Cardinal Richelieu was a French clergyman, noble, and statesman.
Consecrated as a bishop in 1607, he later entered politics, becoming a
Secretary of State in 1616. Richelieu soon rose in both the Church and
the state, 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 Jules Cardinal Mazarin. As chief minister, the
Cardinal de Richelieu sought to consolidate royal power and crush
domestic factions. By restraining the power of the nobility, he
transformed France into a strongly centralised state. His chief
foreign policy objective was to check the power of the Austro-Spanish
Habsburg dynasty; although a Roman Catholic cardinal, he did not
hesitate to make alliances with Protestant rulers in attempting to
achieve this goal. His tenure was marked by the Thirty Years' War that
engulfed Europe. Richelieu was also famous for his patronage of the
arts; most notably, he founded the Académie française, the learned
society responsible for matters pertaining to the French language.
Richelieu is also known by the sobriquet l'Éminence rouge ("the Red
Eminence"), from the red shade of a cardinal's vestments.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Richelieu
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1860:
The first successful Pony Express run was started.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_Express)
1948:
The Marshall Plan to financially assist the re-building of Europe
following World War II began.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Plan)
1974:
The Super Outbreak of 148 tornadoes killed 315 people and injured
5,484 in 13 U.S. states at the end of a very strong La Niña event.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Outbreak)
1975:
Bobby Fischer refused to play Anatoly Karpov, giving Karpov the chess
title.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Fischer)
1996:
Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski was arrested.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Kaczynski)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"Not all are called to be artists in the specific sense of the term.
Yet, as Genesis has it, all men and women are entrusted with the task
of crafting their own life: in a certain sense, they are to make of it
a work of art, a masterpiece." -- Pope John Paul II
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II)