A Happier Wedding, A Greater France 2.0

Yorel

Well, as I've said in the previous thread, I've decided to start over my timeline. I will try to give more details and there might be a few changes from what I had originally planned.

Comments & Constructive Criticisms are welcome.

Enjoy!

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[FONT=&quot]A Happier Wedding, A Greater France[/FONT]​
[FONT=&quot]
Prologue: A Political Match[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Early years of Louis XIII: the Regency of Marie de Medici[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]On May 14, 1610, at around 4:15pm, the blade of François Ravaillac struck Henri IV of France in the chest, perforating his right lung and cutting the aorta and vena cava. The Bon Roi Henri [1], as his subjects called him, was dead a few hours after he had been struck down. Henri IV left behind six legitimate children, the eldest of whom became King of France under the name Louis XIII. However, the new King was only eight years old and, as a result, the Regency fell into the hands of his mother and widow of the late Henri IV: Marie de Medici.[/FONT]

 [FONT=&quot]The Regency of his mother was to prove a nightmare for Louis XIII. While the King of France had been an admirer of his father, he never had any respect for his mother and, as a result, the King and the Queen Mother never got along very well. The situation probably worsened on November 17, 1611 with the death of Louis XIII’s younger brother Nicolas Henri [2]: the Duke of Anjou, Gaston, thus became Duke of Orleans but also first in line to the throne. Gaston d’Orléans was the favorite son of Marie de Medici, something that likely played a part in worsening the relationship between Louis XIII and his mother: after all, it’s likely the Queen Mother would have preferred to have her younger son on the throne since he was her favorite child.[/FONT]

 [FONT=&quot]The final blow to the relationship between Louis XIII and his mother came in 1615, when she arranged for a double marriage between France and Spain. Such marriages could have been considered traditional as it was a way for both Kingdoms to ensure peace: it had started with the marriage of Francis I to Eleanor of Austira, sister to Charles I of Spain [3]. But to Louis XIII, it was a humiliation: because of his father Henri IV, Louis had come to see the Spanish has nothing more than enemies. Thus, it was intolerable fact to him that he had to marry Infanta Anne of Austria, daughter of King Philip III of Spain, while his sister Elisabeth [4] had to marry Louis’ future stepbrother, Prince Philip of the Asturias. But even if he was repulsed by his marriage that was dishonoring the memory of his father Henri IV, his mother still considered Louis XIII too young to rule and thus he had no voice on the subject: in the end, the King of France was forced into a marriage he didn’t wish for.[/FONT]

 [FONT=&quot]Both Louis XIII and his sister Elisabeth met their respective bride and groom on November 24, 1615. This was a date Louis XIII would always remember for three reasons. The first was that it was the last day he would ever see his sister Elisabeth, as she would go to Spain and never return to France. The second reason was because his wedding ceremony to Anne of Austria took place the very same day he met her. And finally, he would remember it because he was forced to consummate his marriage to avoid any chances of annulations by Spain: this forced consummation traumatized the fourteen year old King of France, to the point he refused to join his wife in bed and neglected her. The scar left by the event would never really heal and, as a result, Louis XIII always kept some sort of apprehension in regards to his own sexuality.[/FONT]

 [FONT=&quot]In the meantime, Marie de Medici’s position was weakened by her unpopularity, more precisely by the government of her friend & favorite Concino Concini and his wife Leonora Galgaï. Opposition rose to her government but without the King’s support, it was impossible to get rid of the Concinis. All of this changed when Charles d’Albert, Grand Falconer of France, convinced Louis XIII he should take action and reclaim his authority. This lead to the so-called Coup de Majesté: Concini was assassinated on April 24, 1617, his wife was burned as a witch and Marie de Medici was forced to exile herself at Blois. Louis XIII then officially took power and one of his first actions was to thank his new favorite, Charles d’Albert, by making him the first Duke of Luynes.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Relationship between Louis XIII and Anne of Austria[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]As mentioned earlier, the first years of Louis XIII’s marriage to Anne of Austria weren’t very happy. Because of his repulsion of the Spanish blood of his wife and the trauma of the consummation of their marriage, Louis neglected his wife and refused to share the same bed with her. For her part, Anne had difficulties to blend in: Marie de Medicis always acted as the true Queen and showed no deference to her stepdaughter. The only friends of Queen Anne were her Spanish entourage, which led her to keep living according to Spanish etiquette and fail in improving her French.[/FONT]

 [FONT=&quot]The situation was changed when Louis XIII officially took power in 1617. The King’s favorite, the newly created Duke of Luynes, felt that it was necessary to remove the distance that existed between Louis and Anne. To allow this, the Duke chose to remove all the Spanish ladies-in-waiting of the Queen of France and replaced them with French ones, including his wife Marie de Rohan-Montbazon who would develop a close friendship to Anne of Austria. Luynes and his wife later organized several court events to bring the King and Queen of France together under amiable circumstances. This strategy proved successful: Louis XIII and Anne of Austria genuinely fell in love with one another. The growing affection between the Spouses was all the Duke of Luynes needed to convince the King to rejoin with his wife in bed, something which was done in 1619.[/FONT]

 [FONT=&quot]Anne soon fell pregnant of the couple’s first child. On December 13, 1619, she finally gave birth to a healthy son [5], to the joy of the couple. The first thought of Louis XIII was to give his newly born son the name of his father, the late Henri IV, as the King of France remained an admirer of his predecessor who had died a decade previously. But this wasn’t what Anne of Austria wished and she was able to convince her husband not to do so. According to chroniclers, when the King came to visit her after the delivery to inquire about her health, she told him “It is my personal wish that the future King of France shall bear the name of the man I care the most for, which is Your Most Christian Majesty[6]. It is also my belief that your ancestor and namesake, Saint Louis, will watch over this child and thus ensure he will be a good King as well as your worthy successor if he were to receive his name.” The King of France, being very fond of his wife, respected her wishes: the Dauphin of France was thus to be christened under the name Louis, like his father.[/FONT]

 [FONT=&quot]The birth of a son was extremely good news for Louis XIII as it effectively strengthen his position on the French throne by securing his succession. However, the King of France was most of all happy to have become a father and developed a particular affection for his firstborn child. Though he considered his duties as King to be very important, Louis XIII would always find time for his wife and son. Having good memories of his father Henri IV, Louis XIII applied himself to be a good father like his own father had been, something for which he would always remembered by his children.[/FONT]

 [FONT=&quot]The Dauphin Louis de France was to be the first of the six children that would be born to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria [7]:[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]On April 12, 1622, the Queen of France gave birth to her second child: a daughter. Though the Pregnancy had gone well, the delivery proved difficult and caused concerns for both the health of Anne of Austria and her daughter. Louis XIII was particularly concerned about their health in the following days and prayed a lot: as a result, when the doctors told him that both his wife and daughter would live, he gave the latter the name Marie.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Another daughter, Elisabeth de France, was born on June 15, 1626. Her godmother was her aunt the Queen of Spain, who was represented by the wife of the Spanish ambassador.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]To the joy of the royal couple, Anne of Austria gave birth to a second son on April 26, 1631, definitely securing the succession. Created Duke of Anjou at birth, he was given the name Philippe after much debate between his parents.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]A third son, the Duke of Berry, was born on September 5, 1638. Louis XIII was finally able to give his father’s name to one of his sons as Anne of Austria finally accepted her husband’s wishes. Prior to his birth, it seems she had always considered the name Henri to be a cursed one in the House of France [8].[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]The last child of the couple was a fourth son, Charles, born on September 21, 1640 and created Duke of Alençon upon his birth.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Rise of Cardinal Richelieu[/FONT]

