Cardinal Richelieu

Cardinal Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu (1585-1642) orchestrated the government’s restoration of domestic control during the half-century that followed the assassination of Henry IV. He played the enemies of France against one another. Once the last rebellion of the feudal nobility was suppressed, the framework and mechanisms of absolute monarchy were in place, needing only the arrival of Louis XIV to complete the scene. <br><br>Richelieu was a gifted manipulator and power-player. His goal was to make the King all-powerful and absolute. He was the last churchman to achieve such power in French history.