Cardinal Richelieu

French clergyman, cardinal, noble and statesman (1585-1642)

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Lived 1585–1642, aged 57France

France PoliticiansPolitician

Wikipedia
81 languages
Cross-language footprint
Era
1585–1642
Aged 57
Awards
2
recognised works

Summary

Updated 2026-06-08

The Red Eminence ran France without wearing the crown. Cardinal Richelieu spent eighteen years as chief minister to Louis XIII, crushing noble rivals, backing Protestants against Catholic Habsburgs when it suited French power, and building the centralized state that would let his king's heirs call themselves absolute.

Biography

About

Armand Jean du Plessis became a bishop at twenty-one in 1607 and climbed both church and government ladders — Foreign Secretary in 1616, cardinal in 1622, chief minister in 1624. He held that last post until his death in 1642, consolidating royal power by restraining the nobility and transforming France into a centralized state. He suppressed Huguenot rebellions in the 1620s yet allied with Protestant England and the Dutch Republic to check the Habsburg dynasty during the Thirty Years' War. The Day of the Dupes in 1630 showed his authority still hung on the king's confidence, particularly afte…

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