Retz, Jean Francois Paul de Gondi

Grandson of Marshal Gondi, Duke of Retz - a native of Florence , favorite of Catherine de Medici . At the request of his father, Gondi entered the spiritual rank, to which he did not have the slightest inclination. After receiving his doctorate, Gondi in 1643 was appointed coadjutor of the Paris archbishop.

With the help of his sermons and generous alms, he attains considerable popularity, which he uses to intrigue against Mazarin . Dissatisfied with the government, the Paris mob, incited by Gondi, riots in August 1648 ; Gondi manages to get some concessions from the Queen Regent Anna of Austria and reassure the people. The following year, Gondi arranges an alliance of the frontiers with Mazarin against Prince Conde , for which Mazarin promises to procure him a cardinal hat.

Fooled by his expectations, Gondi soon not only goes over to the Conde and the “Young Front”, but also draws to her the head of the old Front, the Duke of Orleans, and the Paris Parliament . This new alliance did not last long. Having quarreled with Conde, Gondi arms the parliament against him and himself goes over to the side of the yard, for which he finally receives the long-awaited cardinal hat. In the early 1650s, during the temporary removal of Mazarin from power, he was for some time the head of the French government.

When Mazarin finally defeated his enemies, Gondi suffered among the latter, despite his repeated services to the court. He was accused of relations with Prince Conde, captured and put in Vincennes , and then in Nantes Castle . From there he soon managed to escape, after which he wandered around Italy, Holland, Flanders and England for several years. In 1661 he returned to France, resigned as archbishop, and retired to the Abbey of Saint-Denis .

Of great literary (not only historical) value are the memoirs of Cardinal de Retz, on which he worked in the 1670s and which were first published posthumously, in 1717 . The full edition in eleven volumes was published in 1870 - 1920 . “Memoirs” should not be taken as an objective chronicle - the author somewhat embellishes his role in the events described.

Paul de Gondi is one of the characters in the novel by Alexander Dumas " Twenty Years Later ."

• Maurice Sarfati in the television series Mazarin (France, 1978).
• Aurelien Recuan in the feature film Louis, King is a Child (France, 1993).
• Jacques Fontanel in the TV series King, Squirrel and Already (France, 2009).
• Nicola Vod in the mini-series Queen and Cardinal (France, 2009).

• Gondi, Jean-Francois-Paul // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Cardinal de Retz. Memoirs / Transl. with french Yu. Yakhnina. - M .: Nauka, 1997 .-- 832 p. - ( Literary monuments ). - 3000 copies. - ISBN 5-86218-235-7 .
• Tallemans de Reo Gideon . Cardinal de Retz // Talleman de Reo J. Entertaining stories / trans. with french A.A. Engelke. - L .: Science. Leningrad branch, 1974.- S. 200-207. - ( Literary monuments ). - 50,000 copies.
• Bertière S. La vie du cardinal de Retz. - P .: 1990.

• Retz, Jean Francois Paul de Gondi Memoirs (Neopr.) . Eastern literature . Date of treatment May 10, 2011. Archived on August 25, 2011.
• Wipper Yu. B. “Memoirs” of Cardinal de Retz // Cardinal de Retz. Memoirs. M. Science. 1997 (neopr.) . Eastern literature . Date of treatment May 10, 2011. Archived May 19, 2012.
• The full text of the Memoirs .
• Biography
• Jean Francois Paul de Gondi Retz in the Gutenberg project
• The Memoirs of Cardinal de Retz in the Gutenberg project .