Character discussion

Here's the character:

Now, discuss...

 

Yes.

Originally posted by Inquisitor Dei Great statesmen, indeed.

Ruthless, unprincipled politician. He will set the stage for rolling back religious tolerance and establishment of the absolute monarchy of Louis XIV. His successor will be the Cardinal Mazarin. This is the start of Counter Reform movement in the Europe.



Edited by cavalry4ever

No doubt he was ruthless, but still he was a great statesman.

Originally posted by Genghis I would say it was because he was ruthless that he was a great statesman.

Much like Bismark

I believe it to be a sea battle during the Siege of La Rochelle (1627-1628).

 

He looks like real prince of the church and god of war in one. I guess it was his intention to look this way on the pictures.

he is one of those people (I have many of these) who I would have hated to liv eunder but can admire from a distance.

That is so true. Another one of mine is Peter the Great. He pushed Russia forward, but I still wouldn't want to live there.

Maybe we should distinguish between two kind of "great statesmen." There are the ones who are "great" because they are excellent, effective leaders for their countries, regardless of the ethics of their decisions.

Then we have the ones that are "great" because of how good the quality of life and liberty was under their power.

From what I hear, Richelieu was a "great statesman" under the first category.

This is an amazing painting of Richelieu.

Here we have Richelieu standing out from the regular soldiers and religious men. He is a hands-on leader that gets as close as possible to the action. Even though we may think that he is safe behind the battlefront and the battle works, he is still in danger: the spear closest to his body has been damaged by a cannon ball.

He looks deep in thought, as if he is absorbing and analyzing the battle. In contrast, the soldier to the left seems to be explaining the battle to the monks.

I like the detail of the monk holding his cardinal hat, hinting that the Church is Richelieu�s servant. For him, it was.

Do you know when the painting was done and who was the painter? It will explain a lot. Thanks for sharing this picture Frederick Roger.

One must always recall that Richelieu was supposed to become a soldier, having gone through training at the Academy, but the sudden death of his father, forced him to move to the clergy for economic reasons.