death_date consecration other_post nationality coat_of_arms birth_date signature term_end alma_mater death_place metropolis title profession term_start rank image name caption cardinal consecrated_by predecessor birth_place type previous_post successor religion see article_title
4 december 1642 17 april 1607 duke the french king -lrb- 1624 -- 1642 -rrb- of richelieu duke of fronsac chief minister of french coat of arms of cardinal richelieu.svg 09 september 1585 cardinal richelieu signature.svg 29 april 1624 collège de navarre paris , france bordeaux bishop of luçon statesman , nobleman 17 april 1607 cardinal-priest cardinal de richelieu.jpg armand-jean du plessis cardinal de richelieu '' 40 , philippe de champaigne , national gallery , london portrait of cardinal richelieu '' , 1633 -- 5 september 1622 anne d'escars de givry alphonse-louis du plessis de richelieu paris , france cardinal territorial -rrb- territorial abbot of cluny -lrb- 1635 -- 1642 -rrb- abbot coadjutor of cluny -lrb- 1627 -- 1635 jules mazarin roman catholic luçon cardinal richelieu

cardinal richelieu

armand jean du plessis , cardinal-duke of richelieu and of fronsac -lrb- 9 september 1585 -- 4 december 1642 -rrb- was a french clergyman , noble and statesman .
he was consecrated as a bishop in 1607 and was appointed foreign secretary in 1616 .
richelieu soon rose in both the catholic church and the french government , becoming a cardinal in 1622 , and king louis xiii 's chief minister in 1624 .
he remained in office until his death in 1642 ; he was succeeded by cardinal mazarin , whose career he had fostered .
the cardinal de richelieu was often known by the title of the king 's `` chief minister '' or `` first minister '' .
he sought to consolidate royal power and crush domestic factions .
by restraining the power of the nobility , he transformed france into a strong , centralized state .
his chief foreign policy objective was to check the power of the austro-spanish habsburg dynasty , and to ensure french dominance in the thirty years ' war that engulfed europe .
although he was a cardinal , he did not hesitate to make alliances with protestant rulers in attempting to achieve his goals .
while a powerful political figure , events like the day of the dupes show that in fact he very much depended on the king 's confidence to keep this power .
richelieu was also famous for his patronage of the arts ; most notably , he founded the académie française , the learned society responsible for matters pertaining to the french language .
richelieu is also known by the sobriquet `` l'Éminence rouge '' -lrb- `` the red eminence '' -rrb- , from the red shade of a cardinal 's clerical dress and the style `` eminence '' as a cardinal .
as an advocate for samuel de champlain and of the retention of new france , he founded the compagnie des cent-associés and saw the treaty of saint-germain-en-laye return quebec city to french rule under champlain , after the settlement had been taken by the kirkes in 1629 .
this in part allowed the colony to eventually develop into the heartland of francophone culture in north america .
he is also a leading character in `` the three musketeers '' by alexandre dumas and its subsequent film adaptations , portrayed as a main antagonist , and a powerful ruler , even more powerful than the king himself .
