Cardinal Richelieu
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Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu, known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French statesman and prelate of the Catholic Church. He became known as l'Éminence Rouge, or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the title "Eminence" applied to cardinals and from the red robes that they customarily wear.
The young Louis XIII; only a figurehead during his early reign; power actually rested with his mother Marie de' Medici.
Jean Warin, Cardinal de Richelieu 1622 (obverse), 1631
On the "Day of the Dupes" in 1630, it appeared that Marie de Médicis had secured Richelieu's dismissal. Richelieu, however, survived the scheme, and Marie was exiled as a result.
Chief minister of France
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The chief minister of France or, closer to the French term, chief minister of state, or prime minister of France were and are informal titles given to various personages who received various degrees of power to rule the Kingdom of France on behalf of the monarch during the Ancien Régime. The titles were however informal and used more as job descriptions.
Image: French School Portrait of Francis I of France c. 1530
Image: Brune Claude d'Annebaut (1495 1552) MV 973
Image: Clouet montmorencyanne