In December 1793, a crowd of Parisians burst into the Sorbonne church with loud shouts, where Cardinal Richelieu's ashes had been buried for 150 years. Excited people opened the tomb and tore the remains of the once powerful cardinal. This is just one piece of evidence that Richelieu's personality and deeds were controversial in French society.
Inconsistency of Richelieu's personality assessments
Many years after the mockery of the cardinal's remains, the French people paid tribute to the leader of medieval France. Richelieu's contribution to military and political history was widely reported in the country. Oddly enough, but some researchers agree that the cardinal has achieved especially great success not in governing the country, not in diplomacy and economy, but in culture.
Cardinal Richelieu can be classified as one of the rare statesmen whose actions and decisions still cause heated debate in society. The mark that the politician left in the history of France and all of Europe turned out to be too deep. In terms of significance, the personality of Richelieu, who acted in the political arena in the first half of the 17th century, can only be compared with Cromwell, Peter the Great or Napoleon Bonaparte.
However, during his lifetime, Richelieu was not popular among the French population. Not only the people, but also the aristocrats feared the cardinal and hated him. And this is not surprising, because Richelieu contributed to the decline of the nobility, undermining by his actions the feudal foundations of old France. And the military actions unleashed by him against the Habsburgs led to the aggravation of the misfortunes of the masses.
The significance of the activities of Cardinal Richelieu for France
Historians call the main result of Richelieu's political activity the establishment of absolutism in France. The cardinal managed to radically rebuild the monarchy, founded before him on the basis of the estate principle. The measures carried out by Richelieu weakened the opposition in the person of the aristocracy. He practically overcame the separatist tendencies prevalent in the regions of France, opposing them with national interests.
The cardinal is rightfully credited with the achievement of the idea of the so-called "European equilibrium". Although Richelieu did not live to see the end of the Thirty Years' War, France owes its victory here almost exclusively to the cardinal. The political decisions of this figure averted the threat of Habsburg hegemony from Europe.
Under Richelieu, France's colonial policy, maritime affairs and international trade relations began to develop. The cardinal managed to conclude several dozen treaties with various states, including Russia. During the years of the political power of the cardinal, France strengthened the central state power and its independence in the field of foreign policy.
Richelieu attached particular importance to the development of culture and science in the country. The cardinal became the founder of the French Academy and patronized the best poets and artists. Richelieu's successful policy is probably explained by the fact that outside France he had no personal interests and almost never made concessions to the opposition if such actions could harm the country.
