Chapter XII

1642

The Cardinal’s last days--Renewed illness--His death and funeral--His legacies--The feeling in France--The Church of the Sorbonne.

In the first days after Cardinal de Richelieu’s return from the south, few persons, certainly not himself, realized that his career was so near its end. The doctors, however, knew what they were doing when they healed the wounds in his arm; his chief surgeon remonstrated, but to no purpose, for the Cardinal would have it done. “He has dealt himself a mortal blow,” the surgeon said to a friend.

For the moment, infirm as he was, he took a new hold on life. During those autumn weeks at Rueil he was eager, imperious, restless, suspicious, ever planning for the future, in case he should survive the King; strangely haughty, irritable, and nervous, insisting that his armed guards should attend him everywhere, even in the royal presence. Louis XIII., himself too ill and depressed to enjoy his hunting as usual, was pestered by Chavigny and de Noyers with messages from the Eminentissime, insisting on the disgrace of four of his best-liked officers--among whom was M. de Troisville, or Tréville, the famous captain of musketeers--whose only crime was that they had formerly been friends of Cinq-Mars, and that Richelieu feared their hatred and their influence. The King resisted long, but at last, by sheer angry obstinacy, the Cardinal gained his point, and the four gentlemen were dismissed from the Court, though not from the army; the King showing “great displeasure, even to shedding of tears.”

In November His Eminence moved from Rueil to the Palais-Cardinal, and there, still magnificent though gloomy of spirit and too ill to be actually present, he entertained the Court with the performance of an “heroic comedy” called _Europe_, partly his own, partly the work of Desmarets. Here were celebrated the victories of France over Germany, Spain, and her own internal disloyalties, as well as her triumphs in art, commerce, and luxury. In truth, the piece was a glorification of the ministry of Armand de Richelieu.

It was not long before Nature took her revenge and justified the doctors. “On Friday, November 28, 1642, in the night,” says Aubery, “the Cardinal-Duc was attacked by a great pain in his side with fever. On Sunday, the pain and fever having much augmented, it was found necessary to bleed him twice, and the Duchesse d’Aiguillon and the Maréchaux de Brézé and de la Meilleraye decided to sleep at the Palais-Cardinal.” On Monday morning the Cardinal was better; but in the afternoon and night he became so much worse, with difficulty of breathing, that the doctors bled him again. On Tuesday the King ordered special prayers in all the Paris churches, and came himself from Saint-Germain to visit his dying Minister. Whether sorry or glad, who knows! At this supreme hour, as all through Richelieu’s career, there are contradictory accounts of the relations between the two men. Aubery’s dignified narrative shows us a gracious and sympathetic King, handing nourishment to the invalid, listening with sorrowful attention to the last counsels of the statesman who had led him and France so far, and who now, while reminding His Majesty of his past services and recommending his family and friends to his care, was chiefly concerned that Monsieur should have no share, now or ever, in the government, and that Cardinal Mazarin, the fittest of all the present Ministers, should take up the burden which must be laid down. For it was plain to Richelieu himself, as well as to King, friends, and physicians, that he had not many hours to live.

Louis did more than listen to the Cardinal’s dying prayers and counsels; he respected them. But gossips and memoir-writers agree that he left the Palais-Cardinal “fort gai,” laughing and joking with the Cardinal’s relations and admiring the splendours of the great house which now, by his will, was to become royal property.

When the King was gone, Richelieu asked his physicians how long he had to live. They replied evasively--they could not tell; there was no cause to despair, and so forth. Then he called for M. Chicot, the King’s physician, and told him to answer truly, not as doctor, but as friend. Chicot gave him twenty-four hours. “C’est parler, cela!” said Richelieu, and sent for the Curé of Saint-Eustache, his parish church, to receive his confession and to administer the last Sacraments.

“Treat me as the meanest of your parishioners,” he said to the priest; and the crowd in his room could hear, through their own sobs, the voice of their master repeating _Pater_ and _Credo_, joining in prayers, declaring his faith in God and the Church, answering to the question whether he forgave his enemies: “I have had no enemies but those of the State.” It was a bold assertion from the lips of such a man, and the Bishop of Lisieux, standing by, was startled by the confident words. But one may very well imagine that Armand de Richelieu believed it of himself.

On Wednesday the doctors, having bled him again, the pain and fever growing steadily worse, made their bows and retired; they could do no more. A country quack was then allowed to try his skill: many such, probably, haunted the gates of the palace; but this man, Le Fèvre by name, had some friend at Court who admitted him to the sick-room, and the Cardinal did not refuse his remedies. At first they seemed successful. Soothing draughts and opium pills lulled the sharp pain, and when the King, who had remained at the Louvre, paid his second visit in the afternoon, the Cardinal appeared slightly better. The gossips say that Louis departed “less joyful.”

A quiet night brought so calm a morning--Thursday, December 4, 1642--that the Cardinal’s own people began to rejoice in the hope of his recovery; and if the doctors, knowing better, shook their heads, M. Le Fèvre had his moment of triumph. But the patient himself was not deceived.

Those to whom he gave audience in the course of that morning--gentlemen sent by the Queen and Monsieur--listened to the words of a dying man. Only on his death-bed assuredly would Richelieu have humbly begged Anne’s pardon for any causes of grievance which, “in the course of our lives,” she might have had against him.

“A little before noon,” says Aubery, “he felt extraordinarily weak, and perceiving thus that his end infallibly drew near, he said, with a tranquil countenance, to the Duchesse d’Aiguillon: ‘My niece, I am very ill; I am going to die; I pray you to leave me. Your tenderness affects me. Do not suffer the pain of seeing me die.’”

She, the person he had loved best, left him unwillingly and in tears, and his confessor was instantly called to say the prayers for the dying. A few minutes of unconsciousness, then two heavy sighs, and Cardinal de Richelieu was dead.

