extensive cavities and caseous necrosis). His doctors continued to bleed him frequently, further weakening him. As he felt his death approaching, he named Mazarin, one of his most faithful followers, to succeed him as chief minister to

12535-415: Was religious division in France. The Huguenots , one of the largest political and religious factions in the country, controlled a significant military force, and were in rebellion. Moreover, Charles I , the king of England, declared war on France in an attempt to aid the Huguenot faction. In 1627, Richelieu ordered the army to besiege the Huguenot stronghold of La Rochelle ; the cardinal personally commanded

12650-546: Was repealed in the July Monarchy (1830–1848). On 5 October 2021, a report was published by the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE) which showed that up to 330,000 children had become victims of sexual abuse within the church in France over a period spanning 7 decades (1950–2020). This constitutes 6% of total sexual abuse in France, since the same report notes that there are

12765-483: Was returned to France at the end of the first World War, and approved by both France and the Holy See with the Briand-Ceretti Agreement . As a consequence, and although France is one of the countries in the world where the state and church are most separated, the French head of state is paradoxically the only temporal power in the world still nominating Catholic bishops, namely the bishop of Metz and

12880-725: Was right in the middle of the Eighty Years' War with Spain at that time. Luckily for him, Richelieu was a bon français , just like the king, who had already decided to subsidize the Dutch to fight against the Spanish via the Treaty of Compiègne in June 1624, prior to Richelieu's appointment to First Minister in August. That same year, a military expedition, secretly financed by France and commanded by Marquis de Coeuvres, started an action with

12995-407: Was stolen. It ended up in the possession of Nicholas Armez of Brittany by 1796, and he occasionally exhibited the well-preserved face. His nephew, Louis-Philippe Armez, inherited it and also occasionally exhibited it and lent it out for study. In 1866, Napoleon III persuaded Armez to return the face to the government for re-interment with the rest of Richelieu's body. An investigation of subsidence of

13110-642: Was that of Henri, duc de Montmorency in 1632; Richelieu, ruthless in suppressing opposition, ordered the duke's execution. In 1634, the cardinal had one of his outspoken critics, Urbain Grandier , burned at the stake in the Loudun affair . These and other harsh measures were orchestrated by Richelieu to intimidate his enemies. He also ensured his political security by establishing a large network of spies in France and in other European countries. Before Richelieu's ascent to power, most of Europe had become enmeshed in

13225-585: Was treated by Théodore de Mayerne for gonorrhea . Henry III had rewarded Richelieu's father for his participation in the Wars of Religion by granting his family the Bishopric of Luçon . The family appropriated most of the revenues of the bishopric for private use; they were, however, challenged by clergymen who desired the funds for ecclesiastical purposes. To protect the important source of revenue, Richelieu's mother proposed to make her second son, Alphonse ,

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