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129-506: Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier , ( French pronunciation: [an maʁi lwiz dɔʁleɑ̃] , 29 May 1627 – 5 April 1693) known as La Grande Mademoiselle , was the only daughter of Gaston d'Orléans with his first wife, Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier . One of the greatest heiresses in history, she died unmarried and childless, leaving her vast fortune to her cousin Philippe I, Duke of Orléans . After

258-558: A universal monarchy . When in 1630 French diplomats in Regensburg agreed to make peace with Spain, Richelieu refused to support them. The agreement would have prohibited French interference in Germany. Therefore, Richelieu advised Louis XIII to refuse to ratify the treaty. In 1631, he allied France to Sweden, which had just invaded the empire , in the Treaty of Bärwalde . Military expenses placed

387-476: A "Granddaughter of France", the title she treasured so much, she was buried at the Royal Basilica of Saint Denis outside Paris on 19 April. At her funeral, according to Saint-Simon , she was noted as being "the wealthiest single princess of Europe". Lying in state , the urn containing her entrails exploded mid-ceremony, which caused chaos as people fled to avoid the smell. Eventually, the ceremony continued with

516-660: A Lombard peasant expresses his own conspiracy theories about the bread riots happening in Milan. The 1839 play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy by Edward Bulwer-Lytton portrayed Richelieu uttering the now famous line " The pen is mightier than the sword ." The play was adapted into the 1935 film Cardinal Richelieu . Richelieu and Louis XIII are depicted in Ken Russell's 1971 film The Devils . The Monty Python's Flying Circus episode "How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite

645-515: A Long Way Away", first released in 1969, features the sketch "Court Scene with Cardinal Richelieu", in which Richelieu (played by Michael Palin ) possesses the casual and somewhat smarmy demeanor of a master of ceremonies. Richelieu is a minor and eventually a major character in the Fortune de France novel series (published between 1977 and 2003) by Robert Merle . Also, in the 21st century 1632/Ring of Fire alternative history series by Eric Flint, he

774-757: A commission to build a château and a surrounding town in Indre-et-Loire ; the project culminated in the construction of the Château Richelieu and the town of Richelieu . To the château, he added one of the largest art collections in Europe and the largest collection of ancient Roman sculpture in France. The heavily resurfaced and restored Richelieu Bacchus continued to be admired by neoclassical artists . Among his 300 paintings by moderns, most notably, he owned Leonardo 's Virgin and Child with Saint Anne , The Family of

903-415: A considerable strain on royal revenues. In response, Richelieu raised the gabelle (salt tax) and the taille (land tax). The taille was enforced to provide funds to raise armies and wage war. The clergy, nobility, and high bourgeoisie either were exempt or could easily avoid payment, so the burden fell on the poorest segment of the nation. To collect taxes more efficiently, and to keep corruption to

1032-453: A cost; she would have to sell two of her most profitable lands: the principality of Dombes and the County of Eu . These titles would be given to Louis Auguste de Bourbon, Légitimé de France , Duke of Maine , eldest and favourite son of Louis and Montespan. Capitulating on 2 February 1681, Mademoiselle sold the lands, both of which had a great personal attachment to her. Unknown to Mademoiselle, she

1161-410: A course of action, as he personally disliked Richelieu. Despite this, the persuasive statesman was able to secure the king as an ally against his own mother. On 11 November 1630, Marie de Médicis and the king's brother, Gaston, duc d'Orléans , secured the king's agreement for the dismissal. Richelieu, however, was aware of the plan, and quickly convinced the king to repent. Meanwhile, Marie de Médicis

1290-679: A famous mercenary general operating in Germany in English service. However, in May 1626, when war costs had almost ruined France, king and cardinal made peace with Spain via the Treaty of Monçon . This peace quickly ended after tensions due to the War of the Mantuan Succession . In 1629, Emperor Ferdinand II subjugated many of his Protestant opponents in Germany. Richelieu, alarmed by Ferdinand's growing influence, incited Sweden to intervene, providing money. In

1419-577: A great sense of self-importance and when asked about her maternal grandmother Henriette Catherine de Joyeuse she replied that she was not her grandmother, because her grandmother was "not a queen". She grew up in the company of Mademoiselle de Longueville , as well as the sisters of the Maréchal de Gramont . Mademoiselle was very close to her father Gaston, Duke of Orléans . Gaston was involved in multiple conspiracies against Louis XIII and his chief advisor Cardinal Richelieu , and generally on bad terms with

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1548-500: A major defeat at La Rochelle, they continued to fight, led by Henri, duc de Rohan . Protestant forces, however, were defeated in 1629; Rohan submitted to the terms of the Peace of Alais . As a result, religious toleration for Protestants, which had first been granted by the Edict of Nantes in 1598, was permitted to continue, but the cardinal abolished their political rights and protections. Rohan

1677-470: A marriage between Mademoiselle and the Prince of Condé arose when Claire Clémence became critically ill with erysipelas . Mademoiselle considered the proposal, as she would still have maintained her rank as one of the most important females at court, and her father had a good relationship with Condé. These plans failed, however, when Claire Clémence recovered. In 1652, there was another Fronde, this time involving

1806-446: A military career. There, he learned mathematics, fencing, horse riding, dancing skills, courtly manners, and military drill. His private life seems to have been typical for a young officer of the era; in 1605, aged twenty, he was treated by Théodore de Mayerne for gonorrhea . Henry III had rewarded Richelieu's father for his participation in the Wars of Religion by granting his family

1935-448: A minimum, Richelieu bypassed local tax officials, replacing them with intendants (officials in the direct service of the Crown). Richelieu's financial scheme, however, caused unrest among the peasants; there were several uprisings in 1636 to 1639. Richelieu crushed the revolts violently, and dealt with the rebels harshly. Because he openly aligned France with Protestant powers, Richelieu

2064-492: A pen portrait of herself executed later the same year, she noted how she was neither "fat nor thin" and "looked healthy; my bosom is fairly well formed; my hands and arms not beautiful, but the skin is good...". The same year, she met Christina of Sweden , who had arrived in France in July 1656. The two ladies met at Essonne where they watched a ballet together. Mademoiselle later exclaimed that Christina "surprised me very much. [...] She