* * * * *

He was only fifty-seven; but the worn face, wasted body and whitened hair were those of a much older man. The Parisians came in immense crowds to look on him as he lay in state at the Palais-Cardinal, where the royal guards, even before he was dead, had replaced his own. He lay on a bed of brocade in his magnificent Cardinal’s robes and cap, with the ducal coronet and mantle at his feet. The captain of his guards, M. de Bar, sat in deep mourning at his right hand; and on either side, by the light of many tall wax tapers in great silver candlesticks, a double choir of monks intoned psalms perpetually.

IN THE CHURCH OF THE SORBONNE]

On the evening of December 13 “the body of the Cardinal-Duc was transported from his palace to the Church of the Sorbonne on a magnificent car, covered with a great pall of black velvet crossed with white satin and enriched with the arms of His Eminence, embroidered in gold and silver--the six horses which drew it entirely covered with drapery of the same--surrounded by his pages, each holding a large candle of white wax, preceded and followed by so great a quantity of the same lights, which were carried and borne before the relations, connexions, friends, servants, and officers of the deceased, who were present in coaches, on horseback, and on foot, that the evening of the day on which that funeral took place was brighter than the noon: the wide streets of this city being found too narrow for the innumerable crowds of people by which they were lined, as in the greatest and most august ceremonies.”

So far the _Gazette de France_. With every mark, as it seems, of outward respect, the gleaming cavalcade made its way through the darkness of the city. They carried him over the Pont Neuf, where Henry’s statue commanded Paris and the Seine, and up the hill, through the old University quarter for which he had done so much, and laid him in the vault he had prepared for himself and his family under the stately new Church of the Sorbonne. His funeral ceremonies extended for weeks, far into the following year, with grand state services at Notre Dame and solemn requiems in all the churches of Paris. A long and flattering epitaph, engraved on copper and fastened to the wall of the crypt where he lay, was meant to keep his fame alive till France herself should be no more. It began: “Icy repose le grand Armand-Jean du Plessis, Cardinal de Richelieu, Duc et Pair de France: Grand en naissance, grand en esprit, grand en sagesse, grand en science, grand en courage, grand en fortune, mais plus grand encore en piété....” After describing the hero’s fine deeds and wonderful qualities, his genius, grace, and majesty, the epitaph--said to have been composed by Georges de Scudéry--went on to announce that “il est mort comme il a vécu, grand, invincible, glorieux et pour dernier honneur, pleuré de son Roi; et pour son éternel bonheur, il est mort humblement, chrétiennement et saintement....”

It was not till towards the end of the century that the marble tomb by Girardon was placed above the vault in the Church of the Sorbonne.

By his will, made at Narbonne, the Cardinal confirmed the promised gift he had made to the Crown in 1636 of the Palais-Cardinal, most of his magnificent gold and silver plate, diamonds, and a large sum of money. He divided his lands, châteaux, and other property between his nephew and great-nephews and Madame d’Aiguillon, leaving the lion’s share with his name and title, as has been said, to Armand de Vignerot, who was also entrusted with his precious library. Many of his artistic treasures and all his remaining jewellery went to Madame d’Aiguillon. With the most particular care and in the strongest words he guarded against any future dismemberment of the estates he left to his family. Fortunate for him that his fame and honour did not depend on the châteaux, the gardens, the forests, the collections and possessions of every kind which had so long shared his thoughts with France and her glory.

The legacies to his servants and humbler friends showed the Cardinal in his pleasantest light, as a just and generous master. Not one was forgotten, from his chaplains, officers and gentlemen, his secretaries and _le petit_ Mulot, secretary’s clerk, to cooks, grooms, muleteers, and footmen. The smallest legacy was six years’ wages. That he did not forget past benefits was shown by a legacy to a M. de Broyé, the necessitous nephew of that Claude Barbin who had helped him to his place in the Ministry in the days of the Maréchal d’Ancre.

“He was extremely regretted,” says Montglat, “by his relations, friends, and servants, who were numerous; for he was the best master, relation, or friend that ever was; and provided that he was convinced a man loved him, his fortune was made; for he never forsook those who attached themselves to him.” At the same time, he was personally solitary and inaccessible, and after the death of Père Joseph, though surrounded by those whom loyalty or interest kept faithful to him, no man could call himself his intimate friend.

“Il est mort un grand politique”--a great politician is dead: these were the short cold words with which Louis XIII. honoured the memory of the man who had “raised France to her highest point since Charlemagne; crushed the Huguenot party, which had rebelled against five kings; humbled the House of Austria, which claimed to be the law-giver of Christendom; and established the King’s power so firmly, by subduing the princes, that nothing in the kingdom could resist him any more.”

As a King, there is no doubt that Louis regretted his great Minister; he had proved over and over again that he knew how to value the statesman who had given him new authority and France new prestige; he had proved it to the bitter cost of those who reckoned on his personal impatience, as a man, of the yoke laid upon him by a tyrannical and worrying tutor. That yoke was now removed; and though the King appeared to be Richelieu’s chief mourner, while following his last counsels and carrying out his policy, contemporaries were very sure that in the depths of his soul he was glad to be rid of him.

France, as a whole, drew a long breath of relief and joy. It was not only “les grands du royaume,” soon to be flocking back from prison and from exile, Monsieur, appearing once more at Court, the Duc de Vendôme, leaving his refuge in England, who welcomed their freedom from the political terror which had weighed down their gay lives; it was also the people of lower degree, citizens, peasants, who had felt the oppression of Richelieu’s heavy taxes. They had paid for his wars by pinching and starvation; for his objects they cared little, the vision of most of them being naturally bounded by their own parish. All through the provinces, in the villages, in the towns, large and small, even in Paris itself, blazing bonfires lit up the winter nights when the Eminentissime lay dead.

“Il est passé, il a plié bagage
Ce Cardinal ...
Il est en plomb l’éminent personnage
Qui de nos maux a ri plus de vingt ans ...
Il est passé....”

