Secrecy is the first essential in affairs of state.

Richelieu's successes were extremely important to Louis XIII's successor King Louis XIV. The nobility also remained powerless. The novel and subsequent film adaptations depicts Richelieu as a power-hungry unscrupulous and avaricious minister.

Consecrated as a bishop in 1608 he later entered politics becoming a Secretary of State in 1616. The Cardinal de Richelieu was often known by the title of the King's "Chief Minister" or "First Minister".