fjt_574254 - CARDINAL ARMAND JEAN DU PLESSIS, DUKE OF RICHELIEU refrappe moderne 1634

ARMAND JEAN DU PLESSIS, CARDINAL DUKE OF RICHELIEU

(09/09/1585-14/12/1642)

Armand Jean du Plessis was born in Paris September 9, 1585 a Provost Marshal of the Poitevin nobility and the daughter of a citizen and lawyer. When his brother Alphonse decided to become a monk, he wanted to replace the bishopric of Luzon and had to undertake theological studies. He was ordained a bishop in 1607, when he was only twenty-two years, and then he was appointed chaplain to the queen mother, Marie de Medici, and Secretary of State in 1616. Near Concini, he fell into disgrace during the latter's assassination. He was rehabilitated in 1622 and he became the chief minister of Louis XIII in 1624. Upon his return to power, Richelieu never stopped fighting Protestants. He organized including the siege of La Rochelle, which benefited from the help of the Duke of Buckingham, the city surrendered October 28, 1628. He also fought the armies of Rohan in the Cevennes and Languedoc. He suppressed a revolt iron hand of "barefoot" Normandy (Rouen punishment) and made dismantle feudal strongholds to avoid rebellion. As Superintendent of navigation and trade, he developed trade with French Guiana, Martinique, Reunion, Madagascar and Canada. Richelieu died in Paris December 14, 1642.