 [FONT=&quot]The career of Armand Jean du Plessis is an impressive one: the man was probably the most successful politician of the seventeenth century. Fourth of a family of five children and also the youngest of three sons, Richelieu was originally destined to follow a military career. This situation changed when his elder brother, Alphonse Louis, refused to become Bishop of Luçon and became a Carthusian Monk instead. In fear his family would lose the Bishopric of Luçon which Henri III of France had granted them, Richelieu’s father chose to have his third son become Bishop of Luçon instead of his second. Being frail and sickly, the possibility of becoming Bishop was more attractive to Richelieu who studied very hard to achieve his position.[/FONT]

 [FONT=&quot]Richelieu was effectively appointed Bishop of Luçon by Henri IV on December 18, 1606, barely a year after he had started studying Theology. He still had to journey to Rome to receive an official investiture from Pope Paul V on April 14, 1607 as he needed a dispensation to become Bishop (being younger than 23 years old). Once in his diocese, Richelieu earned the reputation to be a reformer, being the first French bishop to implement the reforms of the Council of Trent.[/FONT]

 [FONT=&quot]Elected as representatives of the States Generals by the clergymen of Poitou in 1614 and soon after the dissolution of the States General, the Regent Marie de Medici appointed him as Grand Almoner of the young Anne of Austria. He was then appointed as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the Conseil du Roi in 1616. Having served the Queen Mother though, Louis XIII became wary of him and, as a result, Richelieu was dismissed from his position as Secretary of State following the death of Concini.[/FONT]

 [FONT=&quot]Richelieu wouldn’t be seen at court before 1619 when he was recalled to negotiate a treaty between Louis XIII and Marie de Medici, the latter being the nominal leader of a rebellion. At that point, he earned the reputation of a skilled negotiator: Marie de Medici returned to the French Court while promising never to raise her standard against her son. For all his efforts, he was later nominated by Louis XIII to become Cardinal, something to which Pope Gregory XV agreed on April 19, 1622. Richelieu received his cardinal hat from Louis XIII on September 5, 1622 and he was officially enthroned in Lyon on December 12 of the same year.[/FONT]

 [FONT=&quot]Shortly after he became Cardinal, Richelieu’s patroness, the Queen Mother Marie de Medici, proposed to Louis XIII that Richelieu joined the Royal Council. Louis XIII was at first weary of the Cardinal as he had always served and worked for his mother: he thus refused at first. It was soon clear however that a man as able as Richelieu would enter the Royal Council at one point, especially after the death of the Duke of Luynes, who was then chief minister of France, in 1621. It was only a matter of time before Louis XIII accepted Richelieu as a member of the Royal Council.[/FONT]

 [FONT=&quot]At that point though, the Cardinal worked his way to speed his entrance into the Royal Council. While he didn’t wish to leave the good graces of Marie de Medici, Richelieu was perfectly aware that the King would always remain wary of him because of his links to the Queen Mother. The Cardinal thus had to get closer to Louis XIII while not breaking completely with his current patron. As a result, Richelieu decided to approach the closest person to Louis XIII: Anne of Austria, Queen of France. As her former Grand Almoner, the Cardinal had few difficulties to arrange meetings with the Queen.[/FONT]

 [FONT=&quot]At the time, Anne of Austria had just given birth to her second child, Marie de France, in particularly difficult conditions. Like her husband, Anne considered her survival and that of her daughter as a sign of God and that made her very pious in the days following her recovery. When Richelieu, her former Grand Almoner, approached her in 1622, she hardly knew who he was [9]. Although she was bit wary of him as he appeared a man of the Queen Mother, with whom her husband Louis XIII had a particularly difficult (to say the least) relationship, Anne of Austria received Richelieu amiably because of his high position in the Church. The Cardinal did everything to appear friendly to the Queen of France, hoping that she would speak to her husband and, if possible, convince him that Richelieu should enter the Royal Council. It eventually succeeded as Richelieu entered the council on September 1623 [10].[/FONT]

 [FONT=&quot]Richelieu would do his best to keep an amiable relationship with the Queen of France so he could use her influence on the King for his own good. But even if he had entered the council and soon became an important minister, he didn’t achieve the position of Prime Minister [11] he was looking for before August 13, 1624 [12]. Though the connection between Anne and the Cardinal raised Louis XIII’s opinion of Richelieu, he remained wary of him because of his links to Marie de Medici: because of this, Louis XIII avoided making Richelieu his chief minister in fear of increasing his mother’s influence. It was only after the Cardinal intrigued against Duke Charles de La Vieuville, who was Prime Minister in 1624, to have him arrested on August 12 on charges of Corruption that Louis XIII finally allowed Richelieu to become the chief minister of the Kingdom of France.[/FONT]

 [FONT=&quot]Though he wouldn’t be appointed President of the Royal Council before November 1629 (the position belonging to his colleague Cardinal de La Rochefoucauld up until that day), Richelieu effectively became the leading minister and politician of France and would remain in this position until his death on December 4, 1642. But even if he would remain the uncontested Prime Minister of France during that time, he would always have to face opposition... And the two Queens thanks to whom he had risen to such a high position would be among the Cardinal’s opponents.[/FONT]

 [FONT=&quot][1] Good King Henri[/FONT]
 [FONT=&quot][2] Nicolas Henri (April 16, 1607 – November 17, 1611), Duke of Orleans and second son of Henri IV & Marie de Medici. He was never officially christened but was given the name Nicolas Henri by chroniclers because of a miscomprehension: non-christened French princes who had died young were often listed as “N… de France”.[/FONT]
 [FONT=&quot][3] More commonly known as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. On a side note, people most consider the Franco-Spanish marriage tradition to have begun with the marriage of Philip II, Charles V’s son, with Elisabeth de Valois, daughter of Henri II of France and thus granddaughter of Francis I.[/FONT]
 [FONT=&quot][4] Elisabeth of France (November 22, 1602 – October 6, 1644), eldest daughter of Henri IV and Marie de Medici. She and Louis XIII were very close when they were children.[/FONT]
 [FONT=&quot][5] POD. OTL, the first pregnancy of Anne of Austria ended up in a miscarriage. On a side note, only the month of the first miscarriage is mentioned OTL.[/FONT]
 [FONT=&quot][6] His Most Christian Majesty is the reference style for the King of France.[/FONT]
 [FONT=&quot][7] OTL, despite six pregnancies, Anne of Austria gave birth only to two sons. Here, she is luckier and, as a result, her pregnancies go well.[/FONT]
 [FONT=&quot][8] Henri II of France was accidentally killed in a knight’s tournament in 1559. Henri III of France, son of the previous, was murdered by Jacques Clement in 1589. And finally, Henri IV of France was killed by François Ravaillac in 1610. That makes three good reasons to explain the fear of Anne of Austria about having one of her sons named Henri…[/FONT]
 [FONT=&quot][9] Richelieu was only Grand Almoner to Anne of Austria from the day of her arrival in 1615 to his dismissal in 1617. At the time, Anne hardly spoke French so it’s likely she didn’t speak with him and got to know her. And even if she Richelieu earned himself a bit of a reputation at that time, Anne has no idea of what kind of man he is.[/FONT]
 [FONT=&quot][10] OTL, Richelieu only entered the Royal Council on April 19, 1624. To explain how Anne of Austria could influence her husband to have Richelieu enter the council seven months earlier than OTL, you have to look at how different the relationship between Louis XIII and his Queen ITTL. OTL, the young couple (they were in their early 20s) had frosty relations around that time as Anne had suffered two miscarriages and was held responsible by Louis XIII for the second because she had fallen in the stairs while playing with her ladies in waiting. ITTL, at the same period of time, Anne has effectively given birth to two children which got her a lot closer to Louis XIII than she was OTL. I thus assumed that Richelieu would use this to his advantage given his ambition. And frankly, I doubt he would be the first to do so in such a scenario…[/FONT]
 [FONT=&quot][11] Such title never existed in France at that time OTL and doesn’t ITTL. However, all the men who effectively held a similar position (including Richelieu) are referred as such.[/FONT]
 [FONT=&quot][12] Same as OTL.[/FONT]
 

Vitruvius

Donor
I'm glad to see you decided to restart it. I hope this time it develops more to your liking. I look forward to seeing what you do with it now.
 

