Cardinal mazarin importance
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When the Duke of Savoy learned of the imminent French invasion of the Italian peninsula, he sent Mazarin to try to arrest Cardinal Richelieu. He did so, in 1640, and was made a cardinal the following year. Louis XIII bestowed royal privileges on him and asked him to return to Paris. This college is now the Institut de France.
When he finished his studies, when he was about sixteen years old, a dissipated period began, for which his parents, thanks to the patronage of the Colonnas again, sent him to study canon law in Spain, at the University of Alcalá de Henares.
Mazarin became the head of the government for Anne of Austria. France faced significant territorial losses, but the treaty ensured that Louis’ legacy of dynastic continuity remained intact.
1715 (September 1) – Death of Louis XIV
Louis XIV died at the age of 76 after ruling for 72 years, making his reign the longest of any European monarch.
Louis declares he will rule without a chief minister, marking the beginning of his direct rule.
Beginnings
Mazarin was born on July 14, 1602 in the Abbey of Pescina (at the time of Spanish possession), in Abruzzo, eastern Italy. His father, Pietro Mazzarini, of Sicilian origin, was in the service of the powerful Roman Colonna family. Soon after, King Louis XIII died in 1643. Peace!" (18th century engraving)
Mazarin as a papal envoy in Paris (1632)
Portrait of Cardinal Jules Mazarin by Simon Vouet (before 1649, private collection)
An anti-Mazarin cartoon from the Fronde (about 1650).
Giulio was the oldest of six children.
When he was seven, Giulio went to the Jesuit College in Rome.
Legacy
In addition to his inheritance in the political field (Jean-Baptiste Colbert was Mazarin's personal secretary and his successor), Mazarin bequeathed to the king all his assets, which are calculated as the largest private fortune of the Old Regime, even doubling that his predecessor, Richelieu, had amassed: 35 million pounds, 8 million of which in cash (as much as the funds of the Bank of Amsterdam, the most important bank of the time), deposited in different cities.
In 1658, he created the League of the Rhine. It instilled in him a belief that only a strong monarchy could prevent chaos.
1651 (September) – Louis XIV Assumes Official Control
At 13 years old, Louis XIV reached the legal age to assume control of the French government. Mazarin made sure they married into wealthy and important families.
Many of these can be seen in the Louvre today.
He was also a famous book collector. In 1657, he made a military alliance with England. His son, Louis XIV, was too young to rule. He will continue in the post of prime minister until his death, despite having strong opponents. He grew up in a religious household and had a powerful benefactor in the Colonna family to finance his education, which he completed in Spain, studying law at what is now the University of Madrid but then was Alcalá de Henares.