Madame de Combalet's husband died fairly early; she then essentially became Richelieu's Fredersdorf, managing her uncle's daiy-to-day life. (Which given he was the PM demanded considerable organizational skills.) Rather than arrange antoher marriage for her, he got Louis to make her a Duchess in her own right (hence her becoming the Duchesse d'Aiguillon, when there was no Duc de Aiguillon), which was highly unusual. She also became an important patron of the arts; Corneille dedicated his great play Le Cid to her. Richelieu telling her he'd loved her on his deathbed was basically the last thing he said.
On a less sentimental note, another quote from Richelieu on his deathbed is so very him that it ends up said by very much alive Richelieu in many historical fictions starring him, to wit:
"Does your Eminence forgive your enemies? "My enemies? I never had enemies but the enemies of the state."
The Richard Lester directed two part film version of "The Three Musketeers", which