Richardson, 'William, D.D., an English clergy- man, was born in 1098, at Wilshamstead, near Bedford, and educated at Westminster and Emmanuel colleges, Cambridge. He was appointed curate of St. Olave's, Southwark; and lecturer in 1727. He was collated to the prebend of Welton-Rivall, Lincoln, in 1724; was made master of Emmanuel College in 1730, and its vice- chancellor in 1738, and again in 1709; in 1746 he was appointed chaplain to the king. He died in 1775. He • published four sermons on The Usefulness and Necessity of Revelation (Lond. 1730, 8vo) : — a fifth on Relative Holiness (1733). — Hook, Eccles. Biog. s. v.
Richelieu, Alphonse-Louis du Plessis de,
called the cardinal of Lynns, elder brother of the great French marshal, was born at Paris in 1582. At the age of twenty-two he became bishop of Luc^on, but about 1005 he resigned the see in favor of his brother Armand. In 1606 he entered the convent of Grande-Chartreuse, and for twenty years led a life of great austerity. He was prior of Bonpas when his brother obliged him to leave the cloister to occupy the archbishopric of Aix. In 1628
he was transferred to Lyons, and was made cardinal by L^rban VIII, Aug. 21, 1629. Honors were heaped upon him, and he became, successively, grand almoner of France in 1632; dean of St. Martin's of Tours in the same year; abbot of St. Victor's, at Marseilles, and of St. Stephen's, at Caen, in HJ4() ; of the Chaise-Dieu in 1642 ; and, on the death of his brother, was elected master of the Sorbonne. Meanwhile he was engaged in the work of his diocese, and, during the ravages of an epidemic in Lyons, Avas untiring in his efforts to aid the suffering. Louis XIII had several times engaged him in ecclesias- tical affairs, but after the death of this monarch Riche- lieu seldom left Lyons, and gave little attention to the court intrigues of the day. He died March 23, 1653. In the Imperial Library are to be found letters written by Richelieu to Louis XIII and the most illustrious per- sons of his court. See Abbe de Pure, Vie de Richelieu, Cardinal de Lyon ; Du Tems, La Clerge de France, t. iv ; Auber}', Diet, des Cardinaux. — Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Ge- nerate, s. V.
Richelieu, Armand-Jean du Plessis de, a noted French ecclesiastic and statesman, was born at Paris, Sept. 5, 1585. and was educated for the military profession at the College de Navarre. His eldest brother resigning the bishopric of Lu(;on, Richelieu decided to take holy orders in order to succeed to that office. In 1607 he was consecrated bishop of Lu(;on, and for some time devoted himself zealously to the duties of his office. At the States-General, 1614, being appointed one of the representatives of the clergy, he secured the favor of the queen-mother — Marie de Medicis — by an address de- livered in the presence of the young king, Louis XIII. He was appointed almoner to the queen-mother, and in Nov., 1616, entered the coimcil as secretarj' of state. In 1617 Mary was banished to Blois, and he followed her thither, but was ordered to retire to Avignon. AVhen the queen-mother was recalled to the court she rein- stated Richelieu in favor, and from that time he grew in power. Having strengthened his position by the marriage of his niece with the nephew of the duke De Luynes, he received the cardinal's hat in 1022, re-en- tered the state council, and soon after rose to the pre- miership. The administration of Richelieu was memora- ble for several great measures, of which the first and most lasting was that by which the remains of feudal- ism were swept away and the absolute authority of the sovereign was established. In the pursuit of this ob- ject his most powerful adversary was Gaston, the duke of Orleans, brother of the king. But Richelieu tri- umphed over him, and even the queen -mother was obliged to bow before his unbending spirit and to with- draw into exile at Cologne. Another enterprise was the overthrow of the Huguenots as a political party and a rival of the throne of France. He conducted in per- son (1028) the siege of Rochelle, but is said to have se- cured for the Huguenot party a certain measure of tol- eration, and to have used his success against them with moderation. In 1031 Richelieu was raised to the duke- dom and peerage. In the external relations of France the great object of Richelieu's measures was the abase- ment of Austria. With this view he did not hesitate to foment the internal disaffections of Germany, even al- lying himself with the German Protestants, and assisted Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, the great champion of Protestantism. He also took part with the disaffected Spanish provinces in the Netherlands, and favored the Catalonians and Portuguese when they shook off the Spanish yoke. At last Austria was humbled, Portugal was separated from Spain (1040), French influence pre- dominated in Catalonia, England was in full revolution, and France quiet and prosperous. His administration was again tlireatcned by intrigues at court or treason in the camps. Richelieu, however, vindicated his pow- er, and in 1042 came into Paris in triumph, carried on a litter, escorted by an army, and surrounded by the utmost pomp. Two months afterwards— Dec. 4, 1642 — he died, and was buried at the Sorbonne, where