2193-456: A result of her mourning her father, Mademoiselle was only allowed to go to the formal marriage between Louis and his new spouse Maria Theresa of Austria ; however, Mademoiselle did go to the proxy ceremony incognito , fooling no one. The next marriage at court was between Philippe , the Duke of Orléans , known as Monsieur, and Princess Henrietta of England (youngest child of Queen Henrietta Maria and

2322-531: A secret ceremony in the presence of her family at Nancy during the night of 2 – 3 January 1632, Gaston took the princess Marguerite as his wife. Because he had not obtained the prior permission of his elder brother, the king – one of his many acts of defiance – the couple could not appear at the French court and the marriage was kept secret. But in November of that year, Henri II , Duke of Montmorency , on his way to

2451-671: A situation". Staying for five weeks, she became attached, calling it "my town", before returning to Paris in May 1652. Paris was once again under a state of panic on the eve of the Battle of the Faubourg St Antoine ; Mademoiselle, in order to allow the Prince of Condé into the city, which was controlled by Turenne , fired from the Bastille on the army of Turenne on 2 July 1652. Mazarin remarked "with that cannon, Mademoiselle has shot her husband." Fearing for her life, Mademoiselle fled Paris for

2580-423: A string of proposals from various members of European ruling families, including Charles II of England , Afonso VI of Portugal , and Charles Emmanuel II of Savoy , she eventually fell in love with the courtier Antoine Nompar de Caumont and scandalised the court of France when she asked Louis XIV for permission to marry him, as such a union was viewed as a mésalliance . She is best remembered for her role in

2709-459: A year and during it she began to make repairs to the Château d'Eu , and started writing her memoirs. Appealing to Louis regarding her health, she was allowed to return to court, whereupon Louis proposed that she marry Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy , who had previously married Mademoiselle's younger half-sister Françoise Madeleine . Mademoiselle seemed very keen on the match, but Charles Emmanuel II

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2838-540: Is a character. Actors who have portrayed Cardinal Richelieu on film and television include Nigel De Brulier , George Arliss , Miles Mander , Vincent Price , Charlton Heston , Aleksandr Trofimov , Tcheky Karyo , Stephen Rea , Tim Curry , Christoph Waltz and Peter Capaldi . Richelieu is one of the clergymen more frequently portrayed in film, notably as the lead villain in Alexandre Dumas 's 1844 novel The Three Musketeers and its numerous film adaptations . He

2967-411: Is usually portrayed as a sinister character, but the 1950 Cyrano de Bergerac shows Richelieu (played by Edgar Barrier in a scene not from Rostand's original verse drama ) as compassionate to Cyrano's financial plight, and playfully having enjoyed the duel at the theatre. Richelieu is indirectly mentioned in a famous line of Alessandro Manzoni 's novel The Betrothed (1827–1840), set in 1628, as

3096-568: The Fronde , for bringing the composer Jean-Baptiste Lully to the king's court, and for her Mémoires . Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans was born at the Palais du Louvre in Paris on 29 May 1627. Her father was Gaston, Duke of Orléans ; as the eldest surviving brother of King Louis XIII , he was known at court by the traditional honorific Monsieur . Her mother, 21-year-old Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier ,

3225-499: The Bishopric of Luçon . The family appropriated most of the revenues of the bishopric for private use; they were, however, challenged by clergymen who desired the funds for ecclesiastical purposes. To protect the important source of revenue, Richelieu's mother proposed to make her second son, Alphonse , the bishop of Luçon. Alphonse, who had no desire to become a bishop, became instead a Carthusian monk. Thus, it became necessary that

3354-516: The Catholic Church and the French government, becoming a cardinal in 1622 and chief minister to King Louis XIII of France in 1624. He retained that office until his death in 1642, when he was succeeded by Cardinal Jules Mazarin , whose career the cardinal had fostered. Richelieu became engaged in a bitter dispute with Marie de Médici , the king's mother, and formerly his close ally. Richelieu sought to consolidate royal power and restrained

3483-423: The Château de Blois , becoming the titular leader of an aristocratic rebellion. The king and the duc de Luynes recalled Richelieu, believing that he would be able to reason with the queen. Richelieu was successful in this endeavour, mediating between her and her son. Complex negotiations bore fruit when the Treaty of Angoulême was ratified; Marie de Médicis was given complete freedom, but would remain at peace with

3612-554: The Dutch West India Company . Unlike the other colonial powers, France encouraged a peaceful coexistence in New France between natives and colonists and sought the integration of Indians into colonial society. Samuel de Champlain , governor of New France at the time of Richelieu, saw intermarriage between French and Indians as a solution to increase population in its colony. Under the guidance of Richelieu, Louis XIII issued

3741-530: The Galerie des hommes illustres had twenty-six historicizing portraits of great men , larger than life, from Abbot Suger to Louis XIII; some were by Simon Vouet , others were careful copies by Philippe de Champaigne from known portraits; with them were busts of Roman emperors. Another series of portraits of authors complemented the library. The architect of the Palais-Cardinal, Jacques Lemercier , also received

3870-474: The Gallicanists . As he neared death, Richelieu faced a plot that threatened to remove him from power. The cardinal had introduced a young man named Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, marquis de Cinq-Mars to Louis XIII's court. The cardinal had been a friend of Cinq-Mars's father. More importantly, Richelieu hoped that Cinq-Mars would become Louis's favourite, so that he could indirectly exercise greater influence over

3999-605: The Gonzaga collection at Mantua by French military forces in 1630, as well as numerous antiquities. Richelieu's tenure was a crucial period of reform for France. Earlier, the nation's political structure was largely feudal , with powerful nobles and a wide variety of laws in different regions. Parts of the nobility periodically conspired against the king, raised private armies, and allied themselves with foreign powers. This system gave way to centralized power under Richelieu. Local and even religious interests were subordinated to those of

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4128-509: The Grand Prince of Tuscany proposed an alliance in 1658. Mademoiselle was asked to ensure its fulfilment, a previous proposal from the Duke of Savoy having failed. Initially overjoyed at the prospect of marrying, Marguerite Louise's ebullience faded to dismay when she discovered Mademoiselle no longer favoured the Tuscan match. After this, Marguerite Louise's behaviour became erratic: she shocked

