1640 he was nominated ambassador to Savoy, where, af- ter a short war, he was enabled to restore peace, and in
1641 he was at length raised to the rank of cardinal, through the persistent efforts of his friend the cardinal and prime-minister of France. IMazarin, in France, was a fiiithful and useful assistant to Richelieu, especially during the famous conspiracy headed by Henri de Cinq- Mars, which ended by his execution in September, 1642. This was Richelieu's last triumph. In the following December he died, recommending on his death-bed that Louis should receive IMazarin as his own successor, and Louis, sufficiently predisposed in Mazarin's favor, gladly acceded to the last wish of his faithful friend and coun- sellor. In 1643 Louis XIII himself died, and Mazarin's position became one of great difficulty amid the in- trigues, jealousies, and strifes of the courtiers surround- ing Louis XIV in his minority. By the will of the late king he had been declared the sole adviser of the queen-regent, Anne of Austria, but the latter assumed a decidedly hostile attitude towards the cardinal, and it was some time before he succeeded in acquiring the principal power in the government, as well as the confi- dence of the queen-regent. He used his power at first with moderation, and courted popularity by gracious and affable manners. He prosecuted the war against Spain Avhich began under his predecessor, and in which Conde and Turenne maintained the honor of the French arms. A dispute which arose between the court and the Parliament of Paris, regarding the registration of edicts of taxation, was fomented by cardinal De Retz into the revolt of the Parisians called " the Day of the Barricades" (Aug. 27, 1648"), and was followed by the civil war of the Fronde. The court was forced to retire to St. Germain, and Mazarin was outlawed by Parlia- ment ; but, by the truce of Ruel, he still remained min- ister. The feeling against him, however, became still more inflamed when, at his instigation, the queen-re- gent caused the princes of Conde and Conti and the duke of LonguevUle to be arrested in January, 1650. Mazarin -went in person at the head of the court troops to the insurgent provinces, and, after the victory at Re- thel, showed so much insolence that the nobles and the people of the capital made common cause against him. He found it necessary to secure his safety by flight to the Netherlands. Tlie press teemed with violent jjub- lications against jMazarin, known as Masariiiadts (col- lected by Moreau in the Bibliof/rajihie des Mazarinudes [Paris, 1850-51,3 vols. 8vo]; a selection of them was also published by IMoreau under the title Choix des Maz- arinades [ibid. 1854, 2 vols. 8vo]). After llie rebellion of the prince of Conde he ventured to return to France ; but Paris making his removal a condition of its submis- sion, he retired again from the court, and it was not till
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Feb. 3, lfi53 that lie made a tiiiimphaat entry into the capital, wliere he was received with significant silence. Yet after a time the skill, patience, and perseverance of ]\lazarin triumphed, and he regained his former popular- ity and actiuired his former power. See here article Louis XIV, p. 5'26, col. 1. After governing France with great ability, and just as Louis XIV was arriving at an age when he felt the capacity and desire to sway the sceptre himself, Mazarin died, March 9, IGGl. In IGDO some letters, written by Mazarin during the negotiation of the peace of the Pyrenees, were published ; additional letters were published in lGi)3, and in 1745 others were added, and the whole arranged under the title of Lettres (hi Cardinal Mazarin, oil I'on voit le secret de nerjoiia- tiiin de la Paix des Pi/renees. " They were written for tlie information and instruction of the young king, and furm useful examples of clearness and precision in dip- lomatic writings.'' His person was remarkably hand- some, and his manners fascinating, and from an oppo- nent he turned Anne of Austria, the queen-regent during Louis XIV's minority, into his friend, if not secretly af- fianced companion, as has been asserted with much ap- pearance of truth. " Mazarin," says Mignet {Mhnoires rdatifs a la succession d'Espa^ne), " had a far-seeing and inventive mind, a character rather supple than fee- ble. His device was ' Le Temps et moi.' " Under his administration the influence of France among the na- tions was increased, and in the internal government of the country those principles of despotism were estab- lished on which Louis XIV afterwards acted. The ad- ministration of justice, however, became very corrupt, and the commerce and finances of the country sank into deep depression. It is admitted that as a financial ad- ministrator he was far inferior to Richelieu. jMazarin •ivas very niggardly and very avaricious, and had ac- (juired in various 'waj's, fair and foul, an immense for- t ime, amounting to 12,000,000 livres, which he offered to the king shortly before he died; afraid, it is thought, that it might be rudely seized from his heirs. Louis lieclined the restitution, which was perhaps what the wily minister expected. In his will Mazarin made many and large bequests to students and literary enterprises ; indeed, he had always proved himself the friend and jiatron of learning. The College Mazarin was founded at his wish, to receive students from the provinces ac- quired by the " peace of the Pyrenees," and to this same institution he presented his library, of immense value and size. See the Memoirs of Mazarin's contemporaries, Retz, Madame Motteville, La Eochefoucanlt, Turenne, (Jrammont, etc.; Mtne. de Longueville, etc., by Victor (Jousin; Aubery, Histoire da Cai-dinal Mazarin (1751) ; (.!apetigue, Richelieu, Mazarin, la Fronde et la rhfjne de Louis XI V (Paris, 1835, 8 vols. 8 vo) ; Saint- Aulaire, His- toire de la Fronde; Bazin, Histoire de France sons le Ministere da Cardinal Mazarin (Paris, 1842, 2 vols. 8vo) ; Voltaire, Siecle de Louis XIV; Gualdo-Priorato, Vita del Cardinal Mazarin (1662) ; John Calvert, Lije ofCardi- md Mazarin (1670) ; Sismondi, Histoire des Frangais ; < Jrammont, Mhnoires ; V. Cousin, La Jeunesse de Maza- rin; Hoefer, Xouu. Biog. Generale ; Chambers, Cyclop. s. V. : Enfjlish Cyclop, s. v. ; Eraser's Magazine, Novem- ber, 1831, and February, 1832.