Richelieu's Army
War, Government and Society in France, 1624–1642

A definitive reinterpretation of the role and influence of the French army during Richelieu's ministry.

David Parrott (Author)

9780521025485, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 March 2006

628 pages, 5 maps
22.9 x 15.2 x 3.5 cm, 0.91 kg

'It is one of the most important studies of early modern warfare since the revival of that subject in the 1970s, as well as being an important contribution to seventeenth-century French and European history.' War in History

It is assumed widely that 'war made the state' in seventeenth-century France. Yet this study of the French army during the ministry of Cardinal Richelieu (1624–42) shows how the expansion of the war effort was not matched by army reform but by a reliance on traditional mechanisms of control. The army imposed a huge burden upon the French population, but far from being an instrument of the emerging absolutist state its demands contributed to weakening Richelieu's hold upon France and heightened levels of political and social tension. This is the first detailed account of the size, organization, recruitment, financing and control of the troops during this formative period of French history. The book also includes a detailed study of foreign policy during Richelieu's ministry, and places the training, deployment and fighting methods of the French army into the context of arguments for military change in early modern Europe. The title was runner up in the History Today Awards 2002.

Acknowledgements
Introduction: war, government and society in France, 1624–1642
Part I. The Military Context: 1. The French art of war during Richelieu's ministry
2. France at war, 1624–1642
3. The size of the French army
Part II. The Administrative Context: 4. Paying for war
5. Recruiting and maintaining armies during the Thirty Years War: military enterprise
6. The French rejection of entrepreneurship
7. The civil administration of the army: the structures
Part III. Responses and Reactions: 8. The management of the war effort, 1635–1642: commissaires de guerres and intendants
9. The ministry and the high command
10. The army and the civilian population
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Warfare & defence [JW], Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], European history [HBJD]