WILL LOUIS HELP THE POOR WITH PEACE AND TAX REFORM,
OR GRIND THEM DOWN STILL MORE WITH HIGHER TAXES DUE TO WAR?
Marie's tantrum against Prime Minister Richelieu in the king's presence bring two days of crisis called the "Day of Dupes" and the choice for Richelieu and war.
(November 10-11, 1630)
Basic account:
The recollections of the Duke of Saint-Simon, who was present immediately after the event,
as told his son (the memoirist).
Presented with comments by Georges Mongrédian,
The Day of Dupes, 1961 (in French)
 |
| By Theodore Cabu, illustrated by Maurice Leloir, 1903 |
A hagiography
Bishop of a destitute commune of western France (Luçon), Richelieu believed that unless the poor were treated like mules they would not work. He also confirmed Louis XIII's authoritarianism and helped found the centralized French State. Conservative historians admire him.
# # #
- Richelieu comes to power by helping Marie return to favor after her fall, then takes her place as the king's main counselor. She hates him for that betrayal* and for his policies of violence.
*Which was felt still more strongly than it would be today: A subordinate's loyalty was considered automatic and the difference in rank made him her servant.
- She arranges a meeting with Louis to have him disgraced but leaves a door unlocked, and he suddenly appears. Stupefied, she insults him in a way that is "unimaginable," "out of the gutter"...
Maurice Leloir
Richelieu throws himself at her feet, kisses the hem of her robe, bursts into tears and begs the king to let him return to his lands. When Louis says nothing, he leaves. A few minutes later the king passes before him and meets his bow with glacial silence. Fearing arrest and execution, recalling Concini's mutilated corpse and the rapidity with which one's fate can change, he prepares to flee.
At home, Louis "threw himself on his bed and tore off his doublet so furiously that the buttons flew off." But after reflection at his hunting lodge at Versailles, he sends for Richelieu to join him. Shocked by Marie's disrespect for monarchy shown by her language in his presence, he makes a decision that was almost unimaginable then, of choosing an underling over the queen of France, widow of Henri IV and mother of the queens of Spain and England, and Duchess of Savoy. As well, though deeply religious he transgresses the commandment "Honor thy father and thy mother," an act for which for the rest of his life he will feel guilty.
Marie has chosen Michel de Marillac, * the head of the Catholic pro-peace faction, as the new Prime Minister. Richelieu has him arrested; he will die in prison. He also warns adversaries that opposing him will strike their families too by having Marillac's brother, the Captain of the Royal Guard, decapitated on a trumped-up charge.
* Uncle of Saint Louise de Marillac. For more about her and the impressive Catholics of the time, please click.
# # #
Marie remains Richelieu's implacable opponent, and helps Gaston foment the revolts that follow. She says that her only regret is forgetting to bolt a door and dies in exile, almost without resources.
(In 1642)
- Misogyny and nationalism lead to dismissing her as "without grace, heavy, with eyes that were round and inexpressive, brutal gestures and incurable vulgarity [...] silly, proud, short-tempered, opinionated, lazy."
-- Richelieu by Philippe Erlanger, 1996, p.77.
More objective but still negative:
Marie de Médicis by Philippe Delorme, 1998, and
The Queens of France under the Bourbons by Simone Bertière, 2003
(All in French)
- She can also be seen as feisty and determined, and above all, be respected for trying to maintain peace.
# # #
With her fall, France lurches into the frightful Thirty Years' War:
- Central Europe loses a third of its population and Burgundy, Lorraine and Picardy are devastated. Fifty years later Protestants fleeing France find a welcome from German princes wishing to replace slaughtered populations.
The Pillaging of Wommelgen by Sebastian Vranx, 1625-30 / zoom |
- Most of the kingdom is spared fighting on its soil, but taxes and requisitions bring revolt and repression:
The Miseries of war: Hangings by Jacques Callot, 1632-1633 / zoom
# # #
The "Day of Dupes" is considered one of "The days that made France "* ...
* Title of the series in which the study mentioned at the top of the page appears
...because, it is said, bringing the country into that struggle kept Spain from dismembering or conquering it.
But in the 1630's...
- Spain had 8 240 000 residents, France 20 000 000 (please click).
- Spain's economy was archaic, France's one of emerging capitalism.
A Spanish victory was impossible
and French hegemony in the long term inevitable.
# # #
Children can play the scene, thinking up insults
End of this section.
("Your socks stink!")
They'll roll around laughing and love history.
They can question that anecdotal approach later.
* * *
Next section,
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