That well-known _rondeau_ was one of the mildest among the satirical poems full of hatred, violence, and indecency which circulated in society after the death of him whom they called “le ministre des enfers.” And if his countrymen had listened for an echo of their rejoicing, they might have heard it in the “great contentment” of the enemies of France.

* * * * *

Cardinal de Richelieu’s noblest monument in Paris is his stately building of the Sorbonne. His resting-place in the crypt of its Church was disturbed in the Revolution, and his bones were scattered, but his embalmed face-mask was preserved by reverent hands and ultimately replaced in his tomb. The Church is no longer used for worship; but Armand de Richelieu still reclines there in marble peace. His eyes are raised to the heaven in which he certainly believed. He is supported in his mortal weakness by Religion, holding the book he wrote, when Bishop of Luçon, in defence of the Catholic Faith; and Science--in the likeness of his beloved niece, Madame d’Aiguillon--lies mourning at his feet.

INDEX

Agénois, Mademoiselle d’ (Marie Thérèse de Vignerot), 279.

Aiguillon, Duchesse d’ (see Combalet), 12, 15, 128, 242, 268, 279,
285, 292, 294, 296, 298

Ailly, Mademoiselle d’ (Duchesse de Chaulnes), 105

Ailly, Cardinal d’, 18

Albi, D’Elbène, Bishop of, 227

Albret, Isabeau d’, 150

Albret, Jean d’, 150

Aligre, Etienne d’ (Chancellor), 166, 170

Alincourt, Charles de Neufville, Marquis d’, 37, 64, 114-15, 134

Alincourt, Marquise d’, 37

Ancre, Concino Concini, Maréchal d’ (see Concini), 56, 73, 76, 79,
81, 84-5, 87-9, 93-100, 111, 120, 296

Ancre, Leonora Galigai, Maréchale d’, 56, 73-4, 79-81, 87, 93-4, 98,
100, 154

Angennes, Julie d’, 242

Angoulême, Charles de Valois, Comte d’Auvergne, Duc d’, 35, 77, 90,
183, 188-9, 225, 230

Anjou, Duc d’, (see Gaston)

Anne of Austria, Queen, 64, 72, 77, 81, 82, 98, 119, 136, 156,
163-5, 176, 179, 201, 208, 214, 219, 231-2, 241, 247-8, 264-5,
267-71, 286, 294

Arnoux, Père, 103

Aubery, le Sieur, 151, 197, 199, 202, 220, 228, 239, 283, 292, 294

Aumont, Jean, Maréchal d’, 7, 8

Auvergne (see Angoulême)

Avenel, M., 86, 103, 120, 208

Bagni, Cardinal, 213

Bar, M. de, 294

Barberini, Cardinal, 154, 159

Barbin, Claude, 76, 81, 86-90, 97, 107, 296

Bardouville, 260

Baro, 246

Baschet, M. Armand, 48, 50

Bassompierre, Baron de, 31, 32, 80, 93, 118, 159, 167, 172-3, 178-80,
183, 186-7, 189, 194, 196, 201-2, 211, 220-21

Batiffol, M. Louis, 29, 80

Beaufort, Gabrielle d’Estrées, Duchesse de, 35

Beaulieu, 185

Beauvau, Seigneur de, 11

Bellegarde, Roger de Saint-Lary, Duc de, 218

Belle-Isle, Marquis de, 58

Bentivoglio, Cardinal, 105, 120

Bérulle, Pierre, Cardinal de, 22, 45, 55, 113, 116-17, 153, 159, 162,
187, 194, 201, 266

Bethancourt, Seigneur de, 125

Béthune, Philippe, Comte de, 113, 116

Beuvron, Baron de, 177-8

Biron, Armand, Maréchal de Gontaut-, 7, 8

Biron, Charles, Maréchal de Gontaut-, 30, 51

Bois-Dauphin, Maréchal de, 73, 75, 76, 124

Boisrobert, François, Abbé de, 239, 243-5

Bouillon, Frédéric Maurice de la Tour d’Auvergne, Duc de, 150, 261,
277-8, 283-4, 287-9

Bouillon, Godefroy de, 272

Bouillon, Henry de la Tour d’Auvergne, Duc de, 35, 36, 65, 66, 69,
73, 85, 90, 91, 112

Bourbon, Madame Eléonore de (Abbess of Fontevrault), 47, 58-60

Bourbon, Gabrielle Angélique de (see Verneuil, Mademoiselle de)

Bourbon, Madame Louise de Lavedan de (Abbess of Fontevrault), 61

Bourbon, Mademoiselle de (see Longueville, Duchesse de)

Bourges, Madame de, 40, 41, 56

Bouteville, François de Montmorency, Comte de, 177-8, 253

Bouthillier, Claude, 11, 123, 162, 196, 239, 278, 281

Bouthillier, Denys, 10, 11

Bouthillier, Denys (see Rancé)

Bouthillier, Léon (see Chavigny)

Bouthillier, Sébastien (Dean of Luçon), 11, 45, 52, 54, 56, 66, 104,
113, 126-7, 131

Bouthillier, Madame, 196

Bouthillier, Victor, 11

Bragelogne, Emery de (Bishop of Luçon), 111

Brantes, Seigneur de (see Piney-Luxembourg)

Brézé, Maréchal de (see Maillé-Brézé)

Brienne, Henry Auguste de Loménie, Comte de, 89

Brosse, Jacques de, 135

Broye, M. de, 296

Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of, 136, 145, 154-6, 158, 180,
185-6, 191, 247

Bueil, Jacqueline de (Comtesse de Vardes), 229

Bullion, Claude de, 281

Bussy d’Amboise, M. de, 178

Cadenet, Seigneur de (see Chaulnes)

