Jules Mazarin: Statesman, Diplomat, Cardinal

Thanks to the book and film versions of The Three Musketeers, many people know of the power wielded in 17th century France by First Minister of State, Cardinal Richelieu. Not many likely know that Richelieu’s assistant and successor, the Abruzzo-born Jules Mazarin, had an equally noteworthy career and a lasting impact on European diplomacy and politics.

Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino was born on July 14, 1602, in the community of Pescina (population 4,195 according to the Census) in the province of L’Aquila in the region of Abruzzo. His father Pietro was a chamberlain for the wealthy Colonna family, and his mother, Ortensia Bufalini, was a Roman noblewoman. Giulio was the oldest of two boys and four girls.

Giulio was admitted to the Jesuit College in Rome at the age of seven. At the age of 20, he entered Complutense University in Madrid, Spain, to study law. There he learned Spanish as a second language. He returned to Rome to complete his legal studies and received the title of doctor in 1628 so that he could practice both civil and canonical law. He then became a lieutenant in the army of the Papal States. Later that year, Pope Urban VIII made him a papal emissary. Mazzarino achieved his first diplomatic success on April 6, 1631, with the Treaty of Cherasco between France and Spain, to the satisfaction of King Louis XIII of France and his First Minister of State, Cardinal Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu. In 1632, the same pope named Mazzarino the vice-legate at Avignon, France, and appointed him a prelate entitled to wear ecclesiastical dress. However, he never became a priest! Nevertheless, he did learn French as a third language.

In 1634, the pope named him nuncio extraordinary to Paris. In 1635, France declared war on Spain and Austria. After Cardinal Richelieu made Mazzarino an ambassador for France, he left Paris and returned to Rome. In October 1638, Richelieu put forth Mazzarino’s name as a candidate for cardinal. His position was confirmed by the pope on December 14, 1639, and Mazzarino left Rome for Paris where he arrived on January 5, 1640. Upon his arrival at age 37, he changed his name to Jules Mazarin. He was formally made a cardinal on December 16, 1641.

Mazarin advised Richelieu on both political and cultural matters. Richelieu sent him on several delicate diplomatic missions. On one of these trips, Mazarin established a solid alliance between France and Savoy. On December 4, 1642, Richelieu died and King Louis XIII died soon thereafter on May 14, 1643. Four days later, the body of nobles, known as the Parliament of Paris, named the late king’s wife, Anne of Austria, as Regent for their four-year-old son, King Louis XIV. Anne that same day named Mazarin First Minister of State. Mazarin also took the title “Superintendent of the Royal Education” and managed all aspects of the young king’s training.

The management style of Mazarin was entirely different from that of Richelieu. Whereas the sharp and fearsome Richelieu thundered rather than governed, Mazarin was gentle, benevolent, and playful. As a result, his rivals in the court underestimated his skills, energy, and determination.

Mazarin continued the costly war against Spain and Austria. Eventually, victories on the battlefields brought Austria to the bargaining table and the Peace of Westphalia was signed in 1648. As a result, Alsace was added to France. Nevertheless, because of the enormous cost of the war, a rebellion against the government by the nobility and discontented citizens broke out and lasted for five years until 1653. During the rebellion, crowds enjoyed listening to songs with verses mocking him. Mazarin had a sense of humor and, after the rebellion ended, he collected what he considered to be the best songs and had them sung in a concert. Also, Louis XIV, who had reached his majority, claimed his throne as king from his mother.

In 1657, Mazarin made a military alliance with England and in 1658 he created the League of the Rhine, a group of 50 small German principalities linked by treaty to France. After several defeats on the battlefields, Spain finally came to the bargaining table in 1659 and the Peace of the Pyrenees was signed. Consequently, the territory of Cerdagne was added to the far south of France as well as part of the Spanish-controlled Low Countries to the north of France. In June 1660, Mazarin also arranged the marriage of King Louis XIV with Princess Maria Theresa of Spain.

In addition to his diplomacy, Mazarin was a patron of the arts. For example, he introduced Italian opera to Paris and assembled an art collection which today can be seen in the Louvre Museum. Also, he founded the Bibliothèque Mazarine, the first true public library in France. It is now located in the Institute of France, across the Seine River from the Louvre.

Unlike members of the nobility, Mazarin did not own an estate. His only property was a Parisienne palace and four surrounding houses which he had purchased over the course of his 18 years of service. However, 37 percent of his fortune was in jewels and cash which he kept in his residence, not in a bank. After a two-month illness, he died on March 9, 1661, at the age of 58.

After his death, King Louis XIV did not appoint a successor. Instead, he assumed the powers of the First Minister of State for himself, marking the beginning of a new era of centralized royal autocratic rule which would last for the next 130 years.

Mazarin, as the de facto ruler of France, played a crucial role in establishing the Westphalian principles that would guide European states’ foreign policy and the prevailing world order. Some of these principles, such as the nation state’s sovereignty over its territory and its domestic affairs and the legal equality among nation states, remain the basis of international law.

Sources, all accessed May 4, 2022:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Mazarin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Richelieu

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pescina