The design quickly became popular throughout France and later spread to other countries. Annoyed by 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. Richelieu is also known for being the inventor of the table knife. As an advocate for Samuel de Champlain and New France, he founded 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 its loss in 1629. He was famous for his patronage of the arts and founded the Académie Française, the learned society responsible for matters pertaining to the French language. However, although he was a powerful political figure in his own right, events such as the Day of the Dupes, or Journée des Dupes, showed that Richelieu's power was still dependent on the king's confidence.Īn alumnus of the University of Paris and headmaster of the College of Sorbonne, Richelieu renovated and extended the institution. Despite suppressing the Huguenot rebellions, he made alliances with Protestant states like the Kingdom of England and the Dutch Republic to help him achieve his goals. In foreign policy, his primary objectives were to check the power of the Habsburg dynasty in Spain and Austria and to ensure French dominance in the Thirty Years' War after the conflict engulfed Europe. Richelieu sought to consolidate royal power and restrained the power of the nobility to transform France into a strong centralized state. He also became engaged in a bitter dispute with the king's mother, Marie de Médicis, who had once been a close ally. He retained that office until his death in 1642, when he was succeeded by Cardinal Mazarin, whose career he had fostered. He continued to rise through the hierarchy of both the Catholic Church and the French government by becoming a cardinal in 1622 and chief minister to King Louis XIII of France in 1624. He was also known as l'Éminence rouge, or " the Red Eminence", a term derived from the title "Eminence" applied to cardinals and the red robes that they customarily wear.Ĭonsecrated as a bishop in 1607, Richelieu was appointed Foreign Secretary in 1616. He was known as “l’Eminence Rouge”, in consequence of the red cardinal’s robes that were his normal attire.Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu ( French: 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. In his spare time he was a great patron of the arts and founded the Académie Française, bastion of the French language. This long, complicated struggle is remembered as the Thirty Years War. No corner of France was too remote for his attentions.Įxternally his policy centred on limiting the expansion of the Hapsburg Empire, which, with its German and Spanish possessions, threatened to encircle France.Īlthough a Catholic cardinal, and perfectly capable of persecuting Huguenots, he pragmatically colluded with protestant countries in this endeavour, at first surreptitiously, as with Sweden, and later more openly. His domestic policy was to consolidate the power of the king, which he did by imprisoning recalcitrant nobles and demolishing their castles. He had immense power and is often described as the world’s first prime minister. Cardinal Richelieu by Armand-Jean du PlessisĬardinal Richelieu was the chief advisor and strategist to king Louis XIII from 1624 until his death in 1642.
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