Candale, Louis Charles de Nogaret, Comte de, 173

Canteleu, 185

Carlisle, James, Earl of, 145

Carré, Père, 266-7

Caussin, Père, 265-6

Chalais, Henry de Talleyrand-Périgord, Comte de, 167-8, 172-6

Champagne, Philippe de, 132, 136, 238

Chanteloube, Jacques, Seigneur de, 120, 251

Chapelain, Jean, 244

Chapelles, Comte des, 178

Charlemagne, 277, 297

Charles I., King (of England), 136, 145-6, 156-8, 180-81, 198, 282

Charles V., Emperor, 5

Charles V., King, 18, 213

Charles VI., King, 19

Charles VII., King, 3

Charles IX., King, 6, 35

Charpentier, 239

Chartres, Duc de, 238

Châteauneuf, Charles de l’Aubépine, Marquis de, 214, 216, 223, 232-3

Châtillon, Gaspard de Coligny, Duc et Maréchal de, 150, 230, 255, 278

Chaulnes, Honoré d’Albert, Duc de, 83, 105, 256

Chavigny, Léon Bouthillier, Comte de, 11, 196, 239, 262, 268, 281,
286, 289, 291

Chémerault, Mademoiselle de, 270

Chéré, 239

Chevreuse, Claude de Lorraine, Duc de, 105, 154, 226, 230

Chevreuse, Marie de Rohan, Duchesse de, 72, 105, 137, 151, 156, 164,
166-8, 172, 174-6, 181, 214, 222, 232-3, 241, 263, 267-8, 270-71

Chevry, Président de, 177

Chicot, M., 293

Chillou, Marquis du (see Richelieu, Cardinal de)

Chivray, Mademoiselle du Plessis de (Comtesse de Guiche), 252

Christine de France (Duchess of Savoy), 68, 112, 195, 206, 266, 276-7

Cinq-Mars, Henry Coiffier d’Effiat, Marquis de, 106, 271, 282-9, 291

Citoys, François, 239

Clarendon, Edward Hyde, Earl of, 154, 156

Clément, Jacques, 8

Clérembault, Louis de, 3

Clérembault, Perrine de, 2

Cœuvres, François Annibal d’Estrées, Marquis de (see Estrées,
Maréchal d’), 148, 159

Coigneux, Président Le, 217

Colalto, Maréchal, 202-4

Colletet, Guillaume, 245

Combalet, Antoine de Beauvoir du Roure, Seigneur de, 127

Combalet, Madame de (see d’Aiguillon), 12, 127, 202-3, 209-10, 215,
235, 242, 250, 252, 268

Concini, Concino (see Ancre, Maréchal d’), 36, 63, 72, 80, 86, 211,
256

Concini, Henry (see Comte de la Pena)

Condé, Charlotte de Montmorency, Princesse de, 32, 105, 153, 178,
230, 242

Condé, Françoise d’Orléans-Longueville, Princesse de, 33

Condé, Henry de Bourbon, Prince de, 32, 56, 65, 66, 68, 69, 72-8,
84-6, 90, 105, 120, 122-3, 126, 129-30, 137, 164-5, 169, 183-4,
196, 198, 201, 222, 225, 259, 280

Condé, Louis I. de Bourbon, Prince de, 33

Condé, Louis II. de Bourbon, Duc
d’Enghien, Prince de, 12, 105-6, 246, 280, 284

Conrart, Valentin, 244

Conti, François de Bourbon, Prince de, 32, 53, 90

Conti, Louise de Lorraine, Princesse de, 32, 194, 209, 220-21

Cordova, Don Gonzalez de, 197

Corneille, Pierre, 239, 245

Cossé-Brissac, Duc et Maréchal de, 126

Cotton, Père, 45, 55, 103

Courcelles, 185

Cousin, M. Victor, 129, 266

Cramoisy, 71

Créquy, Charles, Maréchal de, 196

Desmarets, Jean, 246, 292

Du Moulin, 151

Edmunds, Sir Thomas, 72

Effiat, Antoine Coiffier, Maréchal d’, 149, 225

Elbeuf, Charles de Lorraine, Duc d’, 105, 218, 228, 230, 253

Elbeuf, Duchesse d’ (see Vendôme)

Elector Palatine (Frederic, King of Bohemia), 73, 136, 155

Elizabeth (Electress Palatine), 144

Elizabeth, Queen (of England), 1

Elizabeth, Queen (of Spain), 64, 68, 195

Enghien, Duc d’ (see Condé, Louis II., Prince de)

Épernon, Jean Louis de Nogaret de la Valette, Duc d’, 35, 53, 56, 68,
73, 85, 91, 111-112, 115, 116, 118-19, 124, 172-3, 198, 214,
230, 252, 259, 261

Escoman, Dame d’, 54

Este, Isabella d’ (Duchess of Mantua), 206

Estoile, Claude de l’, 245

Estoile, Pierre de l’, 34, 36

Estrées, François Annibal, Maréchal d’ (see Cœuvres), 219-20

Falconis, Pierre, 285

Fancan, Langlois, Sieur de, 137-9, 142

Fargis, Charles d’Angennes, Comte du, 159, 219

Fargis, Magdeleine de Silly, Comtesse du, 159, 219, 264

Fayette, Chevalier de la, 266

Fayette, Mademoiselle Louise de la, 265-7, 270

Fenouillet (Bishop of Montpellier), 34

Ferdinand II., Emperor, 146, 201, 251, 276, 284

Ferdinand of Spain, Cardinal-Infant, 259, 267

Feria, Duke of, 250

Fiesque, Comte de, 98

Flotte, Madame de la, 264

Fontaine, Jean de la, 236

Fontrailles, Vicomte de, 283-4, 286

Force, Jacques Nompar de Caumont, Maréchal de la, 150, 228, 258

Franchine, le Sieur, 134

François I., King, 3, 4

Fronsac, Duc de (see Maillé-Brézé)