Yorel

As this is my 1000th post I'd like to make a special announcement.

The next update of Happier Wedding, A Greater France is nearly finished. I'm sorry it took so long but my new semester has started and thus I had trouble working on the timeline.

The next update will be centered on France during the 1619-1635 period. As I wished to detail French Internal & External Politics, the update will be rather massive. Don't expect too much changes though: the butterflies are pretty small during that period, although I do detail a few things. I hope this won't disappoint you though as I plan greater butterflies later on with the following updates.

To sum up: don't worry, this isn't dead. Stay tuned for more!
 

Yorel

What's this? An update!

Sorry it took so long... As I had said one month ago (darn, already?), I had started my second semester. That partially explains why this update took so long to come out. However, another (shamefull) explanation is that I recently rediscovered a few video game I started playing... Well, let's just say that coupled with my semester, it didn't led me to write faster :D

This update will be... a bit of a disappointment probably. Nothing big has been changes apart from a few details. The only big difference is the decription of TTL Louis XIV which is not the Sun King of OTL. It is also quite massive because I wished to develop a lot of things...

Hope you will enjoy. And once again, sorry for the LONG wait.

[FONT=&quot]Chapter 1: France during the childhood of Louis XIV (1619-1635)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The King and the Cardinal[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The regency of Marie de Medici had left a deep mark on Louis XIII as he had only been a figurehead and no one had really paid attention to what he was saying. Even when he turned 13 and thus became legally able to rule alone, the Queen Mother maintained her hold on the government and kept her son the King away from it. During one of the Regency’s council, Marie de Medici event went as far as to expel Louis XIII from the room, asking him to go play somewhere else.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]With his coup de majesté of 1617, Louis XIII was now finally able to rule alone and to take decisions by himself. He hadn’t got rid of Marie de Medici though, as the Queen Mother returned to the court in 1620 after having nominally led a rebellion. Marie de Medici would be one of the main opponents of her son’s policies and she would try everything to recover her political influence. As if matter weren’t worse, the King also had to watch out for the plots of his younger brother Gaston, Duke of Orléans. Gaston remained a serious challenger to the King’s authority: though he lost his position of heir to the throne with the birth of the Dauphin in December 1619 [1], he still remained second-in-line to the throne and would use this to his advantage and expand his influence.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Facing so much opposition in his own family partially explains why Louis XIII wanted to strengthen his authority. He tried to do this by governing with the help of a chief minister, but all of those he chose between 1617 and 1624 proved incompetent. This was to change when Cardinal Richelieu rose to the position of Prime Minister on August 13, 1624. Both Louis XIII and Richelieu shared the same conception regarding the greatness of France and shared the same political priorities: the only difference was that Richelieu, being calmer and more lain, respected more the position of King than the man who sat on the throne. Despite this small difference, Louis XIII and Richelieu would form a very effective duo that would put in place the bases of the modern French Monarchy.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]One has to point out how the relationship between the two men evolved. Back in 1617, Louis XIII had banished Richelieu from the court for the simple reason he had ties to the Queen Mother. The Cardinal had made a comeback to the court thanks to the return of Marie de Medici but the King was still weary of him in the early years of his reign. The relationship between the two men started to improve thanks to Anne of Austria, Louis XIII’s queen, whom Richelieu had approached: few people doubted Anne had told her husband about the Cardinal and that this had played a role in the Cardinal entering the Royal Council in 1623[2]. Though the Queen of France would later regret her decision, she effectively helped Richelieu to get closer to Louis XIII. As time passed and the two men worked together, cooperating to achieve the same goals, the King and the Cardinal would develop a close bond, maybe even becoming friends. A few points of contention would remain between the two men, especially regarding Anne of Austria after 1635, but Louis XIII and Richelieu’s cooperation effectively resulted in the most efficient political duo of the first half of the seventeenth century.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]To submit the Huguenots: from the Treaty of Montpelier to the Peace of Alais[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]While his father Henri IV had only converted to Catholicism to ensure he would sit on the throne, Louis XIII was a more zealous Catholic. During his reign, he intended to establish Catholicism as the official state religion and thus to strip the Huguenots of the rights they had acquired with the Edict of Nantes. Whether or not Louis XIII intended to ban Protestantism within his realm is still subject to debates among Historians. It appears though that this wasn’t what the King of France was looking for or that this wasn’t his primary goal.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]As early as 1620, Louis XIII showed his Religious intentions when he launched an expedition against the Huguenots in Bearn who had often contested his decision. When he entered the city of Pau, the heart of Bearn, he reestablished Catholicism as the official Religion in the Province. However, the expedition led to several Huguenots riots in other parts of France, eventually forming a rebellion under the command of the Duke of Rohan, one of the main Protestant leaders of France.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Civil War raged between Catholic and Protestants between 1620 and 1622. They followed similar patterns however: though the Royal Army won early victories, it was completely unable to lead a siege against Huguenots fortresses like Montauban or Montpellier. In the end, both Louis XIII and the Duke of Rohan agreed to sign the Treaty of Montpellier in October 1622. The Treaty confirmed the Edict of Nantes by extending the religious liberties of the Huguenots: in exchange, the Huguenots had to raze their fortresses save for the cities of Montauban and La Rochelle.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]When Cardinal Richelieu became the chief minister of Louis XIII, he pursued the policies of the King to weaken the Huguenots. But even if Richelieu was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church as well as one of the leaders of the Counter-Reform in France, his campaign against the Huguenots was more linked to Politics rather than Religion. The Edict of Nantes had granted a great number of liberties to the Protestants but also a great deal of political autonomy: the Huguenots had their own assemblies, a territorial organization and fortresses. Such liberties were an obstacle to the authority of the King of France, obstacle that Richelieu was eager to get rid of.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Despite Richelieu’s intent to weaken the Protestants, he never made a move against them. On the contrary, every conflict with the Huguenots started by an uprising of one of their leaders: such was the case with the Siege of La Rochelle which was initiated after the Duke of Rohan rebelled in 1627. The Siege of La Rochelle, however, was also the stage of another conflict which opposed the Kingdoms of England and France as the English had always supported the Huguenots.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Although King Charles I of England & Scotland had married princess Henrietta Marie of France, the youngest sister of Louis XIII, the relationship between the two Kings (and as a result their kingdoms) were frosty because of Charles I’s favorite, the Duke of Buckingham. Alongside the English ambassador in France, the Count of Holland, Buckingham had been sent to ask the hand of Henrietta Marie of France for his master Charles I. At the time, the Count of Holland was the lover of the widow of the Duke of Luynes, Marie de Rohan-Montbazon, a close friend to Anne of Austria. Holland and his lover had intrigued so that Buckingham would get close to the Queen of France.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Buckingham and the escort of the future Queen of England had made a stop at Amiens where Marie de Rohan arranged herself to isolate the Duke and Anne of Austria. No one really knows what happened between the Queen of France and Buckingham, but Anne of Austria let out a scream which alerted the court. By the time it arrived on the place where the scene happened, the Duke of Buckingham had fled while the Queen of France appeared shocked and distraught [3]. Louis XIII flew into rage and nearly denied Charles I the hand of his sister but Richelieu calmed the King of France’s anger. The scandal that Buckingham provoked would eventually be resolved by having the Duke being forbidden to ever set foot in France again: Charles I of England also exiled his favorite from his court just for the time for things to cool down a bit. After four months, Buckingham was back in the English court and in the graces of his King, much to the anger of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. Cardinal Richelieu was also displeased as the Duke became an advocate of anti-French policies at the court of Charles I.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The French Royal Couple had reasons to be angry: the scandal caused by Buckingham soon led to rumors in the French court, some saying Queen Anne had given birth to Buckingham’s child and had abandoned it. The fact the Queen gave birth to Princess Elisabeth de France in June 1626 contradicted this rumor however, but the most ill-tongued part of the court said the Princess was illegitimate. These rumors would eventually disappear with time but the French Royal Couple’s pride was hurt and they hated Buckingham for it. They were angry against Charles I to have chosen such an ill-favorite at first, but would eventually forgive the King of England after the Buckingham’s death. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]When the Duke of Rohan and the Huguenots of La Rochelle rebelled in 1627, Cardinal Richelieu personally took command of the siege of the city. In England, the Duke of Buckingham convinced Charles I to support the Huguenots of La Rochelle and prepared an expedition to do so. However, although supporting co-religionists was popular in England, the popularity of Buckingham had dropped so much that he soon faced a lot of opposition. Buckingham’s expedition nevertheless left to relieve the city of La Rochelle from the siege.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The English expeditionary force would fail horribly though. Richelieu had gone as far as to erect a barrier that cut La Rochelle from the sea, barrier on which he had placed canons. Over the 7,000 men Buckingham had taken with him, 4,000 found death during the expedition. Buckingham returned to England and prepared another expedition but was murdered in 1628. La Rochelle surrendered to Richelieu after having resisted a siege that had lasted a year. Despite this huge defeat, the Huguenots kept fighting but were effectively vanquished in 1629.