Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/152

* RICHELIEU. 132 RICHELIEU. diocese and was successful as a preacher and administrator. As one of the representatives of the clergj' at the States-General in 1G14 he attracted the notice of the Queen mother, Maria dc' Medici, by an address delivered in the pres- ence of the young King, Louis XIII. He was made one of the Court almoners, and later, in 1010, entered the Royal Council as Secretary for War and Foreign Affairs. The overthrow of Concini and the party of the Queen mother, and the rise of the royal favorite, De Luynes, to power, sent Richelieu temporarily back to his bishopric. De Luynes died in 1021, while car- rying on a campaign against the Huguenots, leaving the kingdom in great disorder. The nobility were in revolt and strengthening them- selves in the provinces, the Huguenots were in arms, and the influence of France in Europe was threatened by the growing ascendency of the House of Austria. Reconciled to her son, mainly through the diplomacy of Richelieu, who had remained her trusted counselor, Maria de' Medici obtained for the latter a cardinal's hat, and in 1024 he was recalled to the council. He soon became the chief Minister of State and retained that post until the end of his life — the real head of France in everything but name. In bringing about the reconciliation Richelieu had been greatly assisted by the Capuchin Father Joseph (q.v.), who remained afterwards his confidential assistant. The new Minister's first important measure was the arrangement of a marriage between the King's sister, Henrietta Maria, and the Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles I. This assured friend- ly relations with England. It was necessary lor Richelieu to suppress the Huguenots as a po- litical faction, to reduce the disturbing nobles to obedience, and to restore the prestige which France had won under Henry IV. in the affairs of Europe. While carrying out the first of these objects he made alliances with and gave encouragement to the Dutch and German ene- mies of the Catholic House of Austria. He re- garded the Protestants at home or abroad wholly with the eye of a statesman, and had no re- ligious prejudices. As the power of the Cardinal increased Maria de' Medici became antagonistic. The King trusted him implicitly, but never liked him personally, and always was restive imder the mastery of this greater mind. Richelieu's policy was directed toward a unified system of administration in France, and in foreign affairs his chief aim was to humble the power of the Austrian and Spanish Hapsburgs. Richelieu was instrumental in bringing Gustavus Adolphus (q.v.) into Germany, and during the later years of the Thirty Years' War France was an active ally of the Protestant cause in the field. (See Thirty Years' Wae.) In 1028 the rebellious Huguenots were put do%vn and La Eoclielle was taken, after a siege of fifteen months, during which Richelieu commanded in person with great ability. After this triumph he showed the qiuil- ity of his statesmanship by his liberalit.v and clemency toward the conquered. In Italy France combated Austria and Spain in the War of the Mantuan Succession (1628-31), and Richelieu's diplomacy secured the recognition of the claims of Charles of Nevers. The ill will of the Court nobles whom Richelieu's influence had deprived of power over the weak King showed itself in fre- quent conspiracies against the Cardinal. Gas- ton of Orleans, brother of Louis XllL, played a leading part in these plots, which Richelieu, thanks to his system of espionage, punished re- lentlessly. The so-called conspiracy of Chalais ended in death' for some of the leaders and imprisonment for others. A second great con- spiracy, headed by the Queen mother, readied its crisis on November 11, 1030, when Riche- lieu himself had almost given up the strug- gle. The King refused him an audience, but Louis having withdrawn to Versailles, the Cardinal succeeded in seeing him there, over- came the influence of his enemies, demonstrated his necessity to France, and irrevocably fi.ed his ascendency. The day became known, from the discomfiture of the conspirators, as 'the day of dupes.' In 1631 the Duke of Montmorency (q.v.) rose against the Cardinal, onlj' to perish on the scaffold. In the last j'cars of his life Riche- lieu crushed the rising of the Count of Soissons and defeated the conspiracy of Cinq-Mars (q.v.). The later administration of Richelieu formed an important epoch in the history of the consti- tution of France and in her foreign relations. By a succession of vigorous and efl'ective meas- ures he succeeded in breaking dovra the political jiower of the great families of France and making the King an absolute ruler. The policy of war against Austria and Spain vindicated itself in its ultimate results, which, however, Richelieu did not live to see. The character of Richelieu is one of those that moralists and historians delight to discuss. There is no question but that he was unscrupu- lous in the means that he used. There is equally no question that he used these means with a singleness of purpose for what he believed to be the good of France and his King. His policy was successful in developing the greatness and the power of France, but burdensome imposi- tions were necessary to meet the enormous ex- penditures it entailed, and the unchecked abso- lutism that he fastened upon the country was in the long run a misfortune. What the France of his day justly feared, as a result of the melancholy experiences of two generations, was anarchv and a powerless executive. That danger Richelieu averted, but he went too far toward the other extreme. The variety and scope of his talents were remarkable. His writings fill several volumes, and some of them have much merit. Of the later ones his Testament politique and his Hemoires are most important. He also indulged in lighter literary diversions, and in the drama, but left nothing noteworthy. He was a liberal patron of literature, and to him France owes the found- ing of the French Academy. (See Institute of France.) The Palais Cnrdinal, later known as the Palais Boyal, was his Paris residence. He was as capable a military commander as he was a churchman, a civil administrator, and a diplo- mat. At the siege of La Rochelle he is said to have been his own engineer-in-chief. His Lettres, iustructions diplomatiques. etc., were edited by d'Aveiml (8 vols.. Paris. 1853-77). BiBLiOGBAPiiT. Leclerc. Vie dn cardinal de Richelieu (Paris, 1694 and repeatedly) ; Jay. Bis- toire du ministrrc de Richelieu (ib., 1815) ; Bazin, Histoire de France sons Louis XIII. (ib., 1846) : Caillet, L'administration en France sous