Nicolas IV de Neufville, seigneur de Villeroy (1543 – 12 November 1617) was a secretary of state under four kings of France: Charles IX , Henry III , Henry IV , and Louis XIII . The most distinguished of all sixteenth-century French secretaries, Villeroy rose to prominence during the French Wars of Religion , a period of almost insoluble difficulties for the French monarchy and government. Despite faithfully serving Henry III, Villeroy found himself sacked by him without explanation in 1588, along with all the king's ministers. He was reinstated by Henry IV in 1594 and became more important than ever before. He remained in office until his death in 1617 during the reign of Louis XIII.
83-495: Louis XIII ( French pronunciation: [lwi tʁɛz] ; sometimes called the Just ; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II ) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. Shortly before his ninth birthday, Louis became king of France and Navarre after his father Henry IV
166-571: A Japanese samurai and ambassador, sent to Rome by Date Masamune , landed at Saint-Tropez for a few days. In 1636, Guillaume Courtet , a French Dominican priest, reciprocated when he set foot in Japan. Also in 1615, Marie de' Medici incorporated the merchants of Dieppe and other harbours to found the Company of the Moluccas . In 1619, an armed expedition composed of three ships (275 crew, 106 cannon) and called
249-454: A house that has been in the possession of his family since 1370, the Hôtel de Villeroy located at the corner of rue des Bourdonnais , rue de la Limace (today absorbed by rue des Halles ) and rue des Déchargeurs . The building was rebuilt in 1640 by his grandson Nicolas V de Villeroy and still exists today. The historic courtyard can be seen from 9 rue des Déchargeurs through the windows of
332-603: A major role in Louis XIII's reign from 1624, determining France's direction over the course of the next eighteen years. As a result of Richelieu's work, Louis XIII became one of the first examples of an absolute monarch . Under Louis and Richelieu, the crown successfully intervened in the Thirty Years' War against the Habsburgs, managed to keep the French nobility in line, and retracted the political and military privileges granted to
415-583: A recent French king. They were descended from the third son of Philip III , Charles, Count of Valois. The Plantagenets based their claim on being closer to a more recent French king, Edward III of England being a grandson of Philip IV through his mother, Isabella . The two houses fought the Hundred Years War to enforce their claims. The Valois were ultimately successful, and French historiography counts their leaders as rightful kings. One Plantagenet, Henry VI of England , enjoyed de jure control of
498-454: A secretary of state in succession to his father-in-law, Claude II de l'Aubespine . His wife, Madeleine de l’Aubespine , (1546–96) whom he probably married in 1561, was not only beautiful but learned enough to translate the epistles of Ovid . Villeroy himself had attended the Collège de Navarre , but did not remain in education for long enough to achieve high literary style— Cardinal Richelieu
581-590: A sexual relationship. Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux , drawing from rumours told to him by a critic of the King (the Marquise de Rambouillet ), explicitly speculated in his Historiettes about what happened in the king's bed. A further liaison with an equerry , François de Baradas, ended when the latter lost favour fighting a duel after duelling had been forbidden by royal decree. Louis was also captivated by Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, Marquis of Cinq-Mars , 19 years his younger, who
664-523: A three-year-long civil war that ended with the Treaty of Verdun , which divided Francia into three kingdoms, one of which ( Middle Francia ) was short-lived. Modern France developed from West Francia , while East Francia became the Holy Roman Empire and later Germany . By this time, the eastern and western parts of the land had already developed different languages and cultures. The Capetian dynasty
747-456: A tradition of cementing military and political alliances between the Catholic powers of France and Spain with royal marriages. The tradition went back to the marriage of Louis VII of France and Constance of Castile . The marriage was only briefly happy, and the King's duties often kept them apart. After 23 years of marriage and four stillbirths, Anne finally gave birth to a son on 5 September 1638,