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The Duke of Rohan submitted to Louis XIII, something which probably saved his head as the other Huguenots leaders were executed. Rohan signed the Peace of Alais which effectively stripped the French Protestants of their political autonomy: their assemblies were abolished and they no longer had any fortresses. The Huguenots remained however free to practice their religion, as had been granted to them by the Edict of Nantes: the only city which was to remain void of Huguenots was Paris. With this, the Protestant Party collapsed in France and the King’s authority was further strengthened.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]To tame the Nobility: countering plots & intrigues[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The Protestants weren’t the only opponent of Louis XIII… During the Religious Wars and the minority of Louis XIII, the power of the King had been weak. As a result, it was easy for the nobility to rise against its liege and hope to win more political power, as had been done in England with the Magna Carta four hundred years prior. The opposition was spear-headed by the Queen Mother, Marie de Medici, who wished to recover the position she had occupied during the Regency. Another leader of the nobility was Gaston, Duke of Orléans and brother of Louis XIII: it’s likely that Gaston was more or less wishing for political power, either by taking the crown for himself or by becoming Regent for his nephews.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]In order to destroy the threat posed by the nobility, Richelieu took drastic actions. One of his first moves was to forbid duels: this practice, which generally led two nobles to confront each other, often led to the death of one of the fighters, if not both. While personal reasons might have led Richelieu to forbid duels, as he had lost his brother Henri because of one in 1619, politics also played a huge part: forbidding duels effectively took out one of the possibilities the nobles had to get rid of an opponent. Plus, it was an occasion to show the real power of the King, something which was shown in the way Louis XIII and Richelieu treated duelists who were caught fighting: in 1627, Count François de Montmorency-Bouteville learned it to his own depends when he was executed because he had taken part in a duel. Duels became less and less frequent in the following years, although the practice didn’t completely die out: most of the duels that happened afterwards were done in secret.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Another action of Richelieu was to order that all Castle that no longer had any defensive use against invaders: over 2,000 of them were razed with the Castle of Angers being one of the most spectacular example [4]. Along with the suppression of high ranking position such as that of Constable of France and the more regular use of intendants to apply Royal decisions in the Province, this effectively depleted the power of the nobility. The suppression or control of the Provincial Estates as well as the control of Governors by Richelieu also effectively earned him the hatred of the nobility.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]However, what Richelieu and Louis XIII had to do for most of the latter’s reign was countering intrigues and plots. In 1626, a conspiracy led by the Count of Chalais ambitioned to have the King and Richelieu murdered, leaving the Regency of the then seven year old Dauphin in the hands of his uncle, Gaston of Orléans. Petty quarrels between the plotters soon made it fail however as they were exposed by Richelieu: with the backing of Louis XIII, the Cardinal took actions.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The main leader of the plot, the Count of Chalais, was executed in Nantes under gruesome conditions. Gaston d’Orléans, the man who would have benefited the most of the conspiracy, avoided punishment by confessing early on and reconciling with Louis XIII. Other plotters were exiled: such was the case of Anne of Austria’s close friend Marie de Rohan, now Duchess of Chevreuse, who was forced to go to Poitou. Even if she had been involved in the Chalais plot and fled to Lorraine to escape her exile, Marie never really lost the friendship of the Queen of France who kept writing letters to her: the reason is that Anne of Austria never believed her friend had been involved in the plot and pleaded the Duchess of Chevreuse’s cause. Louis XIII however, though he loved his wife, never made such a move, causing a bit of a quarrel between him and the Queen that would resolve itself later on. [5][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Other plots like the Count of Chalais’ would follow in later years, most notably that of the Marquess of Cinq-Mars in 1642, and all would be countered by Richelieu. The Cardinal’s strength in intrigues and counter-intrigues are impressive, although they are partially linked to the fact Richelieu was a very well informed man: his personal network of spies was one of the most effective of the time.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The most important accomplishment of Richelieu during at the time however was certainly what is now remembered as the Day of the Dupes. On November 10, 1630, in the Luxemburg Palace, King Louis XIII was visited by his mother, Marie de Medici. The Queen Mother asked for the removal of the Cardinal, to whom she had been the former patroness, asking her son to choose between her and him. The Cardinal arrived moments later and it only pushed Marie de Medici to insist that the Cardinal should be removed from court. Louis XIII did not give his reply immediately and went to his hunting lodge of Versailles. For a time though, it appears that Cardinal Richelieu believed that he had lost his position and thus been disgraced. The apartments of Marie de Medici were filled by opponents of Richelieu who were celebrating the fall of their greatest ennemy…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The Queen Mother and her friends were to be proven very wrong. Though Richelieu had been shaken, influential friends interceded for him and saved him from disgrace. The same friends convinced the Cardinal to go visit the King at Versailles. No one will know what the two men talked about, but in the end Richelieu was assured of the King’s continual support. The next day, several enemies of the Richelieu found themselves either imprisoned or exiled: the Queen Mother was the one who lost the most as she was exiled to Compiegne and would never be seen at court. She would keep taking part in intrigues & plots alongside her son Gaston d’Orléans, but she had definitely lost her influence.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Historians are still debating on what really happened during the Day of the Dupes: Conspiracists [6] go as far as to say the Day of the Dupes was nothing more than a plot of Richelieu to get rid of his enemies, some even making Louis XIII a willing accomplice. Other, like the Allochronian [7] author Philip K. Dick [8], say this day could have changed French History as they believe Richelieu could have truly fallen from grace. Some other details, like the length of the events (some say it lasted more than a day), the involvement of Anne of Austria and whether or not Louis XIII had made his decision before the arrival of Richelieu are also among the main point of contentions. No one will probably know the truth although we can’t help but see the Romanesque image given by Alexis Delaproue in one of the tomes of his most famous work, In Service of His Majesty [9].[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Colonial & overseas policies of France under Louis XIII[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Before the reign of Louis XIII, the French colonial empire was practically non-existent. France did take part in the colonial race but, apart from Canada that was being explored by Samuel de Champlain, the French didn’t held many colonies. The French navy had also not developed by that point and was merely a second-rate power compared to that of other colonial powers like the Spanish or the Dutch. It seemed that France would not rise as a major colonial power. Louis XIII himself didn’t seem very interested in his navy: continental affairs, especially in the east, seemed to be his priority.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Things were to change when Cardinal Richelieu became the chief minister of France. To the man, it was clear that there was no other course of action for France but to be powerful at sea, as sea “gave access to every state of the world”. Richelieu knew the resources and richness that could be brought by a colonial empire. He also realized France needed a strong navy to achieve this goal, and this need was perfectly compatible with another of Richelieu’s objective: create a fleet able to rival with Spain’s.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]As such, it was no real surprise when in 1626, Richelieu created the charge of Grand Maître et Surintendant de la Navigation [10] for himself in order to achieve his projects. The Cardinal then proceeded to develop French ports as well as to create new arsenals to allow France to build more ships on its own: early progresses were however slow and the first French navy were build within Dutch and Swedish arsenals. Nevertheless, the year 1627 saw the creation of the first three French squadrons: the squadron of Guyenne based in Brouage, the squadron of Brittany based in Brest and the squadron of Normandy based in Le Havre.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The development of the French navy accelerated following the fall of La Rochelle to Richelieu’s troops. By 1636, the French navy counted around forty ships including the Couronne, a ship of 72 guns modeled on the HMS Sovereign of the Seas, the capital ship of the Royal Navy at the time. Though the French sailors were not as experienced as Richelieu hoped, it would be enough for the colonial empire the Cardinal sought to build. Even though Richelieu’s successors would only strengthen the navy and his dreams, the Cardinal is almost universally regarded as the father of the Marine Royale [11]: this explains why a good number of French ships bore his name later on, the first one of which would be realized during the European War [12] and the reign of Louis XV.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thanks to its newly developed navy, France was able pose the basis of its colonial Empire. Colonists were sent in the Antilles [13] and soon the islands of Saint-Domingue [14], Saint-Christophe [15], Martinique, Guadeloupe and Dominique [16] became French, although the latter wasn’t settled immediately. In South America, despite the failure of the colony of Equinoctial France, the settlers of that colony would later establish what would become the Guyanne [17].[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]It would be in North America though that the French would set up the basis of their largest colony. Samuel de Champlain had already built the outpost of Quebec in 1608 and continued to explore the rest of the continent along the Saint-Laurent River. To allow France to keep that colony, Richelieu created the Compagnie des Cents Associés [18] to support the colony and make it prosperous and viable. Champlain also regained authority over Canada, which he had lost to the Kirk brothers in 1629, when Richelieu negotiated the Treaty of Saint-Germain in 1632.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The Cardinal also restored the French interests in Acadia, where he sent in Admiral Isaac de Razily, a man that had already previously proved his worth by exploring the Moroccan costs and undertaking negotiations that had resulted in the liberation of French slaves in 1630 as well as the signature of the Franco-Moroccan treaty of 1631 [19]. With these installments, the first steps towards the creation of New France. Richelieu, however, forbade non-Roman Catholics to settle in New France and as a result, the colony only developed slowly.