François du Plessis, sieur de Richelieu (–10 June 1590) was a French noble, military officer, and royal official during the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease di ...

. Born into an obscure noble family from Poitou, Richelieu began his career in the service of the Montpensier. He fought in the third war of religion under the command of the son of the duke of Montpensier at

Jarnac Jarnac (; ; Saintongese: ''Jharnat'') is a commune in the Charente department, southwestern France.Moncontour. He again fought under the Montpensier, this time prince de Dombes during the fifth war of religion. It was on the recommendation of the Montpensier that Richelieu was elevated to the post of ''Grand Prévôt de l'Hôtel'' in February 1578, which the king combined with the new office of ''Grand Prévôt de France'', giving him police authority both over the king's household and France at large. He would take to this role with enthusiasm, becoming a consistent advocate of the royal will. By the 1580s he had become a major creditor of the monarchy, serving as the intermediary between Italian banking families and the crown, this eventually brought him into financial ruin. In 1584, the crown was thrown into crisis by the death of the king's brother

Alençon Alençon (, , ; ) is a commune in Normandy, France, and the capital of the Orne department. It is situated between Paris and Rennes (about west of Paris) and a little over north of Le Mans. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alen� ...

and subsequent prospect of the succession of the Protestant

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

. In response elements of the Catholic nobility entered rebellion against the crown in a Catholic ''ligue'' led by the duke of Guise. While at peace with the crown in 1588, Guise sought to impose his authority over Richelieu, instructing him not to garrison

Saumur Saumur () is a Communes of France, commune in the Maine-et-Loire Departments of France, department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgu ...

on the

Loire The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône. It rises in the so ...

to protect against Navarre's army. Richelieu refused to follow any orders but those given to him by Henri III. He played an important role in the assassination of the duke a few months later, leading the arrest of his son the prince de Joinville and several leading members of the Third Estate who were allied with the ''ligue''. This assassination brought Henri into war with the ''ligue'' again, and Richelieu participated in a failed attempt to maintain the loyalty of

Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...

to the crown, the city arresting and then expelling him. With the assassination of Henri III in August 1589, Richelieu transferred his loyalty to Navarre, now styled Henri IV. He fought at the

Battle of Arques The Battle of Arques occurred on 15–29 September 1589 between the French royal forces of King Henry IV of France and troops of the Catholic League commanded by Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne, during the eighth and final war (1585–159 ...

and

Battle of Ivry The Battle of Ivry was fought on 14 March 1590, during the French Wars of Religion. The battle was a decisive victory for Henry IV of France, leading French royal and English forces against the Catholic League by the Duc de Mayenne and Spani ...

, was made captain of Henri's guard, before dying in June 1590 during the royalist siege of ''ligueur'' held Paris. One of his sons, with Suzanne de La Porte was

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...

Early life and family

François du Plessis was born into a minor noble family from Poitou in 1548 at the

Château de Richelieu The Château de Richelieu was an enormous 17th-century château (manor house) built by the French clergyman, nobleman, and statesman Cardinal Richelieu (1585–1642) in Touraine. It was demolished for building materials in 1805 and almost nothing ...

. He was the son of Louis du Plessis, sieur de Richelieu and Françoise de Rochechouart. His mother had connections to the Montpensier family that would prove valuable for his early career. He had an elder brother, Louis du Plessis, who also served the Montpensier's, however he was dead by 1569. Richelieu was married to Suzanne de La Porte in 1569. She was from a prominent robe noble family, and brought with her a dowry of 10,000 ''livres'' and inheritance rights to her father's estates. Together they would be the father of Armand Jean du Plessis, cardinal de Richilieu, chief minister to

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; 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. ...

. The two godfathers of the future Cardinal were Marshal Jean VI d'Aumont and Marshal Armand de Gontaut both military lynch pins for Henri III. The parents named the child Armand Jean in their honour. Alongside the future Cardinal, Richelieu had another two sons (Henri and Alphonse) and two daughters (Nicole and Francoise). By 1579 he and his wife had purchased a residence in the capital, located on ''rue du Bouloi''.

