Cardinal Richelieu
Cardinal Richelieu (1589-1642), also known as the Duke of Richelieu, was a great French cardinal and statesman under whose leadership France achieved a position of dominating power in Europe.
Born into a noble family, Richelieu became a cardinal in 1622.
He also was a statesman and became successively the adviser to Madame de Medicis (the queen mother), the Secretary for War and Foreign Affairs, and then in 1624 the Chief Minister under King Louis XIII of France.
From the time that he became Chief Minister, Richelieu dominated the king and was himself the effective ruler of France.
Richelieu had two aims:
The Huguenot city of La Rochelle was besieged and that of Montaubon was destroyed.
Once he had conquered and disarmed the Huguenots, he showed them mercy and allowed them freedom of worship.
The conspiracies and rebellions of the feudal nobles of France were put down savagely and no such mercy shown to the conspirators.
The leaders of the conspiracies such as Cinq-Mars were executed and their fortresses demolished.
In the end, Richelieu had achieved absolute power for the French monarchy.
This policy was called absolutism.
To achieve the second aim, Richelieu constantly attacked the power of the Bourbon monarchy's rivals - that is, the Hapsburg monarchy that was based in Madrid, Spain and Vienna, Holy Roman Empire.
He invaded their domains, including Catalonia, Rousillon, Lorraine and Turin.
He made alliances with the powers of the north - the Netherlands, the German states and Sweden.
In 1635, he entered the Thirty Years' War by directly attacking Spain.
By these actions Richelieu ultimately succeeded in checking the power of the Habsburgs while increasing France's territory, power and prestige.
To pay for his extensive wars, Richelieu introduced a wide range of taxes and attempted to expand France's industries, trade and commerce.
He also carried out a series of financial, military and legal reforms.
On the cultural front, Richelieu patronized the arts and in 1635 he set up the celebrated French Academy which still exists today.
Richelieu was highly intelligent, ambitious and iron-willed.
He was a Minister whose life was devoted to the service of the French state.
By the time of his death, he had largely achieved his aims of creating an all-powerful absolutist monarchy within France and of making France the most powerful country it had ever been.
Born into a noble family, Richelieu became a cardinal in 1622.
He also was a statesman and became successively the adviser to Madame de Medicis (the queen mother), the Secretary for War and Foreign Affairs, and then in 1624 the Chief Minister under King Louis XIII of France.
From the time that he became Chief Minister, Richelieu dominated the king and was himself the effective ruler of France.
Richelieu had two aims:
- firstly, to ensure strict obedience within France to the Bourbon monarchy (the monarchy to which Louis XIII belonged); and
- secondly, to increase France's power on the international stage.
The Huguenot city of La Rochelle was besieged and that of Montaubon was destroyed.
Once he had conquered and disarmed the Huguenots, he showed them mercy and allowed them freedom of worship.
The conspiracies and rebellions of the feudal nobles of France were put down savagely and no such mercy shown to the conspirators.
The leaders of the conspiracies such as Cinq-Mars were executed and their fortresses demolished.
In the end, Richelieu had achieved absolute power for the French monarchy.
This policy was called absolutism.
To achieve the second aim, Richelieu constantly attacked the power of the Bourbon monarchy's rivals - that is, the Hapsburg monarchy that was based in Madrid, Spain and Vienna, Holy Roman Empire.
He invaded their domains, including Catalonia, Rousillon, Lorraine and Turin.
He made alliances with the powers of the north - the Netherlands, the German states and Sweden.
In 1635, he entered the Thirty Years' War by directly attacking Spain.
By these actions Richelieu ultimately succeeded in checking the power of the Habsburgs while increasing France's territory, power and prestige.
To pay for his extensive wars, Richelieu introduced a wide range of taxes and attempted to expand France's industries, trade and commerce.
He also carried out a series of financial, military and legal reforms.
On the cultural front, Richelieu patronized the arts and in 1635 he set up the celebrated French Academy which still exists today.
Richelieu was highly intelligent, ambitious and iron-willed.
He was a Minister whose life was devoted to the service of the French state.
By the time of his death, he had largely achieved his aims of creating an all-powerful absolutist monarchy within France and of making France the most powerful country it had ever been.
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