Richelieu: His Rise to Power

First published in English in 1940, this fascinating memoir details Cardinal Richelieu’s rise to power from bishop to cardinal and King Louis XIII’s chief minister.

Cardinal Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu and Fronsac (9 September 1585 - 4 December 1642), commonly referred to as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman, nobleman, 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.

“To the reader of this biography, Richelieu becomes one of the most cunning, far-seeing, and resourceful of statesmen. One sees how the cardinal, bent upon getting behind the wheel of state, overcomes powerful opposition and finally reaches his objective. This is a work by a skilled artist....His book reads like a novel of adventure.”—Franklin C. Palm, Journal of Modern History

“Professor Burckhardt has wrought brilliantly. Himself a statesman, he is particularly felicitous in his lucid analysis of complicated diplomatic tangles and his intuitive understanding of political psychology.—Arthur M. Wilson, American Historical Review

“A brilliant and profound study.”—Carl J. Friedrich in The Age of the Baroque, 1619-1660