François du Plessis

François du Plessis, sieur de Richelieu (c. 1548–10 June 1590) was a French noble, military officer, and royal official during the French Wars of Religion. Born into an obscure noble family from Poitou, Richelieu began his career in the service of the Montpensier. He fought in the third war of religion under the command of the son of the duke of Montpensier at Jarnac and Moncontour. He again fought under the Montpensier, this time prince de Dombes during the fifth war of religion. It was on the recommendation of the Montpensier that Richelieu was elevated to the post of Grand Prévôt de l'Hôtel in February 1578, which the king combined with the new office of Grand Prévôt de France, giving him police authority both over the king's household and France at large. He would take to this role with enthusiasm, becoming a consistent advocate of the royal will. By the 1580s he had become a major creditor of the monarchy, serving as the intermediary between Italian banking families and the crown, this eventually brought him into financial ruin.

In 1584, the crown was thrown into crisis by the death of the king's brother Alençon and subsequent prospect of the succession of the Protestant Navarre. In response elements of the Catholic nobility entered rebellion against the crown in a Catholic ligue led by the duke of Guise. While at peace with the crown in 1588, Guise sought to impose his authority over Richelieu, instructing him not to garrison Saumur on the Loire to protect against Navarre's army. Richelieu refused to follow any orders but those given to him by Henri III. He played an important role in the assassination of the duke a few months later, leading the arrest of his son the prince de Joinville and several leading members of the Third Estate who were allied with the ligue. This assassination brought Henri into war with the ligue again, and Richelieu participated in a failed attempt to maintain the loyalty of Poitiers to the crown, the city arresting and then expelling him. With the assassination of Henri III in August 1589, Richelieu transferred his loyalty to Navarre, now styled Henri IV. He fought at the Battle of Arques and Battle of Ivry, was made captain of Henri's guard, before dying in June 1590 during the royalist siege of ligueur held Paris. One of his sons, with Suzanne de La Porte was Cardinal Richelieu.