Death of Cardinal Richelieu

"The State has lost its most loyal servant...". When Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu passed away on 4 December 1642, Louis XIII felt lost. For 18 years, the Cardinal had been his main minister.

The National Archives are full of the detailed reports Richelieu prepared for the King and which fully demonstrate his vision and role in the making of Absolute Monarchy.

The novel ”The three musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas portrays Richelieu as a ruthless man but life is not a novel and the minister had to deal with a Kingdom torn by 40 years of religious wars, the domination of the Austrian Empire over western Europe, and the pride of powerful French princes that could challenge the authority of the young King with their own armies...

No choir boy could have done the dirty job of making the French King respected in and outside of his kingdom...