4257-636: The Holy Roman Empire , so subsidies and aid were provided secretly to their adversaries. Richelieu however, believed that war against Spain would be unavoidable. He considered the Dutch Republic as one of France's most important allies, for it bordered directly with the Spanish Netherlands and was right in the middle of the Eighty Years' War with Spain at that time. Luckily for him, Richelieu

4386-665: The Kingdom of England and the Dutch Republic to help him achieve his goals. However, although he was a powerful political figure in his own right, events such as the Day of the Dupes ( French : Journée des Dupes ) in 1630 showed that Richelieu's power still depended on the king's confidence. An alumnus of the University of Paris and headmaster of the College of Sorbonne , Richelieu renovated and extended

4515-735: The Ordonnance of 1627 by which the Indians, converted to Catholicism, were considered as "natural Frenchmen": The descendants of the French who are accustomed to this country [New France], together with all the Indians who will be brought to the knowledge of the faith and will profess it, shall be deemed and renowned natural Frenchmen, and as such may come to live in France when they want, and acquire, donate, and succeed and accept donations and legacies, just as true French subjects, without being required to take letters of declaration of naturalization. The 1666 census of New France , conducted some 20 years after

4644-535: The Princes of the Blood . Mazarin was in exile and was not recalled until October 1653. The city of Orléans , Mademoiselle's namesake and the capital of her father's duchy, wanted to stay neutral in the civil war ; the magistrates of the city had seen what the war had done to the nearby area of Blaisons and wanted to avoid the same fate. The city requested the input of Mademoiselle's father in order to avoid being pillaged. Gaston

4773-414: The bailiff of her estates. Convinced to return to Saint-Fargeau, she settled into her home for the next four years and soon began to improve the building under the direction of François Le Vau, brother of the renowned architect Louis Le Vau . Le Vau redid the exteriors of Saint-Fargeau at a cost of 200,000 livres . They were lost in a fire in 1752 and suffered further damage in 1850, thus all evidence of

4902-413: The "father of the modern nation-state , modern centralised power [and] the modern secret service ." His legacy is also important for the world at large; his ideas of a strong nation-state and aggressive foreign policy helped create the modern system of international politics. As a statesman and churchman, Richelieu played an important role in shaping France's prominence in the 17th century and influencing

5031-556: The Académie's protector . Since 1672, that role has been fulfilled by the French head of state. In 1622, Richelieu was elected the proviseur or principal of the Sorbonne. He presided over the renovation of the college's buildings and over the construction of its famous chapel, where he is now entombed. As he was Bishop of Luçon, his statue stands outside the Luçon cathedral. Richelieu oversaw

5160-536: The Archbishop of Malines , a French emissary persuaded the Pope not to protest the matter publicly, and Gaston formally accepted the annulment of his marriage. It was not until Louis XIII was on his deathbed in May 1643 that he accepted his brother's plea for forgiveness and authorized his marriage to Marguerite, whereupon the couple undertook nuptials for the third time in July 1643 before the Archbishop of Paris at Meudon , and

5289-595: The Duke and Duchess of Orléans were finally received at court. By right of her marriage, Marguerite became known as Madame at court. After the death of his mother in 1642, Gaston was bequeathed the Luxembourg Palace , which became the couple's Parisian residence under the name Palais Orléans once they were restored to royal favour. They also sojourned at the Château de Blois , in the Loire Valley , where their first child

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5418-465: The French army to northern Italy to restrain Spain. On 26 November 1629, he was created duc de Richelieu and a Peer of France . In the next year, Richelieu's position was seriously threatened by his former patron, Marie de Médicis. Marie believed that the cardinal had robbed her of her political influence; thus, she demanded that her son dismiss the chief minister. Louis XIII was not, at first, averse to such

5547-570: The Grand Provost of France, and his mother, Susanne de La Porte, was the daughter of a famous jurist. When he was five years old, Richelieu's father died of fever in the French Wars of Religion , leaving the family in debt; however, with the aid of royal grants , the family was able to avoid financial difficulties. At the age of 9, young Richelieu was sent to the College of Navarre in Paris to study philosophy. Thereafter, he began to train for

5676-505: The Huguenot faction. In 1627, Richelieu ordered the army to besiege the Huguenot stronghold of La Rochelle ; the cardinal personally commanded the besieging troops. English troops under the Duke of Buckingham led an expedition to help the citizens of La Rochelle, but failed abysmally. The city, however, remained firm for over a year before capitulating in 1628. Although the Huguenots suffered

5805-502: The Louvre on Sunday, 21 December 1670. Lauzun even asked Louis's mistress Madame de Montespan to help convince the king to submit to the match. Mademoiselle was in high spirits later, stating that the days from 15 to 18 December 1670 were the happiest days of her life. She referred to Lauzun as "Monsieur le duc de Montpensier" to her friends. The joy was not to last; under pressure from a disapproving court, Louis XIV reversed his decision, and

5934-458: The Palais-Cardinal, for which Simon Vouet executed the paintings, were of solid gold – crucifix, chalice, paten , ciborium, candlesticks – set with 180 rubies and 9,000 diamonds. His taste also ran to massive silver, small bronzes and works of vertu , enamels and rock crystal mounted in gold, Chinese porcelains, tapestries and Persian carpets, cabinets from Italy, and Antwerp and the heart-shaped diamond bought from Alphonse Lopez that he willed to

6063-457: The Portuguese throne in 1656. The proud Mademoiselle ignored the idea, saying she would rather stay in France with her vast income and estates and that she did not want a husband who was rumoured to be alcoholic, impotent and paralytic. Alfonso instead married Marie Françoise of Savoy . An angry Louis thus ordered her to return to Saint-Fargeau for having disobeyed him. This "exile" lasted roughly

6192-539: The Virgin by Andrea del Sarto , the two famous Bacchanales of Nicolas Poussin , as well as paintings by Veronese and Titian , and Diana at the Bath by Rubens , for which he was so glad to pay the artist's heirs 3,000 écus , that he made a gift to Rubens' widow of a diamond-encrusted watch. His marble portrait bust by Bernini was not considered a good likeness and was banished to a passageway. The fittings of his chapel in