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The future King: Childhood and Education of Louis, Dauphin de France[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]When he was born on December 13, 1619, the man who would become Louis XIV of France was seen as a gift of God by both of his parents. Both Louis XIII and Anne of Austria were happy to have had a son only four years after they had been married, especially after the rough start that their relationship had known. It had also given Louis XIII some confidence: though he never really got over the trauma that his first night with Anne of Austria had caused [20], the birth of the Dauphin had the effect of “defrosting” the King of France and to raise his fighting spirit.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Though Louis XIII and Anne of Austria were very fond of their first son, they knew the fact he was heir to the throne made him a potential target for intrigues. As a result, the young Dauphin was kept away from court life in his early years, spending his days in the royal apartments or in the castle of Saint-Germain, where Louis XIII himself had grown up and where he often retired. But even if his early years were spent in a relative isolation, the young Louis was not neglected by his parents.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Louis XIII, who had good memories of his childhood and of his father Henri IV, applied himself to be as good a father as his own had been. As such, whenever his royal duties allowed him to do so, the King of France often played with his son and, later on, his other children. Like Henri IV, Louis XIII also insisted that his children called him “Papa”, even in public, despite the fact it went against usual court usage. The Dauphin would always do so during his life though, as was reported by chroniclers, he stopped doing so in public once he turned 14: it is said the Dauphin did so to show that he was no longer a child to the court. Father and son had a very close bond as Louis XIII always considered the Dauphin to be his favorite child, probably because he was the eldest son and thus the one to succeed him. Unsurprisingly, Louis XIII spent more time with the future Louis XIV than with any other of his children: this would result in father and son developing similar personalities, often adopting similar views as well as enjoying the same passions. As a result of his close bond to his father, Louis XIV would always respect the figure of Louis XIII, though he never came to idolize him.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Even if Louis XIII was a very affectionate father, the Dauphin spent more time with his mother in his early childhood. Anne of Austria applied herself to the education of her son, ensuring the next King of France would be a good one. She cared a lot for the young Louis XIV as she knew he would one day have the weight of the crown upon his head: as such, she tended to his basic education as well as a few of his royal duties. However, when she gave birth to her second child in 1622, Princess Marie, Anne’s attention started to shift toward her younger child. It’s not uncommon for mothers to develop a special affection for the latest child born, but it was to cause the Dauphin to be a bit jealous of his sister. Anne of Austria never neglected her son of course as she didn’t want to become like Marie de Medici: she thus did her best to tend equally to the education of both the Dauphin Louis and Princess Marie.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Anne of Austria’s task became a bit more difficult when she gave birth to Princess Elisabeth in 1626 as she now had to undertake the education of three children, including that of the next King of France. Fortunately for her, the Dauphin turned seven in December of the same year and Louis XIII thought it best to take a greater role in the personal education of his heir. As such, the King of France chose to complete the basic education that Anne of Austria and a few tutors she had chosen had given to the Dauphin: the future Louis XIV thus received lessons in every field a Prince should work on in the opinion of Louis XIII, his professors being chosen personally by the King as well as a few that were personally advised by Cardinal Richelieu.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Because he himself had been interested in everything that regarded the military, Louis XIII insisted that his son received a strong education in the fields of warfare, armies and everything that could be linked to it, one way or another. The Dauphin seems to have particularly enjoyed that part of his education: as a result, like we mentioned earlier, he developed similar passions to that of his father. The most notable common point between father and son was their common love for horse riding: the future Louis XIV was to prove a very skilled rider and very knowledgeable on horses, knowing every breed known by his contemporaries notably. This love of horse from the Dauphin would never die out: even when he became King of France, he continued to purchase horses and to inquire about the state of his stables and the health of every horse he possessed. It would eventually result in the creation of the Haras Royaux de France [21], which would become a reference for the horse riding world, as well as the basis of the Fédération Française d’Equitation [22].[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Weaponry was another field in which the future Louis XIV was to prove an expert. The King had a good appreciation of weapons, their specifics and their usefulness although he himself didn’t forcibly know how to manipulate them. It was to prove effective for the French military later on as, once he became King, he insisted on tests being performed before his very eyes. In regards to the Dauphin’s actual fighting’s skill, they appear to be very good, especially in the domain of fencing. All the sources we have, from court chroniclers to the personal teachers of the Dauphin, agree on his skills and fast progresses. Witnesses even say that the Dauphin never lost a single training duel after the age of eighteen, although some are skeptical: what is sure is that practicing fencing was one of the main distractions of the Dauphin and later King, alongside horse riding and hunting.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The future Louis XIV had indeed no reason to be laughed at for his hunting skills: having learned archery [23] and how to use firearms while he was young, he had proven decent in their use. The education of the future King of France wasn’t only based on physical aptitudes however: he did learn the usual lessons taught to a prince of his time. It is even worth mentioning that it was in this field that the future Louis XIV showed the most difference with his father.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Even if the Dauphin loved History like his father had, he mastered and enjoyed studying literature: something Louis XIII was never able to do. The Dauphin also learned the basics of Mathematics and Geometry, even if he failed to remember the most complex notions. In overall, the Dauphin would have been regarded as a good student, were it not for a major flaw: if his lesson proved uninteresting or too long for his tastes, the future Louis XIV slacked off. He sometimes went as far as to skip them to go practice fencing, horse riding or hunting. Even if these episodes were less and less common as he grew older, the Dauphin was scolded by his parents every time they happened.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Upon his eleventh birthday, which was one month after the Day of the Dupes, the Dauphin was publicly introduced to the court. From then on, he started to appear in public more and more. Few people doubted that Louis XIII had purposefully waited for the dismissal of the Queen Mother to present his children officially. The King of France had never wanted Marie de Medici to get close to his children: now that she was out of court, it was safe to present them. It later became a tradition to introduce any member of the French royal family to the court once they turned ten, the first of these people being Princess Marie in April 1632.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Following his presentation to the court, the Dauphin started to appear more and more alongside his father and mother in official ceremonies such as receiving ambassadors. Once he turned thirteen, he was also officially allowed to take part in the Royal Council of his father. Louis XIII had actually planned the Dauphin to enter the council three years later, in fear that the future Louis XIV might be put under a lot of pressure at a young age: it was Cardinal Richelieu who convinced him otherwise, arguing that thirteen was the age a King was recognized as able to rule alone according to the law.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]In these royal councils, the Dauphin learned the much needed political experience the next King of France needed to acquire. It was noted that Louis XIII asked for his son’s opinion, although chroniclers have no doubt the Dauphin had no real power of decision at the beginning. Nevertheless, these questions were a test of the Dauphin’s abilities and allowed Louis XIII to judge the decision and abilities of his successor. It also allowed the Dauphin to make his own critic, trying to see why he would have or not made the same decision as his father and to determine who of the two of them was right. As the Dauphin grew older, he and his father appeared to share a lot of common ideas although a few clashes were noted on some points, the Dauphin always giving in to Louis XIII.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Royal Councils also had a side effect on the future Louis XIV… When he was young, he had had the occasion of meeting Cardinal Richelieu a few times. Back then, he had no real opinion of the “man in red” as he called him: after he entered the council, it was clear that the Dauphin, like most of the nobility of the time, was scared by the Cardinal. This fear was both link to a profound respect of the man’s abilities, which couldn’t be denied, but also of how he was able to crush his opponents and on the hold he appeared to have on Louis XIII, the two men often working together for the best of France and, as a result, agreeing on many points. The Dauphin never believed Louis XIII to be a puppet of Richelieu; however, he always thought the Cardinal had too much importance & power. He never tried to take him down and never plotted against Richelieu out of fear of angering Louis XIII and making himself an enemy of the Cardinal: but it convinced the future Louis XIV that, once he would be king, he wouldn’t allow any of his ministers to rise to the same position as that of the Cardinal.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Historians often note the strange fact that, even if he didn’t like the Cardinal much, the Dauphin never opposed him: on the contrary, he was often one of the main supporters of the Cardinal’s policies, probably because he agreed with many of them. The few points of contentions were either the same as between Richelieu and Louis XIII or those between the Dauphin and his father, but they remained few and minor compared to the main decisions. It’s likely that, even if he personally didn’t liked Richelieu, the Dauphin agreed with most of the Cardinal’s ideas and strategy… This is probably why the Dauphin would pursue most of Richelieu’s policies after the Cardinal’s death: this would most notably be shown in the Dauphin’s conduct of the Thirty Years’ War.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]To take down the Hapsburgs: the road to the Thirty Years’ War[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The history between the House of France (be it Valois or Bourbons) and the House of Hapsburg is a very old one, marked both by rivalry, respect, love and war: the relationship between this two houses has often played a role in the fate and the shaping of modern day Europe [24].