Éminence: Cardinal Richelieu and the Rise of France
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Overview
Chief minister to King Louis XIII, Cardinal Richelieu was the architect of a new France in the seventeenth century, and the force behind the nation's rise as a European power. Among the first statesmen to clearly understand the necessity of a balance of powers, he was one of the early realist politicians, practicing in the wake of Niccolò Machiavelli. Truly larger than life, he has captured the imagination of generations, both through his own story and through his portrayal as a ruthless political mastermind in Alexandre Dumas's classic The Three Musketeers.
Forging a nation-state amid the swirl of unruly, grasping nobles, widespread corruption, wars of religion, and an ambitious Habsburg empire, Richelieu's hands were always full. Serving his fickle monarch, he mastered the politics of absolute power. Jean-Vincent Blanchard's rich and insightful new biography brings Richelieu fully to life in all his complexity. At times cruel and ruthless, Richelieu was always devoted to creating a lasting central authority vested in the power of monarchy, a power essential to France's position on the European stage for the next two centuries. Richelieu's careful understanding of politics as spectacle speaks to contemporary readers; much of what he accomplished was promoted strategically through his great passion for theater and literature, and through the romance of power. Éminence offers a rich portrait of a fascinating man and his era, and gives us a keener understanding of the dark arts of politics.
A major new biography of one of history's most powerful and fascinating statesmen.
Vivid.... readers conditioned by Alexander Dumas's "The Three Musketeers" to see Richelieu as an arch villain will be prompted to a rethinking by ÉMINENCE.
Jean-Vincent Blanchard, professor of French at Swarthmore, has written an elegant and readable new biography that reveals what a political genius Richelieu really was.... Blanchard's emphasis on Richelieu's own conception of the religious statesman may be this book's most important contribution.... [his] treatment of the frequently troubled, yet ultimately critical relationship between king and minister is both comprehensive and accessible. Given the richness and complexity of the source material, this is no mean accomplishment.
Lovers of intrigue and derring-do will enjoy Jean-Vincent Blanchard's ÉMINENCE.... [his] lively style will appeal to general readers, while history buffs will appreciate his careful footnotes and plethora of primary sources.
A colorfully entertaining and beautifully crafted biography.... a lavishly detailed, often gripping, historical drama.... Readers will learn about every betrayal, plot, house arrest and assassination attempt, and how high-stakes politics could cost ambitious courtiers their lives.... if you are fascinated by political intrigue, this is your book.
- Title: Éminence: Cardinal Richelieu and the Rise of France
- Author: Jean-Vincent Blanchard
- Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
- Print Publication Date: 2011
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Pages: 320
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9780802778536, 9780802778529, 0802778526, 0802778534
- Resource ID: LLS:9780802778536
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-22T15:23:35Z
Jean-Vincent Blanchard is an associate professor of French literature and politics at Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. He is the author of several books published in France; this is his first book published in English.