Cardinal Richelieu
Religious Leader
This powerful seventeenth-century religious and political leader served as Chief Minister to King Louis XIII of France and was also appointed French Secretary of State. He played a major role in limiting the power of the European Habsburg family and in securing France's victory in the Thirty Years' War.
In his late childhood years, he studied philosophy and undertook military training. In his early twenties, he was given the title of Bishop of Luçon.
A notable arts patron, he established the their Académie Française.
Born Armand Jean du Plessis, he grew up in Paris, France, as the fourth child of François du Plessis and Susanne de La Porte.
A fictionalized version of Richelieu appears as a main character in Alexandre Dumas' their novel The Three Musketeers.