Many denounce Richelieu as a traitor to…
November 1640 CE
Many denounce Richelieu as a traitor to the Roman Catholic Church because he has openly aligned France with Protestant powers.
Military hostilities had at first been disastrous for the French, with many victories going to Spain and the Empire.
Neither side, however, can obtain a decisive advantage, and the conflict will linger on until after Richelieu's death.
Richelieu is instrumental in redirecting the Thirty Years' War from the conflict of Protestantism versus Catholicism to that of nationalism versus Habsburg hegemony.
In this conflict, France is effectively draining the already overstretched resources of the Habsburg empire and driving it inexorably towards bankruptcy.
Richelieu is fully aware of the fact that France is operating under strained circumstances.
She is at war with Castile; she has to control rebellions within France that are supported and financed by Madrid; and she has to send French armies to fight the Spanish Habsburgs on three different fronts.
Philip IV of Spain reigns, under various titles, in Flanders and Franche-Comté, to the north and east of France in addition to their shared frontier at the Pyrenees,
Moreover, Philip IV controls large territories in Italy, where he can, at will, impose a fourth front by attacking French-controlled Savoy, where Christine Marie of France is acting as regent on behalf of her young son, Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy.
Spain enjoys a reputation as having the most formidable military force in Europe, a reputation they had gained with the introduction of the arquebus.
The consummate statesman, Richelieu, therefore decides to force Philip IV to look to his own internal problems.
In order to divert the Spanish troops besieging France, Louis XIII, on the advice of Richelieu, supports the claim of João IV of Portugal during the Acclamation War.
This is done on the reasoning that a Portuguese war will drain Spanish resources and manpower.
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