Thanks to the violent imagination of Alexander Dumas the father knows the whole world both from novels and from numerous films that during the time of Louis XIII there were royal musketeers and guardsmen Cardinal Richelieu. And who would now recall with nostalgia the 17th century, and also buy toy figures of the king and cardinal and their defenders, if not for Dumas? But what they represented in reality is known mainly by historians. We are content only with pictures. These are the cardinal's guards. The photo shows modern toys.
Cardinal Richelieu
In fact, he was a companion of the king. But in the pages of the novel, he appears as a powerful secret ruler of France. And the guards of the cardinal - albeit brave, but mostly vile people who do not shun to achieve goals by any means. Most brilliantly in the novel is the completely invented villain, Count Rochefort, who wants to wipe out the brave d'Artagnan and his friends. Rochefort is the right hand of Cardinal Richelieu. What was Armand Jean du Plessis, really, the Duke of Richelieu?
This politician was one of the youngest sons in his family, and according to the laws of the majorate, he could not inherit. But what about an intelligent person who wanted to climb the social ladder? The easiest way was to go to monks. So he did. And thanks to his mind, Richelieu quickly advanced. And when he became a bishop, the king drew attention to him, since the young twenty-two-year-old bishop possessed diplomatic abilities and skillfully maneuvered between warring court groups, and also eloquently defended the interests of the church. He was made the confessor of the young queen, and then secretary for foreign affairs and military policy. Richelieu did not possess any defenders in those years. After the disgrace and exile of the Queen Mother in Blois, the young bishop established relations between the king and the Dowager Queen. At her suggestion, Louis XIII nominated him to the post of cardinal. So at the age of 37, Richelieu became a cardinal and set himself 4 tasks: to completely destroy the Huguenots, destroy the opposition of the aristocracy, keep the people in obedience and raise the authority of the king and France in the international arena. As the influence of the cardinal grew, he grew the number of enemies who attempted on his life. The king, worried about this, ordered his guard to be organized.
Cardinal Richelieu's Guard
In 1629, after the cardinal’s brother was killed in a duel, Louis XIII from his guard hands over fifty equestrian shooters with arquebuses to their faithful assistant. Richelieu added thirty more to them. So the first cardinal guards appeared. Their shape consisted of a red cloak (the color of a cardinal), which was sewn from four parts. It could be fastened or worn wide open. Here is a modern reconstruction of the costume made in France.
A white cross was sewn on the chest and on the back, which consisted of equilateral crossbeams. The head was covered with a wide-brimmed hat with a white feather sultan. On his feet were high boots. It looked like the guards of Cardinal Richelieu, who accompanied him everywhere. They were with him inseparably. In all the palaces of the cardinal there was a room for their leader - the captain.
Squad growth
Five years later, the number of guards has quadrupled. One hundred and twenty men were light cavalry, one hundred men heavy, and another hundred were on foot. By 1642, an additional hundred more guardsmen were recruited. There were 420 people in total, which was almost three times the king’s company, which consisted of one hundred and fifty musketeers. Getting into the detachment where the Cardinal’s guards served was not easy. This required the recommendation of a man whom Richelieu knew well and was firmly convinced of the loyalty of the applicant. It also had to be a mature, experienced person no younger than twenty-five years old, who had served in the army for at least 3 years. Usually the detachment was replenished by the inhabitants of Brittany. This area had the motto: "Better death than shame." The guards of the cardinal were originally raised as people of honor and courage. They were prepared not only for the personal defense of His Grace, but also as future naval officers, since the powerful minister was trying in every way to act for the good of France.
Payment to guardsmen
The duke regularly paid his guard a high salary, which exceeded the payment of the king's musketeers. He also at his own expense outfitted his guardsmen. This, together with the horses, amounted to considerable sums.
Relations to Dueling
From the second half of the 16th century, the French kings kept issuing ordinances to ban duels. They were a state crime, because valiant aristocrats had to fight the Huguenots for the good of the country, and not destroy each other for the slightest reason.
Therefore, the abundance of fights in which the king’s musketeers and cardinal’s guards participated and which Dumas described in his famous trilogy is impossible. This is the fruit of his ardent imagination. The cardinal's guards, trying not to lose their profitable place and fulfilling the duty of true Catholics, almost certainly avoided meaningless fights. The Brittany, from whom the guard was recruited, were northern and cold people, judicious.
Enemies of the Red Duke
The brilliant aristocracy of the court kept plotting against the hard and hard Richelieu, who persistently and consistently suppressed its independence, creating an absolute monarchy. The question of who fought with the cardinal's guards suggests an answer - the rebels of the Duke of Montmorency, who was later convicted and executed.
Fighting Protestants
A loyal champion of Catholicism, and he could not be another, Cardinal Richelieu pursued a firm policy aimed at combating the Huguenots inside the country and the Protestants of England, who seized the La Rochelle fortress on the continent. The British in 1627 attacked the coast of France from the sea. In 1628 the siege of the fortress began . It was attended not only by regular troops, but also by detachments of musketeers and guards. Protestant troops are the sworn enemy of the Cardinal's Guards. The war for true faith for the holy mother of the Catholic Church has always been a special goal. And in La Rochelle, England's claims to the lands of France were also involved. Of course, neither the king nor his powerful minister could allow the kingdom to weaken, giving land to sworn enemies since the time of the Hundred Years War, the Protestants and heretics, the British.
Some information about the king's musketeers
The first personal guard, which, incidentally, did not help him, and he was killed with a knife in his carriage with three blows to the chest, was led by Henry IV. His company of carabinieri was eventually re-equipped and received muskets. It was an uncomfortable weapon, very heavy, and to use it, a squire was required. By the name of their weapons they began to be called musketeers.
The first actual commander was the Gascon, fellow countryman Henry IV, Count de Troisville, who later began to call himself de Treville. Naturally, he recruited his fellow countrymen from Gascony and Bearn to serve the king.
The shape of the musketeers was the coat of arms of the royal house. The cloak was azure with gold lilies and crosses of white velvet.
The horse was required necessarily gray. In addition to him and the musket, a bandage was necessary for carrying cartridges, a powder magazine, a bag for bullets, a good sword, pistols and a dagger. Everything except the musket, the musketeer had to secure for himself. And there mainly served the younger sons of a noble family. Although they were aristocrats, they were very poor. It was very difficult for them to assemble the equipment, as we know from the novel The Three Musketeers. Earnings were paid meager and irregular.
Their duties included escorting the king on walks and in military campaigns. They served not in the premises of the Louvre, but in the street.
When d'Artagnan became the commander, the number of musketeers increased almost one and a half times. Count d´Artagnan is a historical person.
In Paris, a monument was erected to him. The musketeers lived with him in the barracks on the outskirts of Saint-Germain.
This detachment existed, mutating, from 1660 to 1818.
Thus, following historical data, the protection of the king and His Grace the Duke of Richelieu should be presented.