Gassion, Colonel de, 281

Gaston de France (Monsieur), 68, 118, 133, 162-70, 172-4, 179-80,
183, 189, 201-2, 207, 214, 217-18, 220, 223-31, 234, 236-7,
248, 250-53, 258-62, 270-71, 274-5, 278, 283-4, 287, 292, 294,
297

Gerson, Jean, 18

Girardon, François, 295

Givry, Cardinal de, 25

Gontaut-Biron (see Biron)

Gonzague, Princesse Marie de, 224, 282

Gournay, Mademoiselle de, 243

Grammont, Comte de, 259

Grandier, Urbain, 44

Gratiollet, Jean, 254

Gregory XV., Pope (Ludovisi), 130, 147

Guastalla, Duke of, 194

Guébriant, Comte de, 276

Guercheville, Marquise de, 55, 101, 115

Guiche, Antoine de Grammont, Comte et Maréchal de, 252, 286

Guise, Duchesse de (Catherine de Clèves), 32

Guise, Charles, Duc de, 34, 53, 56, 73, 75, 85, 90, 105, 154, 185, 220

Guise, Henry, Duc de (Le Balafré), 1, 8, 32, 33, 132, 154

Guise, Henry, Duc de (Archbishop of Rheims), 277-8

Guise, Duchesse de, Henriette Catherine de Joyeuse (see Montpensier)

Guiton, 191-2

Guron, Jean, Seigneur de, 181-2, 193

Gustavus Adolphus (King of Sweden), 209, 224, 232

Hanotaux, M. Gabriel, 21, 132

Harcourt, Henry de Lorraine, Comte d’, 253, 277

Hautefort, Mademoiselle (afterwards Madame) de, 264-5, 267, 269-71

Hay, James, Lord (see Carlisle), 85

Henriette Marie de France (Queen of
England), 68, 118, 144-5, 153-4, 156

Henry II., King (of England), 121

Henry II., King, 5

Henry III., King, 6, 8, 16, 132

Henry IV., King, 8, 10, 12, 13, 16, 23, 24, 26-37, 47, 48, 52-55, 64,
65, 69, 70, 79, 83, 103, 105, 113, 118, 124, 128, 138, 144,
151, 153, 161, 163, 170-71, 177, 221, 225, 229, 252, 295

Henry, Prince of Wales, 144

Hérouard, Jean, 82

Holland, Henry Rich, Earl of, 145

Isabel, Archduchess, 177, 181, 221

James I., King (of England), 28, 136, 144

Jamyn, Mademoiselle, 243

Jansenius, 23, 275

Jars, Chevalier de, 269

Jeanne, Queen, 17

Jeannin, President, 81, 98

John, King (of England), 120

Joseph, Père (François du Tremblay), 46, 57-62, 85, 105, 113-14, 116,
137, 142, 151, 159, 163, 187, 189, 206, 231, 239, 242, 257,
265, 272-3, 296

Joyeuse, Duc de (Père Ange), 34, 59, 272

La Brosse, 42

La Bruyère, Jean de, 245

Laffemas, Isaac, 222, 239, 269

La Porte, Amador de, 10, 11, 14, 16, 20, 117, 120, 183, 215, 232,
279

La Porte, Charles de (see Meilleraye)

La Porte, François de, 7, 11

La Porte, Suzanne de (Madame de Richelieu), 7, 11-14, 23, 65, 75,
86

La Porte (the Queen’s valet), 268-9

Laubardemont, Baron de, 288-9

Launay-Razilly, Claude, Seigneur de, 181

Le Fèvre, 293-4

Le Jay, Nicolas, 73, 76

Le Mercier, 15, 234

Lemoine, Cardinal, 17

Leopold, Archduke, 146

Le Roy, Guyon, 3

Le Roy, Jacques, 3

Lesdiguières, François de Bonne, Duc et Maréchal de, 91, 147, 150,
158, 161

Limoges, François de la Fayette, Bishop of, 266

Lisieux, Bishop of, 293

Longueville, Anne Geneviève de
Bourbon, Duchesse de, 105, 164, 246, 280

Longueville, Henry d’Orléans, Duc de, 66, 76, 86, 91, 122, 124, 137

Longueville, Mademoiselle de, 246

Lorraine, Charles, Duke of, 176, 181, 202, 218, 223-4, 249-51, 255,
278

Lorraine, Princesse Marguerite de (Duchesse d’Orléans), 224, 250

Lorraine, Nicolas François, Cardinal de, 250-51

Louis XI., King, 6, 169, 289

Louis XII., King, 4

Louis XIII., King, 32, 42, 53, 64, 68, 82-5, 94-105, 114-15, 119-31,
133, 136-44, 146-50, 152-8, 160-80, 183-92, 194-202, 205-16,
218-22, 224-32, 236, 239, 241, 246-51, 254, 257-60, 262-71,
273, 276-8, 282-9, 291-3, 297

Louis XIV., King, 28, 69, 142, 177, 192, 271

Louis, Saint, 34

Louvigny, Comte de, 173

Lude, François de Daillon, Comte du, 83, 120

Lusignan, Guy de, 2

Luynes, Charles d’Albert, Duc de, 83, 84, 94-8, 100-102, 105, 107-8,
112, 114-15, 117-24, 126-7, 129-30

Luynes, Marie de Rohan, Duchesse de (see Chevreuse)

Maillé-Brézé, Armand Jean de (Duc de Fronsac), 117, 280

Maillé-Brézé, Claire Clémence de, 12, 246, 280

Maillé-Brézé, Maréchal et Marquis de, 12, 106-7, 117, 181, 184, 228,
239, 256, 277, 279, 292

Maillé-Brézé, Marquise de (see Nicole de Richelieu)

Maline, Madame, 270

Mangot, Claude, 81, 86-9, 92, 97

Mansfeldt, Count, 155, 199

Mantua, Charles de Gonzague, Duke of (see Nevers)

