Cardinal Richelieu was a French prelate and statesman, chief minister of King Louis XIII and Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was consecrated bishop of Luçon in 1607 and he was a delegate of the clergy to the States-General in 1614. In 1616, through the favor of the King's mother, Marie de' Medici, he became a secretary of state. He went into exile with Marie after the King freed himself from her influence with the aid of the Duc de Luynes. The death of Luynes and the reconciliation of Louis XIII and Marie restored Richelieu to favour. In 1622 he was made Cardinal and he became Chief Minister in 1624. The growing jealousy of Marie and the great nobles endangered his position and in 1630, Marie supported a conspiracy against Richelieu. She was unable to win the King's support, however, and was exiled. Richelieu then had full control of the government. His domestic policy aimed at consolidating and centralizing royal authority, which had as its corollary the destruction of the power of the Huguenots and the great nobles.

In foreign affairs, Richelieu reacted against Marie de' Medici's pro-Hapsburg diplomacy in favour of the traditional French anti-Spanish and anti-Austrian policy. To this end he strengthened the army and the navy, made alliances with the Netherlands and the German Protestant states and subsidized Gustavus II of Sweden against the Holy Roman Empire in the Thirty Years War. In 1635 he formed an active alliance with Sweden and Bernhard of Saxe-Weimer and France entered the Thirty Years War. Although Richelieu died before the peace was signed, the terms agreed to were in general conformity to his aims. In France, the war resulted in heavy taxation, this, combined with Richelieu's poor management of finances, depleted the treasury and caused dissatisfaction with his rule. Overseas, however, he encouraged commercial capitalism, organizing companies to trade in India and Canada.

Cardinal Richelieu was a patron of the arts and the founder of the French Academy. Among his literary works are his memoirs and the Testament Politique.

**Portrait of Cardinal Richelieu by Philippe de Champaigne**

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