830-607: Is named for Hugh Capet, a Robertian who served as Duke of the Franks and was elected King in 987. Except for the Bonaparte-led Empires, every monarch of France was a male-line descendant of Hugh Capet. The kingship passed through patrilineally from father to son until the 14th century, a period known as Direct Capetian rule. Afterwards, it passed to the House of Valois , a cadet branch that descended from Philip III . The Valois claim
913-573: The Battle of Ponts-de-Cé on 7 August 1620. Louis then launched an expedition against the Huguenots of Béarn who had defied a number of royal decisions. This expedition managed to re-establish Catholicism as the official religion of Béarn. However, the Béarn expedition drove Huguenots in other provinces into a rebellion led by Henri, Duke of Rohan . In 1621 Louis XIII was formally reconciled with his mother. Luynes
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#1732851249470996-477: The Capuchins if there are any urgent and important things...you should, all of you, show them to the queen without sending them to me". Villeroy on one occasion dared to rebuke the king for his interest in a religious foundation ahead of state affairs: You were King of France before you became the leader of this company and your conscience requires that you render to royalty that which you owe it, before rendering to
1079-407: The House of Bourbon , having succeeded his second cousin, Henry III (1574–1589), in application of Salic law . Louis XIII's paternal grandparents were Antoine de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme , and Jeanne d'Albret , Queen of Navarre. His maternal grandparents were Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany , and Joanna of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany . Eleonora de' Medici , his maternal aunt,
1162-470: The July Revolution in 1830, the style " King of the French " ( roi des Français ) was used instead of " King of France (and Navarre )". It was a constitutional innovation known as popular monarchy which linked the monarch's title to the French people rather than to the possession of the territory of France. With the House of Bonaparte , the title " Emperor of the French " ( Empereur des Français )
1245-602: The Kingdom of France . The King and the Cardinal are remembered for establishing the Académie française , and ending the revolt of the French nobility . They systematically destroyed the castles of defiant lords, and denounced the use of private violence (dueling, carrying weapons, and maintaining private armies). By the end of the 1620s, Richelieu had established "the royal monopoly of force" as
1328-566: The Louvre Palace . In foreign matters, Louis organised the development and administration of New France , expanding its settlements westward along the Saint Lawrence River from Quebec City to Montreal . In order to continue the exploration efforts of his predecessor Henry IV, Louis XIII considered a colonial venture in Morocco , and sent a fleet under Isaac de Razilly in 1619. Razilly
1411-723: The Napoleonic Wars . After the Napoleonic period followed two different royal governments, the Bourbon Restoration , which was ruled successively by two younger brothers of Louis XVI, and the July Monarchy , ruled by Louis Philippe I , a distant cousin who claimed descent from Louis XIII . The French Revolution of 1848 brought an end to the monarchy again, instituting a brief Second Republic that lasted four years, before its President declared himself Emperor Napoleon III , who
1494-598: The armada that Philip II of Spain had sent against Protestant England. Henry III managed to evade capture; but later that year faced a meeting of the Estates of Blois, packed with his enemies. On 8 September, at Blois , Villeroy received a note from the king dismissing him from his job. Henry dismissed the rest of his chief ministers at the same time. His letter to Villeroy began: Villeroy, I remain very well contented with your service; do not fail however to go away to your house where you will stay until I send for you; do not seek
1577-474: The "Direct Capetians". The death of Charles IV started the Hundred Years' War between the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet , whose claim was taken up by the cadet branch known as the House of Lancaster , over control of the French throne. The Valois claimed the right to the succession by male-only primogeniture through the ancient Salic Law , having the closest all-male line of descent from
1660-614: The "Fleet of Montmorency" under General Augustin de Beaulieu was sent from Honfleur, to fight the Dutch in the Far East . In 1624, with the Treaty of Compiègne , Cardinal Richelieu obtained an agreement to halt the Dutch–French warfare in the Far East. Twice the king's younger brother, Gaston, Duke of Orléans, had to leave France for conspiring against his government and for attempting to undermine