Mantua, Vincenzo di Gonzaga, Duke of, 193

Marcillac, Prince de (Duc de la Rochefoucauld), 269

Marconnay, Madame de (Françoise du Plessis), 11, 13, 41

Marillac, Madame de (Catherine de Médicis), 223

Marillac, Louis, Maréchal de, 124, 183, 189, 201-2, 208, 211, 213,
216, 222-3, 236, 266

Marillac, Michel de, 159-61, 170, 194, 201, 211, 213, 216, 222, 266

Marolles, Claude de, 92

Marolles, Abbé Michel de, 92, 247

Marquemont, Cardinal de, 149

Martin, M. Henri, 72, 77, 91, 185, 195, 207, 232

Mary, Queen (of Scotland), 1

Maurice, Prince, 31

Mausson, Sieur de, 5, 6

Mayenne, Charles de Lorraine, Duc de, 65, 66, 91, 122, 124, 129

Mazarin, Jules (Cardinal), 11, 206, 239, 247, 273, 285, 292

Médicis, Queen Catherine de, 55

Médicis, Queen Marie de, 28-30, 32, 33, 35, 54-7, 61, 68-70, 72-9,
82-6, 88, 89, 91, 92, 94-103, 107, 111-15, 116-28, 130-37,
139-41, 144-7, 153, 159, 162-4, 167-70, 180, 186-8, 194-6,
201-3, 207-21, 223-4, 227, 229-30, 250-51, 256, 261-2, 264,
266, 282

Meilleraye, Charles de la Porte, Maréchal et Duc de la, 11, 203, 210,
215, 232, 239-40, 276, 279, 284, 292

Mercœur, Duc de, 36

Métezeau, 190

Michelet, Jules, 43, 132, 286

Miron, Robert, 67, 70, 71

Monot, Père, 266, 276

Montaigne, Michel de, 243

Montalto, Philothée, 74

Montbazon, Hercule de Rohan, Duc de, 53, 92, 105, 118

Montbrun, St. André de, 199

Montespan, Madame de, 4

Montglat, Baronne de, 30

Montglat, François de Clermont, Marquis de, 194, 257-8, 260-61, 263,
280, 288-9, 296

Montigny, François de la Grange, Maréchal de, 90, 91

Montluc, Maréchal de, 3

Montmorency, Henry I., Connétable et Duc de, 35, 64, 153

Montmorency, Henry II. Duc de, 35, 153, 161, 178, 183, 202, 205, 208,
222-3, 225-32

Montmorency, Duchesse de (Laurence de Montoison), 136

Montmorency, Duchesse de (Maria Felice Orsini), 226-7

Montmorency, Mademoiselle de (see Condé, Princesse de)

Montpensier, Duc de, 3, 33

Montpensier, Duchesse de (Catherine Marie de Lorraine), 8, 33

Montpensier, Henry de Bourbon, Duc de, 14, 33, 34, 42

Montpensier, Duchesse de (Henriette
Catherine de Joyeuse), 33, 59, 163, 172

Montpensier, Duchesse de (la Grande Mademoiselle) 15, 33, 133, 179,
237, 246, 252, 261-2, 264, 269, 280

Montpensier, Mademoiselle de (Duchesse d’Orléans), 33, 162-4, 172-4,
179

Montrésor, Comte de, 259-60

Moret, Antoine de Bourbon, Comte de, 218, 228-9

Mornay, Philippe du Plessis-, 47, 150

Motteville, Madame de, 163, 220, 264, 267, 269, 288

Mulot (chaplain), 22

Mulot (secretary), 239

Mulot (_le petit_), 296

Navailles, Seigneur de, 183

Navarre, Princesse Catherine de, 33

Nemours, Henry, Duc de, 124

Neufbourg, M. de, 65

Nevers, Charles de Gonzague, Duc de (see Mantua), 66, 90, 113, 151-2,
193-4, 201-3, 206, 209, 224, 256

Noyers, le Sieur Sublet de, 239-40, 268, 285, 291

Olivarez, Count, 159, 181, 277, 284

Orange, Prince of, 255

Oresme, Nicolas, 18

Orléans, Duc d’ (see Gaston)

Orléans, Duchesse d’ (see Lorraine)

Orléans, Nicolas, Duc d’, 163

Orléans, Duc d’ (see Philippe de France)

Orléans-Longueville, Madame Antoinette d’, 58-61

Ornano, Maréchal d’, 96, 120, 163-6, 169-70, 174, 176

Ornano, Maréchale d’, 166, 220

Paul V., Pope (Borghese), 23, 24, 58-60, 127

Paul, Vincent de, 22, 274

Pena, Henry Concini, Comte de la, 98

Péréfixe, Hardouin de, 31, 54, 55, 285

Perron, Cardinal du, 53, 69, 120

Philip II., King (of Spain), 1

Philip III., King (of Spain), 82

Philip IV., King (of Spain), 64, 146-7, 197, 267, 284

Philippe Auguste, King, 17, 85

Philippe le Bel, King, 17

Philippe de France (Duc d’Orléans), 271

Piedmont, Victor Amédée, Prince of (see Savoy)

Piney-Luxembourg, Léon d’Albert, Duc de, 83

Plessis, François du, 3

Plessis, Françoise du (see Marconnay)

Plessis, Geoffroy du, 2

Plessis, Jacques du, 14, 16, 39

Plessis, Louise du (Madame de Pontchâteau), 252

Plessis, Pierre du, 2

Plessis-Richelieu (see Richelieu)

Plessis, Sauvage du, 2

Pluvinel, M. de, 20-22

Polignac, Dame Anne de, 5

Pontchartrain, Paul Phélypeaux, Seigneur de, 88, 89, 91, 93

Pontchâteau, Mademoiselle Philippe de (Duchesse de Puylaurens),
252-3, 280

Pontchâteau, Mademoiselle Marie de (Duchesse de la Valette), 252, 280

Pont-de-Courlay, François de Vignerot, Marquis du, 279

Pont-de-Courlay, Marie Magdeleine Vignerot du (see Aiguillon)