[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]To many historians, it is clear that the question of the Burgundian inheritance was the one that started the long feud between the Two Houses. It is thus with the death of the Grand Duke of the West, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, at the battle of Nancy in 1477, that everything began. The Duke left only one daughter behind, Mary: according to the law of primogeniture, she was the legal heir of her father and his vast possessions. The succession could have gone very smoothly had it not been for Charles the Bold’s nemesis: King Louis XI of France. The Spider King, as many of his contemporaries called him, declared that Burgundy was under Salic Law as it was a royal apanage of the crown of France. As a result of this, since the Duke had died without male heirs and had no other heirs by right of Salic Law, the Duchy was to return to the French crown.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Because of the claim Louis XI had on the Duchy, it seemed the daughter of Charles the Bold was doomed to lose her inheritance. However, thankfully for the Duchess, her stepmother Margaret of York had no wish to see her husband’s greatest foe achieve victory. She thus organized the marriage of Mary with the eldest son of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III, the future Maximilian I. It is then that the long feud between the Hapsburgs and France started.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Ironically, the feud could have resolved itself quite quickly: after the death of Mary of Burgundy in 1482, Louis XI and Maximilian I signed the treaty of Arras. The Duchy of Burgundy and Picardie were given to the French King while Maximilian kept the Burgundian Netherlands and Flanders for his young son Philip the Handsome. The rest of the possessions, most notably the counties of Burgundy and Artois were to be given to Maximilian’s daughter, Margaret: these would serve as her dowry as she was also bethroed to Charles, Dauphin of France. For eleven years, Margaret lived at the French court as she was expected to become Queen of France…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Alas for Margaret, it was not to be: though she fell in love with Charles VIII when they were young, she could not compete with Anne, the beautiful Duchess of Brittany. Anne of Brittany had of course not intended to become Queen of France as, like every Breton of the time, she wanted Britanny to be independent from France. However, the moment his eyes fell on her, Charles VIII wanted her as his wife: he eventually succeeded in wedding Anne in 1493, sending Margaret back to her father in tears. And with this, the rivalry between France and the Hapsburgs was reignited.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The two sides would later clash during the Italian Wars, when Charles VIII claimed the throne of Naples which was then under the rule of Ferdinand II of Aragon, ally of Maximilian I and stepfather to the latter’s son, Philip the Handsome. Charles VIII’s successor, Louis XII, pursued the claims and added to them his own rights on the Duchy of Milan. However, France and the Hapsburgs only became mortal enemies with the rise of King Francis I of France and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. When looking at the personal relationship between these two Kings as well as their respective claims & possessions, it seems only natural they and their Houses would have to clash.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]From his father, Philp the Handsome, Charles V inherited the Burgundian Netherlands as well as his claims on Burgundy itself. From his mother, Joanna the Mad, he inherited the crowns of Castille & Aragon: a few deaths and the alleged madness of his mother had left him as the sole heir to the Spanish throne. Lastly, from his paternal grandfather Maximilian I, Charles was seen as the most worthy candidate for the Holy Roman Empire. It is there he clashed with Francis I for the time as the two competed for the Imperial Investiture. And since Charles V won, France found itself encircled by the possessions of its King’s worst enemy & rival. From that moment on, the French Kings would seek any means to get rid of the Hapsburg encirclement.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The sons and successors of Francis I and Charles V, Henri II of France and Philip II of Spain, tried to pursue a policy of appeasement: thus began the tradition of arranged marriage between France and Spain to secure peace, when Philip II was married to Elisabeth de Valois, daughter of Henri II. The accidental death of Henri II, the outbreak of the Religious Wars and the end of the Valois Dynasty effectively ruined every chance of peace: when Henri IV became the first King of France of the House of Bourbon, tensions had once again rose up.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The double marriage negotiated by Marie de Medici in 1615 seems like it could have brought peace and the people who will read this would certainly think this way. Even if both marriages seem to appear as successful, that would be a mistake. The marriage between Philip IV of Spain and his beautiful first wife, Isabel [25], was apparently a happy one and the Queen was liked by her people for her beauty, intelligence and noble persona. However, she also suffered from the opposition of Olivares, prime minister of Spain, and the fact her husband had several mistresses. The fact that she also only succeeded in giving birth to only two children [26] out of seven pregnancies was also a silent suffering she deeply expressed in her letters to her brother and step-sister.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]On the other side of the Pyrenees, even if the French couple was a very happy and close one, it had no effect on Louis XIII’s state of mind regarding Spain. The French King’s hatred for everything that was Spanish had been toned done by his affection for his wife: Anne of Austria even taught her husband Spanish if one were to believe a few chroniclers. However, the King knew where the interests of France lied and the Hapsburg encirclement was one thing he had to get rid of. Worse for Spain was the rise of Cardinal Richelieu, a man who shared this ideal and was a political killing machine.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]At the time of Richelieu’s rise, the Holy Roman Empire was being ravaged by the Thirty Years’ War. Back in 1555, when he abdicated his thrones, Charles V had divided his Empire: while his son became King Philip II of Spain, his brother Ferdinand I received the imperial title and the Austrian possessions of House Hapsburg. This event marked the birth of the Spanish and Austrian Hapsburg branches. While the Spanish Hapsburg was occupied with the events going in France, their Austrian cousins dealt with Imperial policies. Unlike their Spanish cousins, who were strong arch-Catholics, the Austrian Hapsburgs were rather pragmatists in the field of Religion.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Documents suggest that Ferdinand I, while being a devout Catholic, did not mix religion and politics. Having also served as his brother’s governor in Austria before he became Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand I probably realized he had to be pragmatists when dealing with the Protestants of the Empire. His participation in the negotiations for the Peace of Augsburg probably also played a part. Ferdinand I thus maintained a policy of tolerance in regards to Religion. His son, Maximilian II, also maintained such a policy and probably extended it: Maximilian II was known to have Protestant sympathies but never converted out of fear of losing his crown.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The situation started to deteriorate with Rudolf II, eldest son and successor of Maximilian II. While not a complete incompetent, Rudolf was far more interested in Arts & Sciences than politics. He continued to maintain tolerance for his subjects, remaining neutral in every religious matter. However, that neutrality was perceived as indecisions and this soon led to a rise of the tensions between both Catholics & Protestants. To make matters worse, Rudolf II died unmarried, leaving the succession to his younger brother Matthias I.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Matthias I wanted to pursue the policies of tolerance, hoping to restore the good relations between Catholics & Protestants. He was however opposed by a more conservative faction led by his brother Maximilian, who wished to crush the Protestants. It was also clear that Matthias would die without heirs as would his remaining brothers Maximilian & Albert: the former thus pushed for Matthias to be succeeded by his cousin, Archduke Ferdinand of Tyrol. This succession became unavoidable when Ferdinand received the support of his cousin King Philip III of Spain with the Oñate Treaty: Ferdinand of Tyrol was thus recognized as King in Bohemia in 1617, King of Hungary in 1618 and succeeded Matthias as Holy Roman Emperor when the latter died in 1619.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Emperor Ferdinand II was a very different man from his predecessors: he had been educated by Jesuit Priests, making him a staunch Catholic. During his reign, he enforced Counter-Reformation in his estate, wanting to erase Protestantism from his realm. This particularly met opposition in Bohemia, where the Protestants were a majority. This resulted in the Second Defenestration of Prague, which led to the beginning of the Thirty Years War.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]When Richelieu came in power in France, the Hapsburg had the upper hand in the conflict and seemed like they would win the war. The Cardinal knew it was not in France’s best interests to see the Hapsburg win during this war: he thus started to finance their enemies, most notably the Ducth and, later on, the Swedes. Louis XIII did not oppose the policies of his prime ministers: though he had no love for Protestants, he understood that the Hapsburg encirclement needed to be destroyed so that France could emerge as a great power. On the other hand, the King’s wife, Anne of Austria, who was a member of the Hapsburg family, vehemently opposed such policies. It was only natural for her to act as a supporter of her family, but as years passed she realized her opinion mattered little.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Anne of Austria grew to hate Richelieu: she probably came to realize her former Grand Almoner had only been using her to get in the Royal Council. She thus became one of the leading opponents of Cardinal Richelieu, especially after the Day of the Dupes where she however had a shadowy role [27]. This would cause a bit of friction between her and Louis XIII in the 1630s: to some chroniclers, that argument was only resolved shortly before Anne became pregnant with her third son, Henri. [28] Anne was notably among those who argued for France to accept the peace that had been negotiated between France and Spain at Regensburg in 1630, thereby opposing Richelieu who opposed them. Sadly for her, Anne of Austria didn’t succeed in keeping her husband away from anti-Hapsburg policies: she only gave in to them half heartedly when her position as Queen of France required she agreed to them for the future of her children.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Among the anti-Hapsburg policies of Richelieu was the contestation of Spain’s hegemony in Italy. As such, he had French take back control of the Valteline Valley, a vital communication knot in the North of the peninsula. He also intervened in the War of Mantuan Succession: his actions were a key in the succession of the Dukes of Nevers to their Gonzaga cousins. One of the last actions of Richelieu was to work for Savoy to ally with France: Duke Victor Amadeus I, husband of Christine of France and thus stepbrother of Louis XIII, would eventually do so with the Treaty of Rivoli in 1636.