1743-532: The 1618 revocation of the paulette tax and by the sale of offices in 1620. From her exile in Blois, Marie de' Medici became the obvious rallying point for this discontent, and the Bishop of Luçon (who became Cardinal Richelieu in 1622) was allowed to act as her chief adviser, serving as a go-between Marie and the King. French nobles launched a rebellion on 2 July 1620, but their forces were easily routed by royal forces at
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#17328512494701826-545: The 1660s and was a dominant style among men for about 140 years, until the change of dress in the 1790s effected by the French Revolution . King of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I , king of
1909-410: The Dutch via the Treaty of Compiègne . However, La Vieuville was dismissed by the middle of 1624, partly due to his bad behaviour (during his tenure as superintendent he was arrogant and incompetent) and because of a well-organized pamphlet campaign by Cardinal Richelieu against his council rival. Louis needed a new chief advisor; Cardinal Richelieu would be that counsellor. Cardinal Richelieu played
1992-500: The English had been mostly expelled from France and Henry's claim has since been considered illegitimate; French historiography commonly does not recognize Henry VI of England among the kings of France. The Carolingians were a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The family consolidated its power in the 8th century, eventually making
2075-655: The English they were to vacate all lands north of Pemaquid. This resulted in all the French interests in Acadia being restored. In Brazil , the colony of Equinoctial France was established in 1612, but only lasted 4 years until it was eliminated by the Portuguese. In 1642, Louis XIII authorised French subjects to engage in the Atlantic slave trade provided those they enslaved were converted to Christianity. France-Japan relations started under Louis XIII in 1615 when Hasekura Tsunenaga ,
2158-657: The Frankish kingdom expanded deep into Central Europe , conquering Italy and most of modern Germany . He was also crowned " Emperor of the Romans " by the Pope, a title that was eventually carried on by the German rulers of the Holy Roman Empire . Charlemagne was succeeded by his son Louis the Pious (r. 814–840), who eventually divided the kingdom between his sons. His death, however, was followed by
2241-522: The Franks ( r. 507–511 ), as the first king of France. However, historians today consider that such a kingdom did not begin until the establishment of West Francia , after the fragmentation of the Carolingian Empire in the 9th century. The kings used the title "King of the Franks" ( Latin : Rex Francorum ) until the late twelfth century; the first to adopt the title of "King of France" ( Latin : Rex Franciae ; French : roi de France )
2324-555: The French throne following the Treaty of Troyes , which formed the basis for continued English claims to the throne of France until 1801. The Valois line ruled France until the line became extinct in 1589, in the backdrop of the French Wars of Religion . As Navarre did not have a tradition of male-only primogeniture, the Navarrese monarchy became distinct from the French with Joan II , a daughter of Louis X. The Valois line looked strong on
2407-419: The Huguenots by Henry IV (while maintaining their religious freedoms). Louis XIII successfully led the important Siege of La Rochelle . In addition, Louis had the port of Le Havre modernised, and he built a powerful navy. Louis also worked to reverse the trend of promising French artists leaving for Italy to work and study. He commissioned the painters Nicolas Poussin and Philippe de Champaigne to decorate
2490-573: The Huguenots retained control of Montauban and La Rochelle . Louis ultimately dismissed Noël Brûlart de Sillery and Pierre Brûlart in 1624 because of his displeasure with how they handled the diplomatic situation over the Valtellina with Spain . Valtellina was an area with Catholic inhabitants under the suzerainty of the Protestant Three Leagues . It served as an important route to Italy for France and it provided an easy connection between
2573-574: The Huguenots. The 1622 campaign, however, followed the pattern of the previous year: royal forces won some early victories, but were unable to complete a siege, this time at the fortress of Montpellier . The rebellion was ended by the Treaty of Montpellier , signed by Louis XIII and the Duke of Rohan in October 1622. The treaty confirmed the tenets of the Edict of Nantes: several Huguenot fortresses were to be razed, but