6321-405: The appearance of Mademoiselle's residence was lost. Despite being an exile, she still visited her father at Blois . While at Saint-Fargeau, she dabbled in writing and wrote a small biography under the title of Madame de Fouquerolles despite her bad spelling and grammar. Mademoiselle looked to her financial affairs, which had been under her father's management. Having reached her majority in 1652 it

6450-429: The bad blood caused by his financial misdemeanours and resumed her close relationship with him. When her father was welcomed back to court, it paved the way for Mademoiselle. She left for Sedan, Ardennes , where the court was established in July 1657. Having not seen any of her family for some five years, she was greeted with forgiveness and the added compliment that her "looks had improved", according to Queen Anne. In

6579-528: 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. The design quickly became popular throughout France and later spread to other countries. As of April 2013, the Internet Movie Database listed 94 films and television programs in which Cardinal Richelieu

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6708-472: The beginning of 1671, when she was informed of the arrest of Lauzun without an official reason released. He was taken to the Bastille and then the Pignerol fortress , where he remained until 1681 despite making several attempts to escape. Determined to get Lauzun freed, Mademoiselle devoted herself to his interests and approached Madame de Montespan to try to encourage the king to release him. The release came at

6837-522: The cardinal's arms. The library was transferred to the Sorbonne in 1660. He funded the literary careers of many writers. He was a lover of the theatre, which was not considered a respectable art form during that era; a private theatre, the Grande Salle , was a feature of his Paris residence, the Palais-Cardinal . Among the individuals he patronized was the famous playwright Pierre Corneille . Richelieu

6966-588: The church floor enabled the head to be photographed in 1895. Richelieu was a chess player and a famous patron of the arts. An author of various religious and political works (most notably his Political Testament ), he sent his agents abroad in search of books and manuscripts for his unrivaled library, which he specified in his will – leaving it to Armand Jean de Vignerot du Plessis , his great-nephew, fully funded – should serve not merely his family but to be open at fixed hours to scholars. The manuscripts alone numbered some 900, bound as codices in red Morocco with

7095-547: The conclusion of it being "[...] another jest at the expense of Mademoiselle". Gaston, Duke of Orl%C3%A9ans Gaston Jean Baptiste was born at the Palace of Fontainebleau on 24 April 1608 and at birth was given the title of Duke of Anjou . As a child, he was raised under the supervision of the royal governess Françoise de Montglat . In 1626, at the time of his marriage to the young Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier , he received in appanage (with their respective titles)

7224-454: The conflict of Protestantism versus Catholicism to that of nationalism versus Habsburg hegemony. In this conflict France effectively drained the already overstretched resources of the Habsburg empire and drove it inexorably towards bankruptcy. The defeat of Habsburg forces at the Battle of Lens in 1648, coupled with their failure to prevent a French invasion of Catalonia , effectively spelled

7353-625: The construction of his own palace in Paris, the Palais-Cardinal . The palace, renamed the Palais-Royal after Richelieu's death, now houses the French Constitutional Council , the Ministry of Culture, and the Conseil d'État . The Galerie de l'avant-cour had ceiling paintings by Philippe de Champaigne , the cardinal's chief portraitist, celebrating the major events of the cardinal's career;

7482-583: The council (Richelieu was officially appointed president in November 1629). Cardinal Richelieu's policy involved two primary goals: centralization of power in France and opposition to the Habsburg dynasty (which ruled in both Austria and Spain). He saw the reestablishment of the Catholic orthodoxy as a political maneuver of the Habsburg and Austrian states which was detrimental to the French national interests. Shortly after he became Louis' principal minister, he

7611-482: The couple exiled from court. As a child, Mademoiselle lived with her governess at the Palais des Tuileries . Gaston resided at Blois , where Mademoiselle visited him frequently. After his secret marriage, Mademoiselle did not see her father for two years. When she finally did see him again in October 1634, the seven-year-old Mademoiselle "flung herself into his arms". After learning that Cardinal Richelieu , her godfather,

7740-459: The court by going out unaccompanied with her cousin Prince Charles of Lorraine , who soon became her lover. Her proxy marriage did nothing to change her attitude and she attempted to abscond and go hunting, only to be stopped by Mademoiselle herself. In 1663, Louis XIV again approached Mademoiselle with a possible match for her. The intended bridegroom was Alfonso VI of Portugal , who acceded to

7869-451: The court. When Gaston fell in love with Marguerite of Lorraine , Louis XIII refused to give his brother permission to marry— France and Lorraine were enemies, and a prince of the blood and heir to the throne was not legally allowed to marry without the king's permission. Nonetheless, Gaston secretly married Marguerite in January 1632. When Louis found out, he had the marriage annulled and

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7998-479: The dead Charles I of England ) on 31 March 1661. Mademoiselle was in attendance with various other members of the court. Philippe and Henrietta formed a stormy couple. Philippe was an overt bisexual and openly lived with his male lovers at the Palais Royal , much to the dislike of Henrietta. In retaliation, she openly flirted with Louis XIV as well as seduced Philippe's own lover the comte de Guiche . Mademoiselle

8127-414: The death of Cardinal Richelieu, showed a population of 3,215 habitants in New France, many more than there had been only a few decades earlier, but also a great difference in the number of men (2,034) and women (1,181). Toward the end of his life, Richelieu alienated many people, including Pope Urban VIII . Richelieu was displeased by the pope's refusal to name him the papal legate in France; in turn,

8256-483: The duchies of Orléans and Chartres , and the county of Blois . He had nominal command of the army which besieged La Rochelle in 1628, having already entered upon a course of political intrigue that would occupy the remainder of his life. He was the heir presumptive to the throne of France from the death of his brother Monsieur d'Orléans in 1611 until the birth of his elder brother's first son in 1638. On two occasions, he had to leave France for conspiring against

8385-508: The end for Habsburg domination of the continent, and for the personal career of Spanish prime minister Olivares . When Richelieu came to power, New France , where the French had a foothold since Jacques Cartier , had no more than 100 permanent European inhabitants. Richelieu encouraged Louis XIII to colonize the Americas by the foundation of the Compagnie de la Nouvelle France in imitation of

