Marjorie Orr

Author: Marjorie. Date: 28 Jul 2010

Cardinal Richelieu was the key political figure during the reign of King Louis X111 of France becoming effectively the world's first Prime Minister. He sought to consolidate royal power and crush domestic factions. His successes were extremely important to Louis XIII's successor, Sun King Louis XIV who continued Richelieu's work of creating an absolute monarchy.
Not much loved, Richelieu is seen as a Machiavellian character - 'the end justifies the means'. So it would be a considerable worry to him, one imagines, that no legitimate heir was forthcoming from Louis X111's long and unhappy marriage to Anne of Austria. He plotted and planned everything else so why not this?
Though it would have to be said that Louis X1V was born in 1638 just four years before Richelieu's death at 59 years of age which had been creeping up on him for years with a litany of nasty ailments so not entirely sure he'd have been up to fathering Louis X1V. But he was certainly interested in Louis X111 progeny as per below.

Born on 9 September 1585 at 9.28 am Chinon, France, Richelieu was a Sun Virgo opposition Pisces Moon (in the fertile 5th!) square Jupiter in the 8th so he'd be lucky and confident. He had a ferociously determined Mars North Node on his Scorpio Ascendant plus an equally relentless Pluto Saturn in Aries in his hard working 6th trine his Midheaven.

Louis X111 had Saturn in Scorpio on the cusp of his 5th so late children would have been expected from his chart. And with his Saturn opp Uranus square Mars his late child perhaps also give rise to anger and suspicion. Richelieu's Mars NNode were conjunct Louis X111's late/non-child producing Saturn. And Richelieu's Leo Midheaven was conjunct Louis X111's Mars in Leo - so there's a good deal going in there about the Royal succession and money wrapped up in Richelieu's ambitions.

Louis X111 had Pluto in the 10th so had a controlling, possessive mother. R's well-honed Pluto fell in Louis X111's 10th house so he in a sense replaced the errant Marie of Medicis in holding the strings during Louis X111's reign - though admittedly with some blips along the way.

You can't tell from charts about biological fathers especially with Royals who led such warped lives. But Richelieu's chart does fit remarkably well with Louis X1V's. Both were Sun Mercury in Virgo with Venus at the same degree in Leo. Perhaps why they looked quite similar. Richelieu's Venus Midheaven were conjunct Louis X1V's Moon Venus in Leo. R's Mars in Scorpio was conjunct Louis X1V's Jupiter. So there was a clear progression from R's determined ambitions to Louis XIV's expansively Jupiterian reign which followed.

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