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2656-549: 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." Acadia was also developed under Louis XIII. In 1632, Isaac de Razilly became involved, at
2739-572: The King [James] my master: the King [Louis] assured me of a reciprocal affection to the King [James] my master, and of my particular welcome to his Court: his words were never many, as being so extream [ sic ] a stutterer that he would sometimes hold his tongue out of his mouth a good while before he could speak so much as one word; he had besides a double row of teeth, and was observed seldom or never to spit or blow his nose, or to sweat much, 'tho he were very laborious, and almost indefatigable in his exercises of hunting and hawking, to which he
2822-597: The Queen and Concini. In the meantime, Louis XIII decided, with the encouragement of Charles d'Albert (the Grand Falconer of France ) and other advisers, to break with his mother and to arrest Concini. On 24 April 1617, during the attempted arrest, Concini was killed. His widow Leonora Dori Galigaï was tried for witchcraft, condemned, beheaded, and burned on 8 July 1617, and Marie was sent into exile in Blois . Later, Louis conferred
2905-583: The Spanish and the Holy Roman empires, especially in helping each other with armies if necessary. Spain was constantly interfering in the Valtellina, which angered Louis, as he wanted to hold possession of this strategically important passageway. He therefore found a better servitor in his Superintendent of Finances Charles de La Vieuville , who held similar views of Spain as the king, and who advised Louis to side with
2988-417: The abbot of La Chaise-Dieu . He was also commendatory abbot of Mozac , from 1571 - 1610. Villeroy soon became a favourite with the young Charles IX. He was also loved by Catherine de' Medici, and by Henry III until that king became detached and distant towards the end of his reign. Villeroy often found himself responsible for the negotiation of peace treaties. Perhaps his greatest achievement in that field
3071-483: The accumulation of minor problems, may have killed him, not to mention physiological weaknesses that made him prone to disease or his doctors' remedies of enemas and bleedings , which continued right to his death." Louis XIII shared his mother's love of the lute , developed in her childhood in Florence. One of his first toys was a lute and his personal doctor, Jean Héroard, reports him playing it for his mother in 1604, at
3154-455: The age of three. In 1635, Louis XIII composed the music, wrote the libretto and designed the costumes for the " Ballet de la Merlaison ." The king himself danced in two performances of the ballet the same year at Chantilly and Royaumont. In the sphere of men's fashion , Louis helped introduce the wearing of wigs among men in 1624. This fashion spread in Europe and European-influenced countries in
3237-444: The congregation that which you have promised. You can excuse yourself from one but not from the other. Sackcloth you wear only when you choose, but the crown is always upon your head; and it is not less heavy in this solitude than it is in the midst of your affairs. Henry also began to shower offices and privileges on his favourites, particularly Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette , first duke of Épernon. In September 1587, in front of
3320-441: The country, and Marie was able to raise her own army. Nevertheless, Marie agreed to call an Estates General assembly to address Condé's grievances. The assembly of this Estates General was delayed until Louis XIII formally came of age on his thirteenth birthday. Although his coming-of-age formally ended Marie's Regency, she remained the de facto ruler of France. The Estates General accomplished little, spending its time discussing
3403-456: The death of Henry II , who left four male heirs. His first son, Francis II , died in his minority. His second son, Charles IX , had no legitimate sons to inherit. Following the premature death of his fourth son Hercule François and the assassination of his third son, the childless Henry III , France was plunged into a succession crisis over which distant cousin of the king would inherit the throne. The best claimant, King Henry III of Navarre ,
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3486-461: The difficulties posed by the behaviour of her son François, Duke of Anjou , "that you do not need any further advice about that or any other matter". From 1582, Villeroy found himself tested by the increasingly eccentric behaviour of Henry III, who responded to the mounting disorder in France and to financial pressures by withdrawing to religious retreats and refusing to attend to business in person. For example, he wrote to Villeroy, "While I am with