8514-480: The engagement was called off on 18 December stating that it would damage his reputation. Mademoiselle was asked to have an interview with the king and Madame de Montespan . The former informed her of his decision, to which she responded, "what cruelty..!" Louis replied that "kings must please the public" and ruined Mademoiselle's hopes of marriage on that "unhappy Thursday", as she later called it. Mademoiselle secluded herself in her apartments and did not reappear until

8643-626: The fledgling colony along the St. Lawrence River . The retention and promotion of Canada under Richelieu allowed it – and through the settlement's strategic location, the St. Lawrence-Great Lakes gateway into the North American interior – to develop into a French empire in North America, parts of which eventually became modern Canada and Louisiana. Richelieu is known as the inventor of the table knife . Annoyed by

8772-487: The gates, but was ignored. An approaching boatman offered to row her to the Porte de La Faux, a gate on the river. Mademoiselle got onboard "climbing like a cat" and "jumping over the hedge" in order not to hurt herself and climbed through a gap in the gate. She entered the city and was greeted triumphantly, being carried through the streets of Orléans on a chair for all to see. She later said that she had never been "in so entrancing

8901-638: The government of his brother and his Prime Minister Cardinal Richelieu . After waging an unsuccessful war in Languedoc leading to the Battle of Castelnaudary in 1632, he took refuge in Flanders . Reconciled with his brother Louis XIII , he plotted against Richelieu in 1635, fled from the country again, and then submitted to the King and the Cardinal. Soon afterwards, the same process repeated itself. Orléans conspired with

9030-475: The grey colour of his robes, Father Joseph was also nicknamed L'éminence grise ( lit.   ' the Grey Eminence ' ). Later, Richelieu often used him as an agent during diplomatic negotiations. In 1614, the clergymen of Poitou asked Richelieu to be one of their representatives to the Estates-General . There, he was a vigorous advocate of the Catholic Church, arguing that it should be exempt from taxes and that bishops should have more political power. He

9159-406: The illness. Having convalesced, Mademoiselle befriended Claire Clémence de Brézé, Madame la Princesse , the unwanted wife of the Grand Condé . The pair sojourned in Bordeaux , where Mademoiselle was involved in the peace which ended the siege in the city in October 1650. Her role in the matter made her look like a frondeuse in the eyes of Queen Anne. Even in uncertain times, the possibility of

9288-568: The institution. He became famous for his patronage of the arts and founded the Académie Française , the learned society responsible for matters pertaining to the French language . As an advocate for Samuel de Champlain and New France , he founded (1627) 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 English privateers took it in 1629. He

9417-416: The king's armies during rebellions. As a result, Richelieu was hated by most of the nobility. Another obstacle to the centralization of power was religious division in France. The Huguenots , one of the largest political and religious factions in the country, controlled a significant military force, and were in rebellion. Moreover, Charles I , the king of England, declared war on France in an attempt to aid

9546-427: The king's brother, the duc d'Orléans) to raise a rebellion; he also signed a secret agreement with the king of Spain, who promised to aid the rebels. Richelieu's spy service, however, discovered the plot, and the cardinal received a copy of the treaty. Cinq-Mars was promptly arrested and executed; although Louis approved the use of capital punishment, he grew more distant from Richelieu as a result. However, Richelieu

9675-537: The king, he was renowned for his wit as well as his evident "sex appeal", despite being "the smallest man God ever made". He was also a distinguished soldier and was part of the marriage negotiations between Louis XIV and Queen Marie Thérèse. Very opinionated and louche , Lauzun once saw Mademoiselle wearing a red ribbon in her hair and declared it too "youthful" for her, to which the proud Mademoiselle replied "people of my rank are always young". Before long, Mademoiselle fell hopelessly in love with Lauzun. In December 1670,

9804-534: The king. Richelieu died on 4 December 1642, aged 57. His body was embalmed and interred at the church of the Sorbonne . By that time, the populace detested him. In many provinces of the kingdom, bonfires were kindled to celebrate his death. During the French Revolution , the corpse was removed from its tomb, and the mummified front of his head, having been removed and replaced during the original embalming process,

9933-452: The king. After he was appointed to the royal council of ministers on 29 April 1624, he intrigued against the chief minister Charles, duc de La Vieuville . On 12 August of the same year, La Vieuville was arrested on charges of corruption, and Cardinal Richelieu took his place as the king's principal minister the following day, but the Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld nominally remained president of

10062-510: The king. The queen-mother was restored to the royal council. After the death of the king's favourite, the duc de Luynes, in 1621, Richelieu rose to power quickly. The year after, the king nominated Richelieu for a cardinalate, which Pope Gregory XV accordingly granted in September 1622. Crises in France, including a rebellion of the Huguenots , rendered Richelieu a nearly indispensable advisor to

10191-635: The king. When the Palais-Cardinal was complete, he donated it to the Crown, in 1636. With the queen in residence, the paintings of the Grand Cabinet were transferred to Fontainebleau and replaced by copies, and the interiors were subjected to much rearrangement. Michelangelo 's two Slaves were among the rich appointments of the château Richelieu, where there were the Nativity triptych by Dürer , and paintings by Mantegna , Lorenzo Costa and Perugino , lifted from

10320-573: The last of the line of the Montpensier line of the House of Bourbon . While taking refuge from the wrath of Cardinal Richelieu in Lorraine , Gaston fell in love at first sight with Marguerite of Lorraine , the sister of Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine . But as France and Lorraine were then enemies, he was refused the king's permission to marry a sister of its duke. Nonetheless, Gaston fled again to Lorraine and, in

10449-422: The legal age of majority in 1614, she remained the effective ruler of the realm. However, her policies, and those of Concini, proved unpopular with many in France. As a result, both Marie and Concini became the targets of intrigues at court; their most powerful enemy was Charles de Luynes . In April 1617, in a plot arranged by Luynes, Louis XIII ordered that Concini be arrested, and killed should he resist; Concini

