Description:

Louis XIII, King of France & Cardinal Richelieu
Paris, France, December 28[?], 1616
Louis XIII & Cardinal Richelieu Signed 1616 Directive - The Signature of the "Red Eminence" Dwarfs The Teenaged King's
MDS

A 1p manuscript document in French signed by 15-year-old Louis XIII, King of France (1601-1643) as "Louis" at center, and countersigned by Armand Jean de Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642) as "de Richelieu" near the bottom center. Louis's signature measures 1" x .5" while Richelieu's measures 4" x 2.25" including the paraph! December 28[?], 1616. Paris, France. The document consists of 23 lines of text beautifully inscribed in a secretarial hand on vellum. The "L" of Louis's signature is partially obscured by a stain but is still legible. Two additional stains affect about 12 words of text but do not render them illegible. Expected wear to the vellum including flattened folds, wrinkles, weathering, and minor loss not affecting the text. The document, in a floating mount, is flanked by portraits of Louis XIII and Richelieu. Not examined out of the frame. The actual size of the document is 22" x 11.75" while the overall size of the frame is 41.25" x 19.25" x 1.25." Provenance: Purchased at Walter R. Benjamin Autographs, Inc. Comes with the original purchase receipt, No. 34180, showing it was purchased for over $500 in July 1988.

The document dates from an extremely interesting time period for two reasons. First, it dates from the last part of Louis XIII's regency, just a year before he forcibly removed his mother, Marie de' Medici, from power in 1617. Second, it dates from Richelieu's short-lived tenure serving as Secretary of State for War of France, from late 1616 until April 1617, and before his rise to real power. One can easily imagine, though, that the trust which Louis XIII invested in Richelieu less than a decade later when appointing him Chief Minister of France, was already beginning to cement during this period.

The document begins, "Louis par la grace de Dieu Roy de France et Navarre…" [Louis by the grace of God King of France and Navarre…] and concludes, with royal decisiveness, as: "Car c'est mon plaisir…" [Because it is my pleasure]. The document is untranslated but appears to relate to military affairs. Two individuals' names can be found within the text and in the docket: "de Schomberg" on line 2; and "Thomas Morant" on line 4. A possible candidate for "de Schomberg" is Henri de Schomberg, Comte de Nanteuil (1575-1632), who commanded royal troops against both domestic (Huguenot and rebel) and foreign (English) foes in the 1620s and 1630s. Thomas Morant is known to have served as "trésorier de l'Epargne" or Treasurer, during Louis XIII's reign.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: framed: 41.25" x 19.25" x 1.25"
  • Medium: MDS

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