Cardinal Richelieu

Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu, known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French Catholic statesman and prelate who had an outsize influence in civil and religious affairs. He became known as l'Éminence Rouge, a term derived from the title "Eminence" applied to cardinals and their customary red robes.

Consecrated a bishop in 1607, Richelieu was appointed Foreign Secretary in 1616. He continued to rise through the hierarchy of both the Catholic Church and the French government, becoming a cardinal in 1622 and chief minister to King Louis XIII of France in 1624. He retained that office until his death in 1642, when he was succeeded by Cardinal Jules Mazarin, whose career the cardinal had fostered. Richelieu became engaged in a bitter dispute with Marie de Médici, the king's mother, and formerly his close ally.