Richelieu and Olivares

During the 1600's, France and Spain contended for power and influence in Europe, while each country was facing significant domestic turmoil and major economic difficulties. This book examines the rivalry between France and Spain through the perspective of the lives and careers of two men who were key advisors and ministers of the French and Spanish kings: Cardinal Richelieu of France and Count-Duke Olivares of Spain. This is a book for careful reading and reflection, not for casual reading. Although the book is written for historians and serious students of history, it is written in a style that can be read and understood by a non-historian interested in the subjects it covers. The author presents an interesting analysis of the lives and careers of Cardinal Richelieu and Count-Duke Olivares as they struggled with national and international politics, the personalities of their kings and other royal family members, court intrigue, religious constraints, family obligations, limited economic resources, and the fortunes of war. The author provides a multidimensional portrait of two ambitious, talented men who acted in various ways to address and cope with difficult problems and situations facing their countries, their kings, their families, and themselves. In the end, Cardinal Richelieu mostly prevailed and Count-Duke Olivares mostly failed. The book makes a persuasive case that Cardinal Richelieu's overall success was not easy or complete, and that Count-Duke Olivares's ultimate failure was not easily predictable or inevitable. The book provides an interesting case study on how two talented and determined people had to plan and act within the constraints and practical realities of their times, and how they responded (sometimes successfully, sometimes unsuccessfully) to unexpected events and the failure of some of their plans and actions.

This is justly considered a modern classic. Richelieu is famous. But who has heard of his rival, the chief minister of Spain, the Count-Duke Olivares? France won, Spain lost, and Olivares slipped into obscurity and historical disdain. Elliott's take is that Richelieu and Olivares were mirrors, facing very similar issues and trials, and both exemplars of thier times. Their long struggle ended in a victory for Richelieu, but for Elliott, the result was not because of any deficiencies on Olivares's part, but a matter of Spain's inferior economic arrangements; and that France's victory was a close one after all. This is an excellent introduction to the great Hapsburg/Bourbon rivalry that rearranged the powers of Europe, setting the scene for the age of colonization.

This book is a very interesting comparative study of two relevant statesmen of the XVII century, Richelieu and Olivares, the former very [bad-]known through the eyes of The Three Musketeers by Hollywood with the cooperation of Alexandre Dumas, the latter ignored by most of the people, as it usually happens with those that lose a war. Apart from being very readable (I bought it on Sun-day and I have finished by Tuesday) and not very long, the contrast between Richelieu and Oli-vares is useful to avoid topics and myths based on the supposedly a-religious and modern per-formance of the French Cardinal versus the obsolete behaviour and ideas of the Count-Duke, or on the national character of France and/or Spain. In the case of Olivares, I have found that this book dedicates more pages to deal with the psychological and/or personal aspects than Elliot's "The Count-Duke of Olivares. The Statesman in an age of decline", who focuses more on poli-tics. (Other books I would recommend to read on Spain: As a general overview, "A History of Spain" by Joseph Perez; and more focused on the XVI and/or XVII centuries: "The Spain of Philip II" by Joseph Perez; "Imperial Spain 1469-1716" and "The Count-Duke of Olivares. The Statesman in an age of decline" both of them also written by John Elliot; "Spain 1469-1714, A Society of Conflict", by Henry Kamen; and " Spain 1516-1598 : From Nation State to World Empire" and "The His-panic World in Crisis and Change, 1598-1700" both of them written by John Lynch).