Reign of Charles IX

He began his career serving as a page to king Charles IX before becoming ''guidon'' in the company of the prince Dauphin, son of the duke of Montpensier. By 1569 he was a ''gentilhomme ordinaire de la chambre du roi''. Richelieu saw his first military service during the third French War of Religion. Fighting for the royalists, he saw combat at the

Battle of Jarnac The Battle of Jarnac on 13 March 1569 was an encounter during the French Wars of Religion between the Catholic forces of Marshal Gaspard de Saulx, sieur de Tavannes, and the Huguenots led by Louis I de Bourbon, prince de Condé. The two forces ...

, during which the leader of the Protestant rebels, the

prince of Condé A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The f ...

was killed, and then a year later at the far more decisive royalist victory of Moncontour, which annihilated much of the Protestant army. In 1573, shortly after the

Massacre of Saint Bartholomew The Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre () in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence directed against the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants) during the French Wars of Religion. Traditionally believed ...

, the city of

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

entered rebellion. The crown was keen to see the recovery of this key port city, and therefore dispatched the king's brother

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France *County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France ** Du ...

to reduce the city. Many nobles travelled with him for the conduct of the siege, among them Richelieu.

Reign of Henri III

Fifth war of religion

During the fifth war of religion he fought in the west of France under the command of the prince de Dombes, grandson of the duke of Montpensier. He served Dombes as a lieutenant of his company of men-at-arms. As a term of the

Peace of Monsieur The Edict of Beaulieu (also known at the time as the Peace of Monsieur) was promulgated from Beaulieu-lès-Loches on 6 May 1576 by Henry III of France, who was pressured by François, Duke of Anjou, Alençon's support of the Protestant army besieg ...

which brought the fifth war of religion to a close, the king's brother

who had fought with the rebels against Henri III was granted the

Duchy of Anjou The Duchy of Anjou (; , ; ) was a French province straddling the lower Loire. Its capital was Angers, and its area was roughly co-extensive with the diocese of Angers. Anjou was bordered by Brittany to the west, Maine to the north, Touraine ...

Touraine Touraine (; ) is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher, Indre and Vien ...

and

Berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples of berries in the cul ...

. Richelieu as a commissioner for the king had responsibilities for the transfer of the duchy of Anjou to Alençon. He provided the prince his new duchy on 18 June of that year. During 1576, Richelieu received the honour of being elevated to the highest order of French chivalry, the

Ordre de Saint-Michel The Order of Saint Michael () is a French dynastic order of chivalry, founded by King Louis XI of France on 1 August 1469, in response to the Order of the Golden Fleece founded by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, Louis' chief competitor for t ...

. Henri no longer created many knights of Saint-Michel, and reserved the honour for his favourites.

Grand Prévôt

On 28 February 1578, Henri III established a new office, that of ''Grand Prévôt de France'' to combat disorders that were rampant in the kingdom. It was hoped that this would function in the manner of the provincinal lieutenant-generals and curb overmighty provincial governors. Richilieu was established in this charge. The parameters of its responsibility would be clarified in letters patent of 11 May of that year. That same month he received the charge of ''Grand Prévot de l'Hôtel'' from the baron de Senecey. This charge was responsible for the security of the royal residence, with a force of various lieutenants and functionaries alongside 78 archers bearing halberds at his disposal. It further gave him policing power up to ten leagues around the royal residence. Alongside their security role these archers could present themselves formally on diplomatic occasions, as when the Earl of Derby came to France to present Henri with the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...

in 1585. It was upon the recommendation of his patron, the duke of Montpensier that he was selected by the king to assume these responsibilities. These appointments, alongside that of

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

as ''grand maître des cérémonies'' and his various ''premier gentilhomme de la chambre'' were designed to dilute the authority that the duke of Guise held in his capacity as ''Grand Maître''. Richelieu proved a strong advocate of royal authority over seigneurial rights. He went as far as to advocate the death penalty for those who defied the king's wishes. In the late 1570s, Richelieu was a sporadic presence on the ''Conseil d'État''. His missions kept him away from court often, as when in August 1579 he was tasked with arresting La Roche Guyon in Normandie, who had become the author of a conspiracy against the crown. The king's brother

had, by the early 1580s, established himself as king of Nederland. He required troops to prop up his position in the country, and took to raising them illegally in Bretagne, levying them without a commission from the king. Richelieu entered Bretagne in 1582 in pursuit of soldiers raised by the prince.