Pont-de-Courlay, René de Vignerot, Seigneur de, 11, 55, 108-9

Poussin, Nicolas, 136

Puisieux, Pierre Brûlart de, 130, 136, 139

Puylaurens, Antoine de Lâge, Duc de, 217, 228, 251-3

Rabelais, 22

Rambouillet, Catherine de Vivonne, Marquise de, 242

Rambouillet, Charles d’Angennes, Marquis de, 214, 242

Rancé, Armand Jean de, 11

Rancé, Denys Bouthillier, Baron de, 11, 203, 210

Rapine, Florimond, 68

Ravaillac, François, 32, 52, 54

Renaudot, Théophraste, 239

Reni, Guido, 136

Retz, Abbé de (afterwards Cardinal), 264

Retz, Duc de, 125

Richelieu, Alphonse de (Archbishop of Lyons and Cardinal), 12, 16,
21, 22, 63, 86, 194, 279

Richelieu, Antoine du Plessis de (_le Moine_), 3, 4, 33, 43

Richelieu, Armand Jean du Plessis de (see Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu)

Richelieu, Cardinal-Duc de: his birth, family and childhood, 1-15;
education at the University, 16-20;
training as a soldier, 21-2;
second University course, 23;
consecration as Bishop of Luçon, 24-5;
Doctor of the Sorbonne, 26;
at the Court of Henry IV., 27-30;
life and work in the diocese of Luçon, 38-46;
friendship with Père Joseph, 46-7;
_Instructions et Maximes_, 48-52;
visit to Paris, 55-6;
affair of Fontevrault, 57-62;
political troubles, 64-6;
speech at States-General, 69-70;
Chaplain to Queen Anne, 72-5;
Private Secretary to Marie de Médicis, 84;
death of his mother, 86;
appointed Foreign Secretary, 87;
First Ministry, 88-92;
fall from power, 97-8;
exile with the Queen-mother, 100-2;
retirement in his diocese, 103-7;
banishment to Avignon, 108-10;
recalled to the Queen-mother’s service, 114-15;
death of his brother Henry, 117;
influence with Marie de Médicis, 123;
diplomatic success, 126;
marriage of his niece, 127;
stories and intrigues, 130;
receives the Cardinal’s Hat, 131;
personal descriptions, 132-3;
purchase and decoration of country-houses, 133-6;
employment of Fancan, 137-8;
admitted to the Royal Council, 140;
First Minister of France, 142;
political aims, 143;
the English marriage, 144-6;
affair of the Valtelline, 146-8;
Huguenot Rebellion, 148-53;
negotiations with Buckingham, 155;
peace with Spain, 159;
Army and Navy, etc., 160-61;
ill health and suffering, 162;
defeat of Chalais conspiracy, 163-75;
edict against feudal strongholds, 176;
edict against duels, 177-9;
war with England, 180;
Siege of La Rochelle, 181-92;
War of Mantuan Succession, 193-7;
final defeat of Huguenots, 198-200;
offers his resignation to Louis XIII., 201;
Italian campaign, 202-6;
The King’s illness, 207-8;
the Cardinal in imminent danger, 209-14;
his triumph, 215-16;
victory over his enemies, 217-20;
new honours, 221-2;
political vengeance, 222-3;
triumph over the Duc de Montmorency, 225-31;
illness and recovery, 232-3;
palaces and châteaux, 234-8;
his household and friends, 239-42;
the Academy founded by him, 244-5;
the performance of _Mirame_, 246-8;
dreams of conquest realised, 249-51;
family alliances, 252;
France joins in the Thirty Years’ War, 254;
defeat and panic, 255-6;
high courage of the Cardinal, 257;
danger of assassination, 259-60;
Court intrigues, 263-7;
Richelieu’s persecution of Queen Anne, 267-70;
death of Père Joseph, 271-2;
reforms in the Church, 274-5;
disappearance of enemies, 277;
family honours, 279-80;
internal worries, 281;
ill health, 282;
enmity with Cinq-Mars, 283-4;
terrible sufferings and last will, 285;
final triumphs, 286-9;
journey back to Paris, 290;
last illness, 292-3;
death at the Palais-Cardinal, 294;
funeral at the Sorbonne, 295;
general feeling in France, 296-7;
the tomb in the Church of the Sorbonne, 298

Richelieu, François du Plessis de (_le Sage_), 3, 4, 33

Richelieu, François du Plessis de (Grand Provost), 1, 6-9, 10, 12,
20, 132

Richelieu, François Louis de, 109

Richelieu, Françoise de (Madame du Pont-de-Courlay), 11, 63, 279

Richelieu, Henry, Marquis de, 12, 14, 16, 31, 43, 55, 56, 86, 91,
102, 107-9, 116-17

Richelieu, Louis du Plessis de (grandfather), 4, 7, 11, 12

Richelieu, Louis du Plessis de (uncle), 6

Richelieu, Marquise de (Marguerite Guiot des Charmeaux), 109

Richelieu, Nicole de (Madame de Maillé-Brézé), 12, 86, 106-7, 215

Rivière, Abbé de la, 288

Roannez, Duchesse de, 220

Rochechouart, Antoine de, 4

Rochechouart, Françoise de (Dame de Richelieu), 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 46

