Cardinal Richelieu
1585–1642 · French (Paris/Richelieu) · Early Modern France, Thirty Years' War
Known for: Chief Minister of France who centralized royal power and made France the dominant European state
Richelieu was a Catholic cardinal who served as King Louis XIII's chief minister and effectively ruled France for 18 years. He destroyed the political power of the Huguenots, humbled the French nobility, and made France the dominant power in Europe by intervening (on the Protestant side!) in the Thirty Years' War.
He founded the Académie Française, built the Palais-Royal, and established the template for the modern centralized state. He was the villain of Dumas's Three Musketeers but was actually far more effective than the heroes.
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