10578-504: The marquis de Cinq-Mars to attempt Richelieu's assassination, and then deserted his unfortunate accomplice (1642). In 1643, upon the death of Louis XIII, Gaston became lieutenant-general of the kingdom, and fought against Spain on the northern frontiers of France. He was created duc d'Alençon in 1646. During the wars of the Fronde (1648–1653), he demonstrated no particular loyalty to the crown and passed with great facility from one side to

10707-501: The meantime, France and Spain remained hostile due to Spain's ambitions in northern Italy. At that time northern Italy was a major strategic region in Europe's balance of power, serving as a link between the Habsburgs in the Empire and in Spain. Had the imperial armies dominated this region, France would have been threatened by Habsburg encirclement. Spain was meanwhile seeking papal approval for

10836-421: The monarch's decisions. Cinq-Mars had become the royal favourite by 1639, but, contrary to Cardinal Richelieu's belief, he was not easy to control. The young marquis realized that Richelieu would not permit him to gain political power. In 1641, he participated in the comte de Soissons 's failed conspiracy against Richelieu, but was not discovered. Then, the following year, he schemed with leading nobles (including

10965-609: The most powerful monarch, and France the most powerful nation, in all of Europe during the late seventeenth century. Richelieu is also notable for the authoritarian measures he employed to maintain power. He censored the press, established a large network of internal spies, forbade the discussion of political matters in public assemblies such as the Parlement de Paris (a court of justice), and had those who dared to conspire against him prosecuted and executed. The Canadian historian and philosopher John Ralston Saul has referred to Richelieu as

11094-404: The most senior female at the court (behind Madame Royale , the only legitimate daughter of Louis XIV) she asked Louis XIV's permission to marry Lauzun. Louis consented, to the astonishment of his court and much to the dislike of Queen Marie Thérèse, Monsieur and various members of the court. The Queen and Monsieur refused to sign the marriage contract. The date for the ceremony was set to occur at

11223-535: The older Monsieur from the younger, Gaston, the uncle, was called Le Grand Monsieur and Philippe, the nephew, was called Le Petit Monsieur . After the Fronde , Gaston was exiled by Cardinal Mazarin to Blois in 1652, and remained there until his death. All of his Orléans titles then went to his nephew, now the only Monsieur . Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu ( French: [aʁmɑ̃ ʒɑ̃ dy plɛsi] ; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu ,

11352-415: The other hand wanted her to marry Louis, Count of Soissons , a descendant of Charles, Duke of Vendôme , one of his old co-conspirators. The marriage never materialised. When Mademoiselle's governess, Madame de Saint Georges, died in 1643, Mademoiselle's father chose Madame de Fiesque as her replacement. Mademoiselle was devastated at the death of her former governess and, not keen on having a new governess,

11481-533: The other. Gaston first married on 6 August 1626, at Nantes to Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier , daughter and heiress of Henri de Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier . They had a daughter, Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier (29 May 1627 – 5 April 1693), called Mademoiselle de Montpensier , but later being best known as the Grande Mademoiselle . Marie de Bourbon died six days after giving birth (4 June 1627), leaving her daughter

11610-471: The pope did not approve of the administration of the French church, or of French foreign policy. However, the conflict was largely resolved when the pope granted a cardinalate to Jules Mazarin , one of Richelieu's main political allies, in 1641. Despite troubled relations with the Roman Catholic Church, Richelieu did not support the complete repudiation of papal authority in France, as was advocated by

11739-496: The pope was a foretaste of the purely diplomatic power politics he espoused in his foreign policy. To further consolidate power in France, Richelieu sought to suppress the influence of the feudal nobility. In 1626, he abolished the position of Constable of France and ordered all fortified castles razed, with the exception only of those needed to defend against invaders. Thus he stripped the princes, dukes, and lesser aristocrats of important defences that could have been used against

11868-592: The power of the nobility in order to transform France into a strong centralized state. In foreign policy, his primary objectives were to check the power of the Habsburg dynasty (reigning notably in Spain and Austria ) and to ensure French dominance in the Thirty Years' War of 1618–1648 after that conflict engulfed Europe. Despite suppressing the Huguenot rebellions of the 1620s, he made alliances with Protestant states like

11997-454: The queen-mother's favourite, Concino Concini , the most powerful minister in the kingdom. In 1616, Richelieu was made Secretary of State, and was given responsibility for foreign affairs. Like Concini, the Bishop was one of the closest advisors of Louis XIII's mother, Marie de' Medici . The queen had become Regent of France when the nine-year-old Louis ascended the throne; although her son reached

12126-449: The safety of her residence at Saint-Fargeau . She remained in exile until 1657 when she was welcomed to the court once again. She went with Madame de Fiesque and Madame de Frontenac, wife of the future Governor General of New France . Having never been to Saint-Fargeau before, she was unaware of the state of the building and thus stayed at a small residence in Dannery having been received by

12255-470: The same vein as the cardinal, he enacted policies that further suppressed the once-mighty aristocracy, and utterly destroyed all remnants of Huguenot political power with the Edict of Fontainebleau . Moreover, Louis took advantage of his nation's success during the Thirty Years' War to establish French hegemony in continental Europe. Thus, Richelieu's policies were the requisite prelude to Louis XIV becoming

12384-574: The scaffold, betrayed Gaston, his former co-conspirator, and Louis XIII and Richelieu learnt of the elopement. The king had his brother's marriage declared null and void by the Parlement of Paris in September 1634 and, despite the protest of Pope Urban VIII , the Assembly of the French clergy held in September 1635 that a prince du sang could enter matrimony only with permission of the king – consistent with French sovereignty and custom. Although Marguerite and Gaston had re-celebrated their marriage before

12513-406: The secularization of international policies during the Thirty Years' War. His pioneering approach to French diplomatic relations using raison d'etat vis-a-vis the power relationship at play were first frowned upon but later emulated by other European nation-states to add to their diplomatic strategic arsenal. A less renowned aspect of his legacy is his involvement with Samuel de Champlain and

12642-530: The stake in the Loudun affair . These and other harsh measures were orchestrated by Richelieu to intimidate his enemies. He also ensured his political security by establishing a large network of spies in France and in other European countries. Before Richelieu's ascent to power, most of Europe had become enmeshed in the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). France was not openly at war with the Habsburgs , who ruled Spain and