Naval affairs

During the succession crisis for the Portuguese crown, Richelieu had financial dealings with the pretender to the throne Don Antonio. He also spent considerable money in maritime investments. In 1582 he acquired three vessels from Hughes d'Aragon, which he fitted out for trade in

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

. The following year he acquired a further two from the duke of Elbeuf then another three from the count of Brissac. He was not solely in the business of acquisition however, and sold several of the ships on to other royal favourites such as

Joyeuse Joyeuse (; ; meaning 'joyous, joyful') was, in medieval legend, the sword wielded by Charlemagne as his personal weapon. A sword identified as Joyeuse was used in French royal coronation ceremonies since the 13th century, and is now kept at the L ...

and Schomberg.

Creditor

Richelieu became a major creditor of the monarchy in the 1580s. This was both in direct loans from himself to the crown, and through acting as an intermediary between the king and Italian banking families in the capital. From 1583 to 1588 he borrowed 1,060,000 ''livres'' from Sébastien Zamet to provide funds for the crown. In theory the crown would reimburse him so he could pay off the debts, but it proved increasingly incapable of doing so as the decade progressed. Thus by 1583 his debts were over 200,000 ''livres''. In January 1585, the king decreed that Richelieu, in his capacity as ''Grand Prévôt de l'Hôtel'' was to make weekly reports to him on any disorders that he had become aware of. This was to take place on Saturday mornings. On the Saturday, he also had priority of speech in the royal council to discuss the affairs of the court. On 19 January of this month Richelieu proposed in council to make the ''rue de Louvre'' a closed off street, with a barrier to keep regular traffic away from the front of the royal palace. Henri acceded to this request, and Richelieu was charged with opening and closing the gate to provide access for the king's entourage.

''Ligue'' Crisis

Back in 1584, Henri's brother

died. Unfortunately for the king he had no children, and therefore the succession defaulted on his distant Protestant cousin

. This was seized upon as a pretext by the

duke of Guise Count of Guise and Duke of Guise ( , ) were titles in the French nobility. Originally a Fiefdom, seigneurie, in 1417 Guise was erected into a county for René I of Naples, René, a younger son of Louis II of Anjou. While disputed by the House of ...

and segments of allied nobility, who refounded the Catholic ''ligue'' to oppose his succession and a host of other royal policies. In March 1585, the ''ligue'' entered open war with the crown. Several of Henri's former favourites rallied to the ''ligue'' camp, among them Saint-Luc and Beauvais-Nangis. Beauvais-Nangis was less enthused to join the ''ligue'' as an ally of the duke of Guise and more drawn to the organisation by his opposition to one of the king's paramount favourites

Épernon Épernon () is a French commune in the Eure-et-Loir department, Centre-Val de Loire. It lies some northeast of Chartres, at the confluence of the Drouette and the Guesle. History Épernon was originally the home of the counts of Montfort and ...

. Richelieu was sympathetic to this reasoning and provided tacit support to Beauvais-Nangis during his brief time with the ''ligue'' before he became a royalist once more the following year. During 1585, he would receive elevation to the new highest order of chivalry established by Henri, being made a ''chevalier de l'Ordre du Saint-Esprit'' in the intake of 1585.

Guise

Shortly before the convention of the

Estates General of 1588 The Estates General of 1588 was a national meeting of the three orders of France; the clergy, nobility and common people. Called as a part of the concessions Henri III of France, Henri III made to the Catholic League (France), Catholic ''ligue'' i ...

