In 1648 a revolt erupted, first among the Parlement of Paris, and soon spread to the Parisian populace. It was the beginning of the Fronde, which was to engulf the nobility, most crown princes, and several provinces and was to shake the kingdom until 1652. As coadjutor to the archbishop of Paris, Retz was particularly visible in the capital and influential among the clergy. In his memoirs he recounts how, after he was mocked by the court for his attempts to negotiate an agreement between the queen regent and the insurgents, he joined the Frondeurs. Louis XIV, then a child, never forgave Retz his role as a faction leader and an adviser to the duke of Orléans when that prince became involved in the revolt. In 1652 the Pope named Retz a cardinal, but Louis never formally recognized the appointment. Instead, in the middle of what is known as the ecclesiastical Fronde, Retz was arrested and incarcerated in the prison of Vincennes. Eighteen months later he escaped and spent eight years roaming throughout Europe as an exile.
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