The youngest of three sons in a family that traditionally boasted of important positions in the Church, Retz was groomed for an ecclesiastical career, one for which, according to him, he had no inclination whatsoever. Expected to succeed his uncle, the archbishop of Paris, the young Retz--who dreamed of exceptional deeds but was unwilling to lead a life of strict moral standards--decided instead to throw himself into politics. While his critics' accusations that he aimed as high as the prime minister's office might have been exaggerated, it is clear from his own account that his ambition was to become a cardinal and wield a decisive influence in state affairs.
The period was a propitious one for the politically ambitious: the conflict between nobility and the monarchy, brewing throughout the reign of Louis XIII, had escalated upon his death in 1643. Regencies in France were traditionally fraught with political tensions, and that of Anne of Austria was complicated by the unpopularity of the cardinal de Mazarin, her prime minister and suspected lover. An Italian of merchant extraction and newly naturalized in France, Mazarin was generally despised by the French nobility and became the focus of popular discontent provoked by the crown's attempt to raise taxes in order to finance foreign wars.
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