3569-491: The distantly related House of Bourbon , which descended through the Direct Capetian Louis IX . The Bourbons ruled France until deposed in the French Revolution , though they were restored to the throne after the fall of Napoleon. The last Capetian to rule was Louis Philippe I , king of the July Monarchy (1830–1848), a member of the cadet House of Bourbon-Orléans . The House of Capet are also commonly known as
3652-571: The establishment of a consulate, and freedom of religion for French subjects. Unlike other colonial powers, France, under the guidance of Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu, encouraged a peaceful coexistence in New France between the natives and the colonists. Indians, converted to Catholicism, were considered as "natural Frenchmen" by the Ordonnance of 1627: "The descendants of the French who are accustomed to this country [New France], together with all
3735-467: The events of the Hundred Years Wars. The House of Bourbon was overthrown during the French Revolution and replaced by a short-lived republic . The period known as the "long nineteenth century" was a tumultuous time in French politics. The period is generally considered to have begun with the French Revolution , which deposed and then executed Louis XVI . Royalists continued to recognize his son,
3818-622: The following offspring: Voltaire claimed in the second edition of Questions sur l'Encyclopédie (1771) that before Louis XIV was born, Louis XIII had an illegitimate son, who was jailed and his face hidden beneath an iron mask (see the Man in the Iron Mask ). There is no evidence that Louis kept mistresses (a distinction that earned him the title "Louis the Chaste "), but several reports suggest that he may have been homosexual. The prolonged temporal gap between
3901-484: The foot of the king's bed. Eight months later, Henry III was assassinated himself, by a friar called Jacques Clément . After the assassination of Henry III in 1589 and the succession of Henry IV of France , Villeroy at first worked for the Catholic League. Villeroy came back to power in 1594 once Henry IV recanted his Protestant faith and returned to the Catholic fold. An expert on foreign affairs, under Henry IV he
3984-472: The future Louis XIV . Many people regarded this birth as a miracle and, in show of gratitude to God for the long-awaited birth of an heir, his parents named him Louis- Dieudonné ("God-given"). As another sign of gratitude, according to several interpretations, seven months before his birth, France was dedicated by Louis XIII to the Virgin Mary , who, many believed, had interceded for the perceived miracle. But
4067-587: The influence of his mother and Cardinal Richelieu. After waging an unsuccessful war in Languedoc , he took refuge in Flanders . In 1643, on the death of Louis XIII, Gaston became lieutenant-general of the kingdom and fought against Spain on the northern frontiers of France. On 24 November 1615, Louis XIII married Anne of Austria , daughter of Philip III of Spain . The couple were second cousins, by mutual descent from Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor . This marriage followed
4150-432: The king, Épernon savagely accused Villeroy of misdirecting funds and acting on his own authority, and he added that if the king were not present, he would have attacked Villeroy physically. The incident shook Villeroy so badly that he remained in his room for two days, too distressed and afraid to return to his work. Villeroy then asked the king if he could leave the court, but the king refused his request. Above all, Villeroy
4233-405: The legitimate monarch of France, rejecting the claims of the president of France and of one another. These groups are: Nicolas de Neufville, seigneur de Villeroy Villeroy grew up at court and entered government service at a young age, following in the footsteps of his father Nicolas III de Neufville, and both grandfathers. In 1559, at the age of sixteen, he became a financial secretary and
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#17328512494704316-532: The lower house of the French Parliament at the time, the French equivalent at the time of the UK House of Commons. Louis Philippe did not do this, in order to increase his own chances of succession. As a consequence, and because the French parliamentarians were aware of his liberal policies and of his popularity at the time with the French population, they proclaimed Louis Philippe as the new French king, displacing