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Richelieu also had a hand in the Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years’ War in 1629. He incited King Gustav II Adolphus to intervene, agreeing to provide him money. Another step towards the war was taken when France and Sweden allied themselves with the Treaty of Bärwalde in 1631. In 1632, taking advantage over a dispute between Louis XIII and Gaston d’Orléans over the latter’s remarriage to a sister of Duke Charles IV of Lorraine, Richelieu had French troops invade the Duchy as it was there Gaston had sought refuge. Charles IV was known for his Francophobe policies as well as his loyalty towards the Emperor: it was thus once again a move against the Hapsburgs.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The final step was taken in 1635. That year was a turning point for both France and Europe as it was to change the course of History. In 1635, Louis XIII declared war upon Philip IV of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II. With this really began French involvement in the Thirty Years’ War.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][1] OTL, Gaston d’Orléans was a pretty effective political opponent because he remained heir to the throne until the birth of OTL Louis XIV in 1638. Because there is an heir in 1619 ITTL, Gaston’s influence is weakened: he does remain dangerous for some time though.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][2] Remember: this was said in the previous update and is a consequence of the POD.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][3] This is inspired by real OTL facts. The intrigue between the Count of Holland and Marie de Rohan which led to the encounter between Anne of Austria and Buckingham really happened OTL. However, events didn’t take such a dramatic turn because of how bad the relationship between Louis XIII and Anne of Austria was: Anne did scream, but maybe not for the same reason… ITTL though, she is still in love with Louis XIII and as such the latter publicly takes offence for the incident.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]On a side note, the anecdote is what led to the rumored affair between Anne of Austria and Buckingham, most notably exploited by Alexandre Dumas in The Three Musketeers.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][4] The Castle of Angers was one of the biggest in France. Only the roof, which represented 1/3 of its size, was taken out when Richelieu ordered it to be razed. To have seen it with my own eyes, I can assure you that the Castle of Angers remains one of the highest buildings of the town…[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][5] The Count of Chalais’ plot really happened OTL and its aims were nearly the same as TTL version of it: the only difference was that it ambitioned to make Gaston d’Orléans King of France as his brother was still childless OTL. Marie de Rohan was indeed involved OTL in the plot but she had also implied Anne of Austria and this resulted in Louis XIII and his queen living separately. ITTL, Marie de Rohan didn’t bother telling Anne of Austria because, as she loves Louis XIII, she would have been against the plot. As for the Count of Chalais’ execution, it was remembered as gruesome because the Executioner used his axe 29 times before the head of the count went off…[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]On a side note, the name of the Count of Chalais was Henri de Talleyrand-Périgord… Meaning he is an ancestor or a relative of a certain politician of the French Revolution named Charles-Maurice.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][6] Conspiracists are people who make, promote or study Conspiracy Theories ITTL. It is used alternatively with the word Conspirationnists.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][7] Allochronians is TTL for scientist and novelists that study or write Alternate History. An alternative is Uchronians. Can’t remember who had proposed me Allochronian in version 1.0, but I’d like to thank him anyway.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][8] Obviously not OTL Philip K. Dick.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][9] Alexis Delaproue is the ATL equivalent to OTL Alexandre Dumas. Not surprisingly, his most famous work, In Service of His Majesty, is an ATL equivalent of Dumas’ Three Musketeers. Delaproue’s tales are, of course, very different of that of Dumas because the timeline isn’t the same and thus alters the events of the books. The style is also not the same because Delaproue in an ATL 20th Century author while Dumas is an OTL 19th Century one.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The cast of In Service of His Majesty is roughly the same as OTL Three Musketeers, even if there are also ATL characters introduced and if ATL equivalents of OTL characters do not follow completely the same paths and adventures. Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D’Artagnan remain the main characters but their story spans on more than three books (Dumas’ Three Musketeers is a trilogy since there are two sequels: Ten Years After and Twenty Years After), starts earlier (they meet at the time of the Count of Chalais’ plot and not at the time of the siege of La Rochelle) and their fates are different since they end their lives on a happier note. ATL Richelieu is not as evil as his OTL counterpart in the book: he is more of a “dark grey” character that will stop at nothing to achieve what he thinks is right for France, sometimes leading him to help the Musketeers. Rochefort is still Richelieu’s acolyte and D’Artagnan’s rival but he plays a greater role. Milady first starts as a shadow agent of Richelieu that eventually turns Rogue later on, to the point she becomes a traitor. The main villain of the first books is mainly Gaston of Orléans and his fellow plotters. Louis XIII is also given a more positive image and appears rather more complex than in the OTL Three Musketeers. The duality between Louis XIII and Richelieu is also heavily pointed out: Louis XIII is the Light while Richelieu is his Shadow. That probably sums up a great deal of the differences between ATL In Service of His Majesty and OTL The Three Musketeers.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Beats me though if you find “Brush-haired” Buckingham, “Leap of faith” from Assassin’s Creed done by Milady de Winter, Sword-fighting Richelieu, Flying ships, Flamethrowers and other Steampunk elements as well as Indiana Jones-like traps in both books like there apparently is in a certain 2011 OTL movie made by Paul W.S. Anderson… It’s fun but it’s not The Three Musketeers…[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][10] Grand Master and Superintendent of Navigation[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][11] Royal Navy in French. The French Marine Royal is used in TTL to denominate the French navy and to differentiate it from its British counterpart.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][12] Spoiler.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][13] French West Indies. The word Antilles is still used in French nowadays to designate the area.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][14] OTL Haïti[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][15] OTL Saint Kitts[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][16] OTL Dominica[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][17] French Guyana[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][18] Hundred Associates’ Company[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][19] The Franco-Moroccan treaty gave France preferential tariffs in Morocco, allowed the establishment of a French consulate and gave the French people of Morocco Religious Freedom.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][20] I probably mentioned that in the first update, but Louis XIII was forced to consummate his marriage with Anne of Austria the night of their wedding, as Marie de Medici didn’t want Spain to be able to annul the marriage. The experienced traumatized Louis XIII as can be attested by his doctor’s personal notes: this led him to be very apprehensive about his own sexuality. Coupled with the fact he never really got along with Anne of Austria OTL and the relative late birth of OTL Louis XIV, this lead to numerous rumors and theories. One such rumor was that Louis XIV was conceived during a stormy night, the storm forcing Louis XIII to share his wife’s bedroom. Other theories include the fact that Louis XIII was homosexual or that he wasn’t the real father of OTL Louis XIV, this latter theory being tied to one of the possible identities of the Iron Mask (a supposed half-brother of Louis XIV). It may also have played some role in the fact people see Louis XIII as an unsure ruler OTL, dwarfed by the intellect of his main minister Cardinal Richelieu.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]ITTL, the fact Louis XIII was traumatized by his first night is not denied. However, because Anne’s pregnancies ended well and she is closer to her husband than OTL, Louis XIII is just seen as a man with a “frosty” libido. The fact he became more confident is a psychological deduction linked to Louis’ rather ineffectiveness before he took charge of his kingdom.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][21] Roughly “Royal Horse Breeding Grounds of France”. A Haras is a place where Horses are raised, bred, educated and eventually sold. The word might be used in English but I’m not knowledgeable enough on the language to be sure of that…[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][22] French Federation of Horse Riding[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][23] Louis XIII himself had learned Archery when he was young: even if that may appear strange for a prince to learn archery in times where bows and crossbows are no longer used, I assumed that TTL Louis XIV would have learned it because of his father’s education.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][24] That argument could also hold for OTL as France and the Hapsburgs did fought for Continental Domination for quite some time. ITTL though, because of how this ATL evolved, this argument is universally regarded as a truth. I could tell you more, but that would be spoiling my timeline.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][25] Elisabeth de France (1602-1644), sister of Louis XIII. The Spanish court called her Isabel.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][26] Balthasar Charles (1629-1646), Prince of Asturias, and Maria Theresa (1638-1683), who became Queen of France by wedding OTL Louis XIV. ITTL, the latter’s fate will be altered.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][27] How Anne of Austria reacted to the Day of the Dupes OTL is not really known, although she probably reacted like many of his opponents: joy then surprise and disgrace. ITTL however, because of how close she is to Louis XIII, her attitude was studied because she had some influence this way. The resulting discoveries revealed ambiguity: while she did rejoice publicly at the idea of getting rid of the Cardinal for good, it seems she was concerned about the return of Marie de Medici in power… ITTL, Anne had come to hate her stepmother as much as Louis XIII did. She also feared for her children’s future if the Queen Mother was still around: it thus appeared she would have chosen what appeared as the lesser of two evils at the time. There is no real proof, but it is a popular theory…[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][28] These chroniclers, however, tend to forget the gap between each of Anne’s pregnancies which were pretty long: Princess Marie was born three years after TTL Louis XIV and four before her sister Princess Elisabeth. As for Prince Philippe, Duke of Orléans, he was born five years after Elisabeth but only seven before his brother Henri of Berry. Even if there is only a two year gap between the birth of Henri of Berry and that of Charles of Alençon, the seven year gap isn’t really concrete proof, especially considering how Louis XIII considered sexuality.[/FONT]
 
