Entry
Père Joseph — Capuchin friar, Richelieu’s confidant and agent, 1577–1638 — the grey eminence
A parliamentarian’s son and gentleman who became a Capuchin in 1599, a reformer of his order and founder of the Filles du Calvaire, he met Richelieu in 1611 and was for thirty years the man of grand designs and secret negotiations: Sweden drawn into the Thirty Years’ War, the German princes leagued against the emperor at Regensburg. The Capuchins’ grey habit gave him the name that has since designated every adviser in the shadows. (Editorial synthesis)
Père Joseph was born on 4 November 1577 (Julian calendar). (source: Encyclopædia Britannica)
Père Joseph was born in Paris. (source: Encyclopædia Britannica)
Père Joseph died in December 1638. (source: Encyclopædia Britannica)
Père Joseph died in Rueil-Malmaison. (source: Encyclopædia Britannica)
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