4399-703: The offices of mayor of the palace and dux et princeps Francorum hereditary and becoming the real powers behind the Merovingian kings . The dynasty is named after one of these mayors of the palace, Charles Martel , whose son Pepin the Short dethroned the Merovingians in 751 and, with the consent of the Papacy and the aristocracy, was crowned King of the Franks . Under Charles the Great (r. 768–814), better known as " Charlemagne ",
4482-613: The one hand, France's traditional rivalry with the House of Habsburg argued in favour of intervening on behalf of the Protestant powers (and Louis's father Henry IV of France had once been a Huguenot leader). On the other hand, Louis XIII had a strict Catholic upbringing, and his natural inclination was to support the Holy Roman Emperor , the Habsburg Ferdinand II . The French nobles were further antagonised against Luynes by
4565-549: The putative king Louis XVII , as ruler of France. Louis was under arrest by the government of the Revolution and died in captivity having never ruled. The republican government went through several changes in form and constitution until France was declared an empire, following the ascension of the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte as Emperor Napoleon I. Napoleon was overthrown twice following military defeats during
4648-414: The queen's pregnancies may have been a result of Louis XIII's aversion to heterosexual activity, a matter of great political consequence, since it took the couple more than 20 years of marriage before Louis XIV's birth. His interests as a teenager were focused on male courtiers and he developed an intense emotional attachment to his favourite, Charles d'Albert , although some say there is no clear evidence of
4731-417: The reason for this my letter, but obey me. Henry offered Villeroy and his colleagues neither explanation nor compensation. No definitive motive for the king's decision has been established by historians. It may merely have been the impulsive act of a man losing touch with reality. On 28 December that year, the king ordered the murder of Henry, Duke of Guise, who was stabbed by the royal bodyguard and died at
4814-430: The relationship of France to the Papacy and the venality of offices, but reaching no resolutions. Beginning in 1615, Marie came to rely increasingly on Concino Concini , an Italian who assumed the role of her favourite, and was widely unpopular because he was a foreigner. This further antagonised Condé, who launched another rebellion in the early months of 1616. Huguenot leaders supported Condé's rebellion, which led
4897-495: The request of Cardinal Richelieu, in the colonization of Acadia, by taking possession of Port-Royal (now Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia ) and developing it into a French colony. The King gave Razilly the official title of lieutenant-general for New France . He took on military tasks such as taking control of Fort Pentagouet at Majabigwaduce on the Penobscot Bay , which had been given to France in an earlier Treaty, and to inform
4980-515: The ruling doctrine. The king's reign was also marked by the struggles against the Huguenots and Habsburg Spain . Born at the Palace of Fontainebleau , Louis XIII was the eldest child of King Henry IV of France and his second wife Marie de' Medici . As son of the king, he was a Fils de France ("son of France"), and as the eldest son, Dauphin of France . His father Henry IV was the first French king of
5063-499: The senior branch of the House of Bourbon. The French Second Republic lasted from 1848 to 1852, when its president, Charles-Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte , was declared Emperor of the French under the regnal name of Napoleon III . He would later be overthrown during the events of the Franco-Prussian War , becoming the last monarch to rule France. Various pretenders descended from the preceding monarchs have claimed to be
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#17328512494705146-453: The text of the dedication does not mention the royal pregnancy and birth as one of its reasons, and Louis XIII himself is said to have expressed his scepticism with regard to the miracle after his son's birth. In gratitude for having successfully given birth, the queen founded the Benedictine abbey of the Val-de-Grâce , for which Louis XIV laid the cornerstone of its church , an early masterpiece of French Baroque architecture. The couple had
