RICHELIEU CARDINAL DE: (1585-1642) Armand Jean du Plessis. French Clergyman and Statesman, Chief Minister of King ...

RICHELIEU CARDINAL DE: (1585-1642) Armand Jean du Plessis. French Clergyman and Statesman, Chief Minister of King Louis XIII 1624-42.
A fine D.S., Le Card de Richelieu, one page (vellum), slim oblong folio, Garonne(?), 2nd April 1636, in old French. The attractively penned manuscript document appoints Baron D´allemagne to be Chief Commander of the Squadron of Provence, Naval Army of the West, and states, in part, `His Majesty having instructed to put at our disposal His very powerful naval army, including numerous war vessels and those of His subjects to fight against his enemies, we have judged that it was most important in order to serve His Majesty that the appointment of the Head Commander of the Provence squadron would be granted to an individual with long experience and whose proven capacity and bravery would be known to us.....We have therefore, by His Majesty orders and power, granted instructions to bestow upon you the honour, authority and privileges for such duty, instructing, ordering and signing the present document with the seal of our coat of arms...´ Signed at the foot by Cardinal Richelieu in his capacity as Naval Superintendent of the Navigation and Commerce of France. With Richelieu's (largely intact) red wax seal affixed by the original pendent strip. The seal, as mentioned, bears Richelieu's coat of arms and features a good impression of the three chevrons de gueules. A small area to the lower left corner of the document has been neatly clipped, not affecting the text or signatures, otherwise VGBaron Jean Louis D´allemagne had previously served as a General under the Duke of Savoy and returned to Provence and to the French Royal Court in 1635 at which time Cardinal de Richelieu appointed him Naval Commander of the Fleet, created specifically for the Lerins Islands conflict.Richelieu was consecrated as a Bishop in 1607 and appointed Foreign Secretary in 1616, soon rising in both the Catholic Church and French Government, becoming a Cardinal in 1622. He served as King Louis XIII's Chief Minister from 1624, remaining in office until his death in 1642. Ricelieu's tenure oversaw a crucial period of reform for France and his policies of consolidating royal power, crushing domestic factions and restraining the power of the nobility led to the transformation of France into a strong, centralised state. Notable for his authoritarian measures employed to maintain power, Richelieu censored the press, established a large network of internal spies and forbade the discussion of political matters in public assemblies; those who dared to conspire against him were prosecuted and executed. His legacy is also important for the world at large; his ideas of a strong nation-state and aggressive foreign policy helped create the modern system of international politics. The notions of national sovereignty and international law can be traced, at least in part, to Richelieu's policies and theories. The Cardinal is one of the leading characters in Alexandre Dumas' masterpiece The Three Musketeers, in which he is portrayed as a self-serving and ruthless de facto ruler of France.