Serving Under Richelieu
After serving in the papal army and diplomatic service and as nuncio at the French court (1634–36), he entered the service of France and made himself valuable to King Louis XIII's chief minister, Cardinal Richelieu, who brought him into the council of state. Richelieu, who felt the weight of his years, though he was as assiduous in the King's service as ever, detected in Mazarin a likely aide in carrying on government. He confided to the young man several sensitive missions, in which Mazarin acquitted himself well, then presented him to the King, who was well pleased with Mazarin.
Ever as deft at the gaming table as with diplomacy, one evening his winnings were so great that a crowd gathered to see the stacks of gold écus, attracting the attention of the Queen; in her presence, Mazarin risked all, and won. He attributed his winnings to the Queen's presence, and in thanks, offered her fifty thousand écus. The Queen demurred, Mazarin pressed, and she accepted. Several days later, Mazarin quietly received a great deal more than he had given. Thus he was affirmed in the favour of the King, the court and above all of Anne of Austria, who would soon be regent.
Mazarin sent to his father in Rome a great sum of money and a casket of jewels, for which he always had a great fondness, as dowry for his three sisters. Service to the King of France seemed to him the easiest route to a cardinal's hat, his constant ambition. Richelieu, in spite of his fondness and admiration for Mazarin, was loath to crown his career so early; he offered a bishopric worth 30,000 écus a year. Mazarin, who aspired to more, for his part, turned it aside amiably. In 1636 he returned to Rome, with the thought of attaching himself to Cardinal Antonio Barberini, nephew of the pope, with an eye to preferment by that route.
In 1640 Richelieu sent him to Savoy, where the regency of Christine, the Duchess of Savoy, and sister of Louis XIII, was disputed by her brothers-in-law, the princes Maurice and Thomas of Savoy, and he succeeded not only in firmly establishing Christine but in winning over the princes to France. This great service was rewarded by his promotion to the rank of cardinal on the presentation of the King of France in December 1641. Soon after, he returned to Rome.
Read more about this topic: Cardinal Mazarin
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