5229-401: The title of Duke of Luynes on Charles d'Albert. Luynes soon became as unpopular as Concini had been. Other nobles resented his monopolisation of the King. Luynes was seen as less competent than Henry IV's ministers, many now elderly or deceased, who had surrounded Marie de' Medici. The Thirty Years' War broke out in 1618. The French court was initially unsure of which side to support. On
5312-448: The young Louis XIII to conclude that they would never be loyal subjects. Eventually, Condé and Queen Marie made peace with the ratification on 3 May of the Treaty of Loudun , which allowed Condé great power in government but did not remove Concini. However, on 1 September, after growing dissatisfaction from nobles due to Concini's position, Queen Marie, with Louis's help, imprisoned Condé to protect Concini, leading to renewed revolts against
5395-414: Was Philip II in 1190 (r. 1180–1223), after which the title "King of the Franks" gradually lost ground. However, Francorum Rex continued to be sometimes used, for example by Louis XII in 1499, by Francis I in 1515, and by Henry II in about 1550; it was also used on coins up to the eighteenth century. During the brief period when the French Constitution of 1791 was in effect (1791–1792) and after
5478-404: Was a Protestant, and thus unacceptable to much of the French nobility. Ultimately, after winning numerous battles in defence of his claim, Henry converted to Catholicism and was crowned as King Henry IV, founding the House of Bourbon. This marked the second time the thrones of Navarre and France were united under one monarch, as different inheritance laws had caused them to become separated during
5561-486: Was able to explore the coast as far as Mogador . In 1624 he was given charge of an embassy to the pirate harbour of Salé in Morocco, in order to solve the affair of the Zaydani Library of Mulay Zidan . In 1630, Razilly was able to negotiate the purchase of French slaves from the Moroccans. He visited Morocco again in 1631, and helped negotiate the Franco-Moroccan Treaty (1631) . The treaty gave France preferential treatment, known as capitulations : preferential tariffs,
5644-535: Was appointed Constable of France , after which he and Louis set out to quell the Huguenot rebellion. The siege at the Huguenot stronghold of Montauban had to be abandoned after three months owing to the large number of royal troops who had succumbed to camp fever. One of the victims of camp fever was Luynes, who died in December 1621. Following the death of Luynes, Louis determined that he would rule by council. His mother returned from exile and, in 1622, entered this council, where Condé recommended violent suppression of
5727-517: Was assassinated. His mother, Marie de' Medici , acted as regent during his minority. Mismanagement of the kingdom and ceaseless political intrigues by Marie and her Italian favourites led the young king to take power in 1617 by exiling his mother and executing her followers, including Concino Concini , the most influential Italian at the French court. Louis XIII, taciturn and suspicious, relied heavily on his chief ministers, first Charles d'Albert, duc de Luynes and then Cardinal Richelieu , to govern
5810-470: Was concerned about his spotless reputation; but he was reassured by the support of the majority at court who hated Épernon. Catherine de' Medici was shocked at the secretary's treatment and supported Villeroy vigorously, saying she had not been so upset about any matter for a long time. In summer 1588, the king's position became perilous when Henry I, Duke of Guise , and his followers in the Catholic League took control of Paris, co-ordinating their move with
5893-423: Was deposed and replaced by the Third Republic , and ending monarchic rule in France for good. The Bourbon Restoration came to an end with the July Revolution of 1830 which deposed Charles X and replaced him with Louis Philippe I , a distant cousin with more liberal politics. Charles X's son Louis signed a document renouncing his own right to the throne only after a 20-minute argument with his father. Because he
5976-468: Was disputed by Edward III , the Plantagenet king of England who claimed himself as the rightful king of France through his French mother Isabella . The two houses fought the Hundred Years' War over the issue, and with Henry VI of England being for a time partially recognized as King of France . The Valois line died out in the late 16th century, during the French Wars of Religion , to be replaced by
6059-405: Was his godmother . As a child, he was raised under the supervision of the royal governess Françoise de Montglat . The ambassador of King James I of England to the court of France, Sir Edward Herbert , who presented his credentials to Louis XIII in 1619, remarked on Louis's extreme congenital speech impediment and his double teeth : ...I presented to the King [Louis] a letter of credence from
