CARDINAL RICHELIEU
1585 - 1642

Armand-Jean du Plessis Cardinal and Duke de Richelieu was also called The Red Eminence.

Cardinal Richelieu was the chief minister to King Louis XIII of France from 1624 - 1642.

In such capacity, Richelieu broke the power of the nobility, reduced the Huguenots to complete subjection.

And by aiding the Protestant German princes in the latter part of the Thirty Years' War, Richelieu managed to humiliate France's ancient rival, Austria.