Rochefoucauld, François, Cardinal de la, 116

Rocheposay, M. de la (Bishop of Poitiers), 45, 65, 66, 104

Roches, Michel Le Masle, Prieur des, 134-6, 239

Rohan, Henry, Duc de, 65, 74, 75, 122, 124, 148-52, 181, 189, 193,
198, 200, 255

Rohan, Duchesse de (Marguerite de Béthune), 151

Rohan, Vicomtesse de (Catherine de
Parthenay-Soubise), 150-51, 172, 182, 191

Rossignol, Antoine, 239

Rotrou, Jean de, 245

Rubens, Pierre-Paul, 135

Rucellai, the Abbé, 111, 116-17

Saint-Aignan, Comte de, 125

Saint-Cyran, Abbé de (Duvergier de Hauranne), 45, 65, 66, 104, 275

Sainte-Croix, Madame de, 45

Saint-Georges, Jeanne de Harlay, Marquise de, 261-2

Saint-Georges, le Sieur de, 240

Saint-Ibal, M. de, 259-60

Saint-Preuil, Comte de, 229

Saint-Simon, Claude, Duc de, 211, 214

Saint-Simon, Louis, Duc de, 129

Sales, St. François de, 22, 274

Savoy, Charles Emmanuel I., Duke of, 87, 91, 112, 147-8, 159, 165,
181, 194, 197, 203-6

Savoy, Prince Thomas of, 118

Savoy, Victor Amédée I., Duke of (Prince of Piedmont), 112, 118, 196,
253, 256

Saxe-Weimar, Duke Bernard of, 255, 259, 276

Schomberg, Henry, Maréchal de, 183, 189, 195, 202, 216, 228, 232

Scudéry, Georges de, 295

Séguier, Pièrre (Chancellor), 269-70, 288

Sénecé, Baron de, 70

Sénecé, Marquise de, 268

Sillery, Nicolas Brûlart de, 64, 68, 76, 81, 130, 136, 139

Smith, Richard, 23

Soissons, Anne de Montafié, Comtesse de, 90, 122, 137, 278

Soissons, Charles de Bourbon, Comte de, 32, 33, 44, 56, 90, 144

Soissons, Louis de Bourbon, Comte de, 90, 124, 165, 172, 174, 176,
181, 189, 210, 222, 256-62, 270, 277-9

Soubise, Benjamin de Rohan, Duc de, 76, 149-53, 157, 181-2, 189, 198

Soufflot, 17

Sourdis, Cardinal François de (Archbishop of Bordeaux), 63, 67, 182

Sourdis, Henry de (Bishop of Maillezais and Archbishop of Bordeaux),
182, 189, 192, 236-7, 239, 256

Spinola, Marquis, 202

Suffren, Père, 213, 219

Sully, Maximilien de Béthune, Duc de, 27, 29, 36, 43, 55, 57, 64, 65,
76, 86, 88, 89, 161

Tallemant des Réaux, Gédéon, 7, 127, 243

Thémines, Antoine, Marquis de, 32, 117

Thémines, Marquis et Maréchal de, 173

Thianges, Madame de, 4

Thou, Jacques Auguste de, 106

Thou, François Auguste de, 106, 283, 288-9

Tilly, Comte de, 199

Tiriot, 190

Toiras, Jean, Maréchal de, 181, 184-5, 202, 204

Touchet, Marie (Comtesse d’Entraigues), 35

Tremblay, Charles Le Clerc, Seigneur du, 85, 96, 114-15

Tremblay, François Le Clerc, Marquis du (see Père Joseph)

Tremoïlle, Henry, Duc de la, 76, 189

Troisville (ou Tréville), M. de, 291

Turenne, Henry de la Tour d’Auvergne, Vicomte et Maréchal de, 284

Urban VIII., Pope (Barberini), 134, 147, 221, 252, 272-5

Valençay, Achille de (Commander, afterwards Cardinal), 167

Valette, Bernard de Nogaret, Marquis, then Duc de la, 35, 173, 252

Valette, Louis de Nogaret, Cardinal de la (Archbishop of Toulouse),
115, 119, 202, 214, 222, 239, 242, 259, 273

Valois, Queen Marguerite de, 30, 67, 79, 153

Vardes, Comte de, 221

Vardes, Comtesse de (see Bueil)

Varenne, Fouquet de la (Bishop of Angers), 120

Varenne, Guillaume Fouquet, Marquis de la, 83

Varicarville, 260

Vautier, 220

Vendôme, Alexandre de (Grand Prieur de France), 124, 165, 167,
170-71, 176, 201

Vendôme, Catherine Henriette de (Duchesse d’Elbeuf), 105, 220

Vendôme, César, Duc de, 33, 35, 66, 91, 122-5, 152, 165, 170-73, 176,
218, 297

Vendôme, Duchesse de (Françoise de Lorraine), 36

Vendôme, Mademoiselle de, 246

Verneuil, Henriette d’Entraigues, Marquise de, 35, 78

Verneuil, Mademoiselle de, 35

Vieuville, Charles, Marquis de la, 138-42, 145

Vigean, Mademoiselle du, 280

Vignerot, Armand Jean de, 279, 296

Vignerot, François de (see Pont-de-Courlay)

Vignerot, Jean Baptiste Amador de, 279

Vignerot, Marie Thérèse de (see Agénois)

Vignerot, René de (see Pont-de-Courlay)

Ville-aux-Clercs, Henry Auguste de Loménie, Sieur de la (Comte de
Brienne), 149, 219

Villeroy, Nicolas de Neufville, Duc de, 37, 51, 64, 74, 77, 81, 88,
98, 105-6, 115

Vitry, Nicolas de l’Hôpital, Maréchal de, 95, 96, 256

Vivonne, Duc de, 4

Voltaire, François Arouet de, 8, 17

Vouet, Simon, 236-8

Wallenstein, Comte de, 253

Werth, John of, 256-8

Yon, Jean, 18, 19, 22

Yver, François, 14, 16, 23

Zamet, Sébastien, 30

Zamet, Sébastien (Bishop of Langres), 90

_Printed by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury._

Transcriber’s Notes

A few minor punctuation errors and omissions have been silently corrected.

The spelling of Champagne has been corrected in the List of Illustrations.

Page 108: “seeems to have” changed to “seems to have”

Page 126: “have preresented him” changed to “have represented him”

Page 217: “of his favourrites” changed to “of his favourites”

Page 272: “exploits of Godefory” changed to “exploits of Godefroy”