, Guise sought to impose his authority as a great lord on the officers of state. As part of this he wrote to Richelieu, who served as seneschal of Saumur and ''maître de camp'' for the military of Poitou, imploring him in the 'name of the love he had for the duke' not to install a royal garrison in Saumur. Richelieu responded dryly that he only took orders from the king and the ''conseil d'État''. Richelieu was introducing garrisons at this moment along the length of Loire on royal orders to block any potential advance by the Protestant Navarre after his victory at the

Coutras Coutras () is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Coutras station has rail connections to Bordeaux, Angoulême, Périgueux, Brive-la-Gaillarde and Limoges. History The Battle of Coutras, one of th ...

. Guise however recognised that this could be a useful wedge issue to secure favour with towns, which had little desire to see royal troops in their walls. Henri was delighted that Richelieu had resisted the entreaties of Guise, praising him in a letter to the duke of Nevers as a dutiful and firm representative of the royal will. Two hours after the assassination of the duke of Guise, Richelieu was tasked with taking the body of the duke from where it lay in the king's chamber and disposing of it. He took it to the ground floor where he burned the corpse, before scattering the ashes into the

. After this, he had the responsibility to sweep up and arrest leading allied members of the Estates General. Entering the hall of the Third Estate which was meeting at the ''Hôtel de Ville'' of Blois with a company of archers he shouted 'No one move! Someone wanted to kill the king!'. His men promptly arrested Neuilly a ''président'' in the ''Parlement'', the ''prévôt des marchands'' of Paris, Dorléans, Compan and Cotteblanche all Parisian ''échevins''. In total eight ''ligueur'' members of the Third Estate were arrested by Richelieu, largely from the leadership of the ''Seize'', the ''ligueur'' administration of Paris since the

Day of the Barricades In the French Wars of Religion, the Day of the Barricades (in ), 12 May 1588, was an outwardly spontaneous public uprising in staunchly Catholic Paris against the moderate, hesitant, temporizing policies of Henry III. It was in fact called forth ...

. He announced to them that two men had tried to kill the king and that they were to sit in judgement of these men. The men were led through the rain to the

Château de Blois A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking re ...

where Richelieu showed them the pools of blood in the king's bedchamber, where the duke of Guise had been cut down. They were then shown gallows that were being constructed nearby, however this was designed only to intimidate them the king would not have any of them killed. Shortly thereafter they were locked in a room inside the château. Concurrently to these arrests, others led the arrests of leading nobles, the duke of Nemours and

Elbeuf Elbeuf () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography A light industrial town situated by the banks of the Seine some south of Rouen at the junction of the D7, D321 and the D313 roads. The ...

were arrested by Bellegarde. Richelieu for his part was responsible for the arrest of the prince de Joinville, son of the late duke. By this means it was hoped to dampen any ''ligueur'' revenge for the assassination. The Estates were largely cowed by the assassination and the arrests that had followed it. The Third Estate alone maintained some spirit of resistance, demanding the release of their colleagues that Richelieu had imprisoned. The following day, the king resolved that alongside the duke, he needed to assassinate his imprisoned brother the Cardinal de Guise. Richelieu would decline to perform this sacrilegious task, and the king eventually turned to a member of his bodyguard Michel de Gast to accomplish the deed.

France in rebellion

The assassination of the duke would however prompt a dramatic response across France, and not long thereafter half of the 50 largest cities in the country were in the hands of the ''ligue''. In ''ligueur'' pamphlets, Richilieu was denounced as Tristan L'Hermite, a particularly notorious ''Prévôt'' of

Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the ...

for his role in the assassination. In Paris, the ''ligueur'' administration expelled all royalist members of the Paris ''Parlement'', the judges travelling to form a counter-''Parlement'' at

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

. Henri opened the ''Parlement'' in Tours on 23 March with a ''lit de justice'', in attendance for this solemn inauguration were Richelieu, Cardinal Vendôme, captain of his guard Maintenon, Admiral of France Beauvais-Nangis among others. In early 1589, Henri was sensitive to the ''ligueur'' influence in the city of