12771-408: The two had an interview, the last time they would ever see each other before Mademoiselle retired to her Parisian residence, the Palais du Luxembourg . Mademoiselle fell ill on 15 March 1693 with what appears to have been stoppage of the bladder. Lauzun asked to see her, but due to her pride, Mademoiselle refused to admit him. She died at the Palais du Luxembourg in Paris on Sunday, 5 April 1693. As

12900-567: The whole nation, and of the embodiment of the nation – the king. Equally critical for France was Richelieu's foreign policy, which helped restrain Habsburg influence in Europe. Richelieu did not survive to the end of the Thirty Years' War. However, the conflict ended in 1648, with France emerging in a far better position than any other power, and the Holy Roman Empire entering a period of decline. Richelieu's successes were extremely important to Louis XIII's successor, King Louis XIV . He continued Richelieu's work of creating an absolute monarchy ; in

13029-469: The wife of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III died in May 1646, Mademoiselle considered marriage to Ferdinand, but the regent, Queen Anne , under the influence of Mazarin, ignored Mademoiselle's pleas. Louis XIV (then 8 years old) and his younger brother, Philippe, Duke of Anjou (then 6 years old) were too young to be married. Queen Anne suggested her brother, Cardinal Ferdinand of Austria , but Mademoiselle declined. The "wealthiest single princess of Europe"

13158-507: The younger Richelieu join the clergy. He had strong academic interests and threw himself into studying for his new post. In 1606, Henry IV nominated Richelieu to become Bishop of Luçon. As Richelieu had not yet reached the canonical minimum age, it was necessary that he journey to Rome for a special dispensation from Pope Paul V . This secured, Richelieu was consecrated bishop in April 1607. Soon after he returned to his diocese in 1608, Richelieu

13287-461: Was "like a child". Mademoiselle fell ill in Paris during September 1657, when she bought the Château d'Eu from Mademoiselle de Guise (her maternal aunt) at the end of her illness before returning to her beloved Saint-Fargeau for Christmas . In February 1660, Gaston died of a stroke at Blois. As his eldest daughter Mademoiselle was his principal heiress, and Gaston left her a considerable fortune that added to her already vast personal wealth. As

13416-465: Was a French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsize influence in civil and religious affairs. He became known as l'Éminence Rouge (English: " the Red Eminence "), a term derived from the title "Eminence" applied to cardinals and their customary red robes. Consecrated a bishop in 1607, Richelieu was appointed Foreign Secretary in 1616. He continued to rise through the hierarchy of both

13545-728: Was a bon français , just like the king, who had already decided to subsidize the Dutch to fight against the Spanish via the Treaty of Compiègne in June 1624, prior to Richelieu's appointment to First Minister in August. That same year, a military expedition, secretly financed by France and commanded by Marquis de Coeuvres, started an action with the intention of liberating the Valtelline from Spanish occupation. In 1625, Richelieu also sent money to Ernst von Mansfeld ,

13674-453: Was also the founder and patron of the Académie française , the pre-eminent French literary society. The institution had previously been in informal existence; in 1635, however, Cardinal Richelieu obtained official letters patent for the body. The Académie française includes 40 members, promotes French literature, and remains the official authority on the French language. Richelieu served as

13803-563: Was an awkward student; she later recalled that she once locked Madame de Fiesque in her room and Madame de Fiesque's grandson in another. On his deathbed in May 1643, Louis XIII finally accepted Gaston's plea for forgiveness and authorized his marriage to Marguerite; the couple were married in July 1643 before the Archbishop of Paris and, as the Duke and Duchess of Orléans, were finally received at court. Louis XIII's death left Louis XIV (then 4 years old) as King of France, and Louis XIII's widow Queen Anne as regent during her son's minority. When

13932-424: Was behind her father's exile, Mademoiselle would sing street songs and lampoons in the presence of the cardinal himself, earning her a scolding from the cardinal. At the birth of the future Louis XIV in September 1638, the determined Mademoiselle decided that she would marry him, calling him "her little husband" to the amusement of Louis XIII . Richelieu subsequently reprimanded her for her remarks. Her father on

14061-408: Was born in 1645. Marguerite and Gaston d'Orléans had five children, of whom three daughters survived into adulthood: Gaston had an illegitimate daughter by Marie Porcher: He also had an illegitimate son by Louise-Roger de La Marbelière: After the death of Gaston's brother Louis XIII in 1643, his nephew Philippe , brother of the new king Louis XIV , became the new Monsieur . To differentiate

14190-445: Was consequently assassinated, and Marie de Médicis overthrown. His patron having died, Richelieu also lost power; he was dismissed as Secretary of State, and was removed from the court. In 1618, the king, still suspicious of the Bishop of Luçon, banished him to Avignon. There, Richelieu spent most of his time writing; he composed a catechism titled L'Instruction du chrétien . In 1619, Marie de Médicis escaped from her confinement in

14319-407: Was created Duke of Richelieu in 1629. Born in Paris on 9 September 1585, Armand du Plessis was the fourth of five children and the last of three sons: he was delicate from childhood and suffered frequent bouts of ill-health throughout his life. His family belonged to the lesser nobility of Poitou : his father, François du Plessis , seigneur de Richelieu , was a soldier and courtier who served as

14448-402: Was denounced by many as a traitor to the Roman Catholic Church. (He ordered ships of war from Jean Bicker . ) Military action, at first, was disastrous for the French, with many victories going to Spain and the Empire. Neither side, however, could obtain a decisive advantage, and the conflict lingered on after Richelieu's death. Richelieu was instrumental in redirecting the Thirty Years' War from

14577-561: Was discovered that her father had not been entirely honest with the management of her finances and that was the reason for her 800,000 livres of debt. At the same time her grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Guise , tricked Mademoiselle into signing away money to her under false pretences. Her father was involved with this, which caused her relationship with Gaston to deteriorate. In 1656, hearing that her father had been excused for his various scandals, Mademoiselle herself said she would forget