6142-437: Was later executed for conspiring with the Spanish enemy in time of war. Tallemant described how on a royal journey, the King "sent M. le Grand [de Cinq-Mars] to undress, who returned, adorned like a bride. 'To bed, to bed' he said to him impatiently... and the mignon was not in before the king was already kissing his hands. But he did not find that M. le Grand, whose heart was elsewhere, responded to his great ardour." Louis XIII
6225-399: Was much addicted... Louis XIII ascended the throne in 1610 upon the assassination of his father, and his mother Marie de' Medici acted as his Regent . Although Louis XIII came of age at thirteen (1614), his mother did not give up her position as Regent until 1617, when he was 16. Marie maintained most of her husband's ministers, with the exception of Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully , who
6308-453: Was never crowned he is disputed as a genuine king of France. Louis's nephew Henry was likewise considered by some to be Henry V, but the new regime did not recognise his claim and he never ruled. Charles X named Louis Philippe as Lieutenant général du royaume , a regent to the young Henry V, and charged him to announce his desire to have his grandson succeed him to the Chamber of Deputies ,
6391-486: Was soon employed by Catherine de' Medici , the widow of Henry II and the mother of the next three kings. Because those kings were either too young, too ill, or, in Henry III's case, too irresponsible to attend to the details of administration, Catherine took control of the government. In order to manage, she formed around her a core of trusted ministers, including Villeroy. In 1567, at the age of twenty-four, Villeroy became
6474-399: Was the Treaty of Fleix of 26 November 1580, which he concluded in one month, bringing to an end a short but dangerous war involving Henry of Navarre (the future Henry IV of France ) in the south west of the country. Villeroy formed a strong relationship with Catherine de' Medici. Their letters to each other show mutual trust and respect. "You are so wise," Catherine wrote to him concerning
6557-506: Was the second minister under Sully . He aided in Sully's downfall in 1611, becoming principal minister. His own ministerial preeminence was challenged by Sillery from 1614 onwards. Villeroy died in 1617 and was buried in the church of Magny-en-Vexin . An effigy of Villeroy in middle age may be seen in the church today, along with those of his father and Magdalene. Villeroy lived near the Louvre in
6640-414: Was to say of Villeroy that he possessed excellent judgement without advanced education ( non aidé d'aucunes lettres )—though he occasionally wrote poetry himself and knew the poet Ronsard . Villeroy and Madelaine had two sons and a daughter, but only one son, named Charles after the king, survived. Villeroy remarried after his wife's death in 1596 and had another son, Nicolas, who entered religion, becoming
6723-570: Was unpopular in the country. She mainly relied on Nicolas de Neufville, seigneur de Villeroy , Noël Brûlart de Sillery , and Pierre Jeannin for political advice. Marie pursued a moderate policy, confirming the Edict of Nantes . She was not, however, able to prevent rebellion by nobles such as Henri, Prince of Condé (1588–1646) , second in line to the throne after Marie's second surviving son Gaston, Duke of Orléans . Condé squabbled with Marie in 1614, and briefly raised an army, but he found little support in
6806-696: Was unwell during the winter of 1642–1643. He managed a few hunting trips to Versailles, but by the middle of February was mostly bedridden. From contemporary descriptions, modern historians have surmised that he suffered from extrapulmonary tuberculosis . On 13 April his chief physician informed him that his illness would be fatal. He died in Paris on 14 May 1643, the 33rd anniversary of his father's death. According to his biographer A. Lloyd Moote, "his intestines were inflamed and ulcerated, making digestion virtually impossible; tuberculosis had spread to his lungs, accompanied by habitual cough. Either of these major ailments, or
6889-496: Was used in 19th-century France , during the first and second French Empires, between 1804 and 1814, again in 1815, and between 1852 and 1870. From the 14th century down to 1801, the English (and later British) monarch claimed the throne of France , though such claim was purely nominal excepting a short period during the Hundred Years' War when Henry VI of England had control over most of Northern France, including Paris. By 1453,
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