as a potential loss for the royalist cause. To work against this he dispatched René, come de Sanzay to the city to deliver a message urging the notables to remain loyal. The ''ligueur'' elements in the city posted an armed group of men outside his lodgings. Shortly after this Henri dispatched another series of representatives, this time composed of La Roche-Chemerault and Richelieu. Both of the men enjoyed positive relations with leading Poitevans. Their arrival was greeted frostily, with no delegation coming out of the city to welcome them. Having arrived, La Roche-Chemerault and Richelieu set to work, they hoped to take control of the municipal council and reorganise the guard of the city. To this end they had a measure passed by which only men chosen by the governor and mayor could guard the gates. While this would provide limited effect in the short term, it accelerated a confrontation between royalists and ''ligueurs'' in the city. In May matters in the city reached a breaking point. The royalists in the city requested the support of the prince de Dombes in securing control of the city, meanwhile the ''ligueur'' elements of the city requested military support from the vicomte de La Guerche. An argument between two men of the city brought the violence to the streets before either would arrive, with the ''ligueurs'' throwing up barricades. During the fights over the barricades the royalist Sainte-Soline put his sword to the ''ligueur'' mayor Jean Palustre's throat and forced him to withdraw. During the night the ''ligueurs'' took control of key points in the city, including a bell tower that overlooked Sainte-Soline's residence. The following day he would be besieged in his ''hôtel''. On 4 May at a secret ''ligueur'' assembly, it was agreed that they would resist the tyrants Richelieu and Malicorne the governor of Poitou. In response to these meetings, Richelieu and Malicorne ordered the execution of six Catholics. This proved the final collapse of royalist influence in Poitiers, with the executioners killed by a mob and Malicorne and Richelieu captured and imprisoned. They would be allowed to depart Poitiers shortly thereafter.

Assassination of Henri III

Richelieu would be with the king when he arrived at the ''Hôtel d'Aulny'' on 29 July. This was to be Henri's residence for the conduct of the siege of ''ligueur'' held Paris. Three days later, Henri was stabbed by

Jacques Clément Jacques Clément (1567 – 1 August 1589) was a French conspirator and the regicide of King Henry III. Early life He was born at Serbonnes, in today's Yonne '' département'', in Burgundy, and became a lay brother of the Third Order of S ...

, he would die the following day. According to the memoires of the comte d'Auvergne Richelieu was among those who stood sorrowfully at the king's bedside as he died on 2 August. As ''Grand Prévot de l'Hôtel'', it was Richelieu's responsibility to draw up the royal report on the assassination. In the wake of the murder of the king, limited efforts would be made to bring the parties responsible for the assassination to justice. Richelieu received custody of Edme Bourgoing, the ''prieur'' of the Jacobin order, of which Clément was a member in Paris. Richelieu transported him to

where he was put on trial by the ''Parlement''.

Reign of Henri IV

Loyalist

With Henri dead, his heir was the Protestant

, who styled himself Henri IV. Richelieu was among those lords who required some reassurances before swearing their loyalty to a Protestant king. Therefore, on 4 August, Henri swore that he would protect the Catholic faith and receive teaching in it at some point in the future. This was sufficient for some of the Catholic nobility, among them Richelieu, the lieutenant-general of Champagne Dinteville, Marshal Biron and Marshal D'Aumont.

Fighting the ''ligue''

Henri was forced to retreat from Paris by the death of Henri III, falling back into Normandie. The lieutenant-general of the ''ligue'' followed him into Normandie, and brought him to battle at Arques where Henri was victorious. Richelieu fought with Henri at the battle, and again at the

as Henri prepared to return to claim Paris. In March 1590 he was rewarded for his loyalty to the royalist cause by Henri IV with a gift of 60,000 ''livres''. Accompany this gift was the honour of being made captain of Henri IV's guard. In the following months he would serve at the sieges of

Vendôme Vendôme (, ) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Departments of France, department of Loir-et-Cher, France. It is also the department's third-biggest Communes of France, commune with 15,856 inhabitants (2019). It is one of th ...

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

and Falaise. During Henri's siege of Paris he would die on 10 June at Gonesse. Upon Richelieu's death in 1590, his estate was so riddled with debts that his wife refused to claim it.

Sources

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Du Plessis, François 1540s births 1590 deaths People from Touraine French people of the French Wars of Religion Court of Charles IX of France Court of Henry III of France Court of Henry IV of France