14706-462: Was exiled to Compiègne . Both Marie and the duc d'Orléans continued to conspire against Richelieu, but their schemes came to nothing. The nobility also remained powerless. The only important rising was that of Henri, duc de Montmorency in 1632; Richelieu, ruthless in suppressing opposition, ordered the duke's execution. In 1634, the cardinal had one of his outspoken critics, Urbain Grandier , burned at

14835-565: Was faced with a crisis in Valtellina , a valley in Lombardy (northern Italy). To counter Spanish designs on the territory, Richelieu supported the Protestant Swiss canton of Grisons , which also claimed the strategically important valley. The cardinal deployed troops to Valtellina, from which the pope's garrisons were driven out. Richelieu's early decision to support a Protestant canton against

14964-459: Was heralded as a reformer . He became the first bishop in France to implement the institutional reforms prescribed by the Council of Trent between 1545 and 1563. At about this time, Richelieu became a friend of François Leclerc du Tremblay (better known as " Père Joseph " or "Father Joseph"), a Capuchin friar , who would later become a close confidant. Because of his closeness to Richelieu, and

15093-469: Was in all respects a most extraordinary creature". At court, her cousins Louis XIV and Philippe, Duke of Anjou were nineteen and seventeen, respectively. Mademoiselle's part in the Fronde had ruined her dream of becoming Louis's consort, but the Duke of Anjou briefly courted her. Despite toying with the idea, Mademoiselle was put off by the Duke's immaturity, saying that he always stayed near his mother as if he

15222-476: Was left without suitable marriage prospects. One of the key areas of the life of Mademoiselle was her involvement in the period of French history known as the Fronde , a civil war in France marked by two distinct phases known as the Fronde Parlementaire (1648–1649) and the Fronde des nobles (1650–1653). The former was precipitated by a tax levied on judicial officers of the Parlement of Paris that

15351-468: Was met with a refusal to pay and the emergence of Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé (future Grand Condé ), as a rebel figure who took the city of Paris by siege. The influence of Cardinal Mazarin was also opposed. At the Peace of Rueil of 1 April 1649, the Fronde Parlementaire ended, and the court returned to Paris in August amid great celebration. Mademoiselle caught smallpox , but survived

15480-504: Was not executed (as were leaders of rebellions later in Richelieu's tenure); in fact, he later became a commanding officer in the French army. Habsburg Spain exploited the French conflict with the Huguenots to extend its influence in northern Italy. It funded the Huguenot rebels to keep the French army occupied, meanwhile expanding its Italian dominions. Richelieu, however, responded aggressively; after La Rochelle capitulated, he personally led

15609-436: Was not, and he made various excuses to avoid it. This proposal was to be the last for la Grande Mademoiselle . Away from court in 1666, Mademoiselle regretted not being present at the entertainments organised at the Château de Fontainebleau in honour of Queen Marie Thérèse that summer. At the entertainments was a man called Antoine Nompar de Caumont , later Duke of Lauzun , an impoverished nobleman from Guyenne . Close to

15738-517: Was now dying. For many years he had suffered from recurrent fevers (possibly malaria), strangury, intestinal tuberculosis with fistula, and migraine. Now his right arm was suppurating with tubercular osteitis, and he coughed blood (after his death, his lungs were found to have extensive cavities and caseous necrosis). His doctors continued to bleed him frequently, further weakening him. As he felt his death approaching, he named Mazarin, one of his most faithful followers, to succeed him as chief minister to

15867-470: Was officially known as Mademoiselle from the time of her birth, and, because she was the granddaughter of a King of France, Henry IV , her uncle Louis XIII created for her the new title of Petite-Fille de France ("Granddaughter of France"). Mademoiselle was moved from the Louvre to the Palais des Tuileries and placed under the care of Madame de Saint Georges , the governess of royal children, who taught her how to read and write. Mademoiselle always had

15996-514: Was only buying Lauzun's release and the right for him to live on her estates as an exile. Lauzun was freed on 22 April 1681 and obliged to live quietly at Bourbon before returning to Paris, but not the court, rather at the Hôtel de Lauzun , in March 1682. Prior to the death of Queen Marie Thérèse in July 1683, the couple had been on bad terms when they again came together temporarily in their grief. Soon after

16125-407: Was stolen. It ended up in the possession of Nicholas Armez of Brittany by 1796, and he occasionally exhibited the well-preserved face. His nephew, Louis-Philippe Armez, inherited it and also occasionally exhibited it and lent it out for study. In 1866, Napoleon III persuaded Armez to return the face to the government for re-interment with the rest of Richelieu's body. An investigation of subsidence of

16254-552: Was the godmother of Philippe and Henrietta's youngest child, the Mademoiselle de Valois , born in 1670. Once again at Henrietta's death in 1670, Louis XIV asked if Mademoiselle wanted to fill "the vacant place" that had been left by Henrietta, a suggestion she declined. Mademoiselle and her younger half-sister Marguerite Louise enjoyed a close relationship. The two would go to the theatre and attend Mademoiselle's salon . Marguerite Louise later asked her to sort out arrangements when

16383-740: Was the most prominent clergyman to support the adoption of the decrees of the Council of Trent throughout France; the Third Estate (commoners) was his chief opponent in this endeavour. At the end of the assembly, the First Estate (the clergy) chose him to deliver the address enumerating its petitions and decisions. Soon after the dissolution of the Estates-General, Richelieu entered the service of King Louis XIII 's wife, Anne of Austria , as her almoner . Richelieu advanced politically by faithfully serving

16512-587: Was the only surviving member of the Montpensier branch of the House of Bourbon . When she died five days after giving birth, she left the newborn Anne Marie, the new Duchess of Montpensier , heiress to an immense fortune which included five duchies , the Dauphinate of Auvergne , and the sovereign Principality of Dombes , found in the historical province of Burgundy . As the eldest daughter of Monsieur , Anne Marie Louise

16641-447: Was undecided and Mademoiselle took it upon herself to go to Orléans to represent her father and put an end to the troubles. Travelling via Artenay , Mademoiselle was informed that the city would not receive her because she and the king were on different sides, referring to Mademoiselle's dislike for Mazarin. When Mademoiselle arrived at Orléans, the city gates were locked and the city refused to open them. She shouted that they should open

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