Anne
& the Duke of Buckingham
In June 1625 the
wedding of Louis’ sister Henrietta Maria to Charles I of England was
celebrated. The English party, collecting the princess, was headed by the
vainglorious Duke of Buckingham, a man addicted to conspicuous consumption. His
gala wardrobe of 27 suits stunned the parsimonious Parisians. The pièce de
resistance was a cloak with diamonds (at the time said to be worth £80,000, now
worth £12.3 million[i]).
Unfortunately the Duke decided that relations between the two countries would
be assisted by his ‘falling in love’ with the French Queen. Buckingham spent a
lot of time conversing with the lonely queen, much to her husband’s discontent.
On the ceremonial
journey escorting Henrietta Maria to the coast the party stopped at Amiens.
Buckingham took the opportunity to take a nocturnal, unescorted walk with Queen
Anne in the garden of the palace where she was staying. The concerned courtiers
were drawn to the scene by a cry for help. Buckingham disappeared in the
resulting mayhem. Buckingham abandoned his new queen at Boulogne; returning to
Amiens with a letter for the Queen Mother, from Charles I. After meeting with
Marie; Buckingham then had a further meeting with Anne in her bedroom,
informing her of his desperate love for her, before returning to Boulogne. Louis
was kept up to date on this brief romantic entanglement by Richelieu. The result
was the estrangement of the royal couple.
The
Chalais Conspiracy
 |
| Gaston d'Orleans |
In August 1626,
encouraged as ever by the Duchess de Chevreuse, the Queen foolishly became involved
in the Chalais conspiracy to unseat Richelieu & place Gaston, Louis’
brother, on the throne of France. Gaston had always been spoilt as he was the
Queen Mother’s favourite child. The Comte de Soissons and Louis’ half brothers
were also involved in the plot.
Anne asked Madame
de Chevreuse to ensure that Gaston’s governor persuaded Gaston to refuse
marriage with a rich heiress. Louis was concerned at Gaston’s refusal as he believed
his brother wanted not only his throne but his wife as well; a concern that was
increased by his brother’s demand to be given charge of the army. Louis had his
brother’s governor Ornano arrested and his papers scrutinised.
Chalais, one of
Marie de Chevreuse’s lovers, informed his uncle of the plot against Richelieu,
who was to be murdered, and the king. The uncle reported the plot to Richelieu,
confirming the plans discovered in Ornano’s papers. Louis had his half-brothers
arrested & imprisoned, while Gaston got away with marrying his heiress. The
unlucky Chalais was executed; as Richelieu believed that Gaston might be
sufficiently shocked seeing a friend punished for his own conspiracy, to stop
his further involvement in conspiring against the crown. Unfortunately Gaston
was too much of an egotist & too firmly convinced that he, not his brother,
should be ruling the country, to be affected by the death of a friend. The
Duchess de Chevreuse was exiled to her estates.
The
Day of Dupes
.jpg) |
| Cardinal Richelieu |
In November 1630, Louis & the court
returned to Paris at the end of a campaign in Savoy. Louis & Richelieu had
both been ill & the king was slowly recovering from an abdominal abscess. His
mother caused a set-back in Louis’ health by demanding that he dismiss
Richelieu. In Paris a scene between the three protagonists ended without a
decision by the king, despite an offer from Richelieu to resign. Marie de
Medici believed she had won and so informed her supporters.
 |
| Louis XIII |
The next day the Cardinal’s
antechambers, usually full of supplicants, were empty as the credulous flocked
to visit the Queen Mother at the Luxembourg Palace. The following day Louis
summoned Richelieu to a meeting. He confirmed Richelieu in his position as the
king’s chief adviser. Louis believed that his mother had been led astray by the
cabal supporting her. In any event Richelieu’s support & advice was more
essential for good governance of the country, than his mother’s. Marillac was
removed as Keeper of the Seals & the post given to a Richelieu supporter,
Chateuneuf; who was later suborned by the woman who became his mistress -
Madame de Chevreuse.
In early 1631,
having failed to receive the rich rewards he felt due to him as heir to the
throne, Gaston left France for Spanish ruled Besançon. Louis decided to make
his mother governor of Moulins. She prevaricated, and finally made a dash for
the Spanish Netherlands. She never returned to France, from whence Louis cut
off her allowances. From Brussels Marie accused Richelieu of subverting the
king’s power. Louis had to attend court in August to deny his mother’s
accusations.
Gaston meanwhile
was fortifying Orleans, against which Louis marched. Gaston fled to Lorraine
and Louis had both Marie’s & Gaston’s supporters found guilty of
lèse-majesté. Peace between Lorraine & France was signed in January 1632.
Gaston had already joined his mother in Brussels, where they were plotting to
lead an army provided by the Spanish and the Duke of Lorraine. Montmorency, one
of the Marshall’s of France and governor of Languedoc, was persuaded to join
the rebellion, the failure of which cost him his head. Anne was one of those
who pleaded with Louis for Montmorency’s life.
By January 1633,
following the campaigns of the previous year, Richelieu was seriously ill and
many believed he was on his death bed. Chateauneuf was corresponding with the
Duchess de Chevreuse and anticipating taking over from Richelieu in the king’s
council. Louis had Chateauneuf arrested and his correspondence with his
mistress was seized, while Madame de Chevreuse was again exiled.
Letters
to Spain
 |
| Duchess de Chevreuse |
In 1637 Anne was
discovered to be in secret correspondence with the former Spanish ambassador in
Paris, Mirabel. Anne was a deeply religious woman, influenced by her parents.
So there was little surprise at her frequent visits to the convent at Val de
Grâce, where the abbess was a Spaniard. The convent served as a clearing house
for Spanish news and was kept under surveillance. Following the discovery of a
letter from Anne to Mirabel, one of Anne’s servants, de la Porte, was arrested.
The abbey was searched & the abbess removed from her post by the Archbishop
of Paris.
Confronted by
Richelieu, Anne confessed to corresponding with the Spanish authorities in an
attempt to prevent a Franco-British alliance, which would have been detrimental
to Spain. Anne had been advised throughout by her evil genius Madame de
Chevreuse, who now took the opportunity to escape to England, with the aid of
the Spanish. Very few restrictions were placed on the queen, whose confession
was made on 17th August, beyond having members of her household
approved by the king & cessation of any correspondence with the Duchess de
Chevreuse.
Bibliography
Richelieu and His Age –
His Rise to Power – Carl J Burckhardt, 1967 George Allen & Unwin
Richelieu and His Age –
The Assertion of Power and the Cold War - Carl J Burckhardt, 1970 George Allen
& Unwin
Richelieu and His Age –
Power Politics and the Cardinal’s Death – Carl J Burckhardt, 1971 George Allen
& Unwin
Cardinal Richelieu and
the Making of France – Anthony Levi, 2000 Constable
France in the Age of
Louis XIII & Richelieu – Victor L Tapié, 1988 Cambridge University Press
Richelieu and the
French Monarchy – CV Wedgewood, 1949 Hodder & Stoughton
http://en.wikipedia.org
Gaston, as well as being an idiot and an egotist, apparently had no dress sense... mind you, all of the clothes of the period were singularly ugly.
ReplyDeleteRichlieu stands out as a statesman and pragmatist against the vanities and petty politicking of everyone else around him. Herein however the first seeds of what was to lead to the French Revolution...