kasumigenx

kasumigenx

I really like a France with an Ebro border..as I remember the Bourbons do have a claim on the crown of Aragon which is next to the claims of the Habsburgs.
 

Yorel

RandomWriterGuy said:
When will there be updates?
Click to expand...
Currently, my main problems are time & motivation. I am entering the last part of my semester and work is a bit piling up so I can't really make the update my priority. Plus, the fact that I have Starcrat II and Crusader Kings II doesn't really help me with motivation...

I am working on the next update though so don't worry. The timeline is on hiatus but I will definitely update it: I can't say when, but I will update.
 

Yorel

Xgentis said:
So still no update?
Click to expand...
With luck, it should be updated soon: I pass most of my exams this week so I should have more free time in the future. This should allow me to complete my update.
 

Yorel

Yorel said:
Is this dead Yorel?
Click to expand...
More or less... At one point, I encountered a writer's block that I haven't been able to overcome so far. It's not that I don't have ideas of what I want to do (on the contrary, I tend to have too many), it's just that I have a strong lack of motivation at the moment.

I've begun my fifth semester at university (the first of my third year) and it is the year I'm supposed to graduate and obtain my Licence in France. Because of this, I've had a lot of work that fell upon me and gave me little time to concentrate on my timeline. And even in my free time, it wasn't the first thing I wanted to do. I've also had a few private issues and I needed to think to clear my head of these issues: as a result, I've spent a lot of hours playing Skyrim and a few other video games, and while it did gave help me with my issues, it also made me slack a bit. The result was that I practically haven't worked on my timeline. And to add salt on the wound, some of the things I learned and discovered made me realised that I might need to start over once again... And I definitely feel like I should really be sure on what the outline of my timeline will look like.

Anyway, the result is that I can't really be sure there will a next update. I do like to believe the timeline is only on hiatus and that I will work on it once I have the time but I can't guarantee it.
 
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