Richelieu: His Rise to Power

by Prof. Carl J. Burckhardt, Edwin & Willa Muir (Translator)

Overview

First published in English in 1940, this fascinating memoir details Cardinal Richelieu’s rise to power from bishop to cardinal and King Louis XIII’s chief minister.

Cardinal Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu and Fronsac (9 September 1585 - 4 December 1642), commonly referred to as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman, nobleman, and statesman. He was consecrated as a bishop in 1607 and was appointed Foreign Secretary in 1616. Richelieu soon rose in both the Catholic Church and the French government, 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 Cardinal Mazarin, whose career he had fostered.

“To the reader of this biography, Richelieu becomes one of the most cunning, far-seeing, and resourceful of statesmen. One sees how the cardinal, bent upon getting behind the wheel of state, overcomes powerful opposition and finally reaches his objective. This is a work by a skilled artist....His book reads like a novel of adventure.”—Franklin C. Palm, Journal of Modern History

“Professor Burckhardt has wrought brilliantly. Himself a statesman, he is particularly felicitous in his lucid analysis of complicated diplomatic tangles and his intuitive understanding of political psychology.—Arthur M. Wilson, American Historical Review

“A brilliant and profound study.”—Carl J. Friedrich in The Age of the Baroque, 1619-1660

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781787206328
Publisher:	Borodino Books
Publication date:	07/11/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	264
File size:	919 KB

About the Author

CARL JACOB BURCKHARDT (September 10, 1891 - March 3, 1974) was a Swiss diplomat and historian. His career alternated between periods of academic historical research and diplomatic postings; the most prominent of the latter were League of Nations High Commissioner for the Free City of Danzig (1937-1939) and President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (1945-1948).

Burckhardt was born in Basel and studied at the universities of Basel, Zürich, Munich, and Göttingen, earning his doctorate in 1922. He then accepted an appointment with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which posted him to Asia Minor.

On his return to Switzerland in 1922 he pursued an academic career; he was appointed Privatdozent at the University of Zurich in 1927, and extraordinary professor of contemporary history in 1929. From 1932-1937 he was ordinary professor at the recently created Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva.

He returned to a diplomatic career in 1937, serving as the final League of Nations High Commissioner for the Free City of Danzig from 1937-1939, then to his professorship in Geneva for the rest of World War II (1939-1945). He was also active in a leading role in the ICRC and at war end became President of the ICRC, simultaneously serving as the Swiss envoy in Paris (1945-1948).

After 1949 he returned to his academic career, publishing a number of books. In 1954 he was awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. He died in 1974 in Vinzel.