
Cardinal, Bishop of Metz
Metropolis	Immediately Subject to the Holy See
Diocese	Metz
See	Metz
Predecessor	Henri de Bourbon
Successor	Franz Egon of Fürstenberg
Orders
Created Cardinal	16 December 1641
Personal details
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Motto	Firmando firmior hæret Hinc ordo, hinc copia rerum
Signature	${{{signature_alt}}}$

Cardinal Jules Mazarin; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician, who served as the chief minister to the kings of France Louis XIII and Louis XIV from 1642 until his death. In 1654 he acquired the title Duke of Mayenne, and in 1659, 1st Duke of Rethel and Nevers.

Life and career
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Legacy
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Life and career

Giulio Mazzarino was born on 14 July 1602 in Pescina in the Abruzzo province of Italy, about one hundred twenty kilometers from Rome. His parents were residents of Rome, spending the summer in Pescina to escape the summer heat. His father, Pietro Mazzarino (1576–1654), had moved to Rome from Sicily in 1590 to become a chamberlain in the family of Filippo I Colonna, the Grand Constable of Naples. His father became a citizen of Rome in 1608. His mother Ortensia Bufalini (1575–1644) was a native of Rome, from the Bufalini family of nobility whose origins were in Città di Castello in Umbria. The family had moved to Rome in the Middle Ages. She was the goddaughter of Filippo I Colonna, her husband's employer. Giulio was the eldest of six children, two boys and four girls.

Through the influence of the Colonnas, Giulio was admitted at the age of seven to the Jesuit College in Rome, the most respected school in the city. Though he declined to join their order, he excelled in his studies. In 1618, at the age of sixteen, he gave a public lecture on theories explaining Halley's comet, which appeared in that year. He also excelled in theatrics; he was chosen to play the part of the newly sainted Ignatius of Loyola in a religious pageant.

When he was twenty his father decided to send him away from the bad influences of Rome. Giulio accompanied Girolamo Colonna, one of the sons of Filippo I Colonna, who was eighteen, to the Complutense University of Madrid (then located in Alcalá de Henares) in Spain, where he studied law.

After serving as a papal diplomat for Pope Urban VIII, Mazarin offered his diplomatic services to Cardinal Richelieu and moved to Paris in 1640. Following the death of Richelieu, Mazarin took his place as first minister, and after that of Louis XIII in 1643, Mazarin acted as the head of the government for Anne of Austria, the regent for the young Louis XIV, and was also made responsible for the king's education until he came of age.

The first years of Mazarin in office were marked by military victories in the Thirty Years' War, which he used to make France the main European power and establish the Peace of Westphalia (1646–48). A major uprising against Anne of Austria and Mazarin, called the Fronde and led by the nobles of the Parliament of Paris, broke out in Paris in 1648, followed by a second Fronde led by Louis, Grand Condé, who turned from his chief ally to his chief enemy. Mazarin took Anne of Austria and Louis XIV out of Paris, and then shifted his base to Germany for a time. Turenne, a general loyal to Louis XIV and Mazarin, defeated Condé, and Mazarin made a triumphal return to Paris in 1653.

The last years of Mazarin's life, between 1657 and his death in 1661, were marked by a series of major diplomatic victories, In 1657 he made a military alliance with England. In 1658 he unveiled the League of the Rhine, a new group of fifty small German principalities which were now linked by a treaty with France. In the same month, Marshal Turenne decisively defeated the army of Condé at the Battle of the Dunes in Flanders. Between February and June 1659, Mazarin conducted intensive negotiations with the Spanish. On 7 November 1659 Spain signed the Treaty of the Pyrenees, which added Artois, the Cerdagne and Roussillon as new provinces of France. This was followed in June 1660 by an even more important diplomatic event carefully arranged by Mazarin; the marriage of Louis XIV with Maria Theresa of Spain. The marriage took place in Saint-Jean-de-Luz in Spain, close to the French border. The couple made a triumphant entry into Paris on 26 August 1660. This marriage and accompanying agreements ended, at least for a time, the long and costly wars between the Hapsburgs and France.

In his last months, Mazarin resided mainly in the Louvre Palace. A large fire broke out in the Gallery of Apollo, the main picture gallery of the Louvre, and destroyed many pictures, greatly upsetting Mazarin. It was the beginning of his decline. When his doctor informed him that his end was near, Mazarin asked, "How long?" The Doctor replied "two months." Mazarin responded, "That's enough." Mazarin died on 9 March 1661.

Mazarin prepared several wills. Knowing that his enemies at court were telling Louis XIV that he was taking money that belonged rightfully to the King, his first will, which he made public, cleverly left all of his fortune to Louis XIV. Mazarin probably calculated that the King would be too embarrassed to take all of his mentor's and chief Minister's wealth. The King waited for three days, then refused to accept it. Mazarin had also prepared a different will, which left a large sum for the establishment of the Collège des Quatre-Nations, which he had founded for students from the four new provinces which he had added to the territory of France by the Treaty of Westphalia. The college, now the Institut de France, was eventually built directly across the Seine from the Louvre, where it is visible from the Palace. Mazarin asked that his remains be interred there, where they rest today in a marble monument beneath the dome. The college is home to the five French academies, including the Academie Française.

Family

Mazarin did not have children, but he did have seven nieces: five from the Mancini family (daughters of his sister Girolama) and two from the Martinozzi family (daughters of his sister Laura). The nieces all moved to Paris, and Mazarin devoted care to arranging marriages for them, always with wealthy and aristocratic families. The nieces were known for their beauty, wit and ambition, and became known as the Mazarinettes.

Legacy

Mazarin, as the actual (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 domestic affairs and the legal equality among states, remain the basis of international law to this day.

In addition to his diplomacy, Mazarin was an important patron of the arts. He introduced Italian opera on a grand scale to Paris, and assembled a remarkable art collection, much of which today can be seen in the Louvre.

Mazarin was also a famous collector of books. In 1646, he brought to Paris his collection of nine thousand volumes, which he installed in his residence. It was the second-largest library in Paris, second only to the library of the King. However, when Mazarin was forced to leave Paris during the Fronde, his library was seized by the Fronde leaders, and was dispersed. He then began a second library with what was left of the first. The library grew to over 25,000 volumes and was open to all scholars after 1643. It is recognized as the first true public library in France. In his will, he gave his library to the Collège des Quatre-Nations which he had founded in 1661. The original bookcases of his library were transferred to the reading room of the College of Quatre-Nations when it was built.

Images for kids

Mazarin carrying the peace agreement to the armies at Casale, crying "Peace! Peace!" (18th century engraving)
Mazarin as a papal envoy in Paris (1632)
Portrait of Cardinal Jules Mazarin by Simon Vouet (before 1649, private collection)
Anne of Austria with her children Louis XIV of France and Philippe, Duke of Orléans (unknown artist)
An anti-Mazarin cartoon from the Fronde (about 1650). The caption reads, "Despite Mazarin, the frondeurs assure the safety of the state."
Louis the Prince de Condé, leader of the second Fronde
Battle between the Fronde forces of the Prince de Conde and the army loyal to Anne of Austria and Mazarin
Nicolas Fouquet, the Superintendent of Finances
The wedding of Louis XIV and Maria Theresa. Mazarin is at their right.
Tomb of Mazarin in the Institut de France
Mazarin seated within the Gallery of his Palace (1659)
Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione, by Raphael, purchased by Mazarin from Richelieu
Torelli's set design for Act 5 of Pierre Corneille's Andromède as performed at the Petit-Bourbon in 1650
Carved coat of arms of Mazarin on a bookcase in the Bibliothèque Mazarine in Paris
Laura Mancini, Duchess of Mercœur
Anne Marie Martinozzi, Princess of Conti
Olympia Mancini, by Pierre Mignard
Laura Martinozzi, Duchess of Modena
Marie Mancini, whom Louis XIV wished to marry
Hortense Mancini, Duchess Mazarin.

Cardinal Mazarin facts for kids

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Life and career

Family

Legacy

Images for kids

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