LOUIS XIII. (1601-43). King of France from 1610 to 1643. Ile was the son of Henry IV. and Maria de' Medici, and was born at Fon tainebleau. September 27, 1601. He succeeded to the throne on the death of his father, Alay 14, 1610, his mother becoming Regent. Louis Xl11. took little personal share in the Government, though formally declared of age in 1614. In the following year he married Anne of daughter of Philip Ill. of Spain. The GONTIM ment remained in the hands of the Queen mother and her favorite, Con•ini, until April, 1617, when the latter was murdered at the instance of the Duke de Luyncs, a courtier who had succeeded in establishing a eomplete ascendency over the mind of the King. The Queen mother was banished to Blois. and for a time there was danger of civil war between the King's party and the adherents of Maria de' Medici. The Duke de Luynes died in 1621, and for a time the chief power wet, in the hands of La Vieuville, through whose in fluence Richelieu (q.v.) entered the King's coun cil in 1624. Richelieu speedily became tilt. chief minister of Louis. Ills powerful mind obtained complete control over that of the King, and his policy effected that increase of monarchical power at the expense of Protestants, nobles. and parlia ments, which reached its consummation in the reign of Louis XIV. The Huguenots, during the early years of Louis X111.'s reign, had shown a restlessness which, combined with their eflieient organization, seemed to menace the power of the monarchy. Their influence, which was especially strong in Barn• and Navarre, was weakened by the annexation of those two little States to France. In 1621 this resulted in a formidable rising of the Huguenots in the south, who were led by Rohan and Soubise. After desultory fight ing, peace was concluded at Montpellier, which left to the adherents of the Reformed religion, of all their fortified places, only La Rochelle and Montauban. The repression of the Huguenots
was carried on by Richelieu. The last of their strongholds. La Roehelle. was taken in October. 1628, and the political power of the Huguenots was gone forever. In foreign polities Richelieu continued the anti-Hapsburg policy of Henry IV. In 1630 the War of the Mantuan Succession was terminated in favor of Richelieu's eandidate, Charles of Nevers,; but it was the Thirty Years' War (q.v.) which supplied Richelieu with the great opportunity of humiliating the power of the Hapsburgs. Gustavus Adolphus was an ally of France. and after his death the Swedish forces continued to be subsidized by the French King. while the able Protestant general. Bernhard of Weimar, was maintained in the field with French money. The policy of Richelieu resulted in the acquisition of Alsace. In the south, Ronssil]on was annexed in 1641. Richelieu maintained his ascendency over the King in spite of intrigue and conspiracies on the part of the Court. In 1632 Gaston of Orleans, brother of the King. led a Spanish army into France for the overthrow of the hated minister, but lie was defeated at Castel naudary. A rising under the (ura de Soisson was repressed in 1641, and this was followed by the unsuccessful conspiracy of Cinq-Mar, Louis died Slay 14, 1643, less than half a year after his great minister. His Queen, atter twenty three years of married life. bore a sun in 1638. who succeeded to the throne as Louis XIV.; and in 1640 a second 'all, Philip. Duke of Orleans, the ancestor of the present Ilouse of Orleans. Consult : Latimer, Gcsehichte Ludi•ig.s+ and des Kar dinals Richelieu (Leipzig, 1830) ; Topin, Louis XILL el Richelieu (Paris, 1876), accompanied by letters from the King to Richelieu: Zeller, La mino•ite de Louis XIII. (Paris, 1897). See RICHELIEU; FRANCE.