Cardinal Richelieu: France’s Influential Statesman, Politician and Clergyman

France’s shrewdest and most ruthless statesman during the 17th century evolved from the ranks of the clergy. Cardinal Richelieu became recognized for his stealth, decisiveness and scrupulous planning. These traits endeared him to few, but ultimately established France as the strongest empire within Europe.
Born Armand-Jean du Plessis on September 9, 1585, his family was of marginal feudal rank. Through strategic marriages into the legal and administrative ranks, his father acquired the position of Seigneury Richelieu in Poitou. This post enabled him to become the chief magistrate to King Henry II. Armand’s mother was the daughter of a councilor within the Parliament of Paris.
The potential advantages of his family’s status vanished upon his father’s death when Armand was five. Their estates had been financially mismanaged and teetered on ruin. The threat of poverty hovered precariously above his mother, two brothers and two sisters. As the youngest son, Armand’s path was orchestrated towards becoming a consecrated bishop as soon as possible. He welcomed the clarity and security of knowing his station. He would far surpass other’s modest expectations of him simply remaining an isolated country priest.
Throughout his career, Richelieu remained ambitious, disciplined and obsessed with obtaining his decisive objectives. France was on volatile terrain and the Catholic Church was wavering between necessary reforms and collapse. Henry IV had ended the Wars of Religion with his policy of tolerance for Protestants. It would cost him his life.
Richelieu harbored his own personal ambitions, yet focused his energies on supporting established royal authority. He played an important conciliatory role in the transition process.
He displayed a talent for unpredictability, compromise and outflanking his numerous enemies. His decisive decision-making often caught them unprepared. His perceived administration of justice did not contradict his personal moral principles. He believed that government and ethics were inseparable, even when the means appeared questionable. His intellectual capacity enabled him to sort through complicated political intrigues.
He was credited with some features of generosity and his promises could be relied upon. He was considered as ardent in serving his friends as in ruining his enemies.
Unlike most of his intolerant peers, he could compromise and moderate with his adversaries when the results furthered his longer range political ambition. His overriding policy goals were twofold. He focused on the centralization of power within France and to lessen the influence of the Habsburg dynasty within Europe.
Richelieu’s health deteriorated. He returned back to his Paris apartment inside a chamber hoisted on the shoulders of his guards. On his deathbed, he was composing five propositions regarding royal behavior towards ministers that he regarded as essential. He would die on December 4, 1642 at the age of 57. He would be buried in the chapel of the Sorbonne, a structure that he had financed. The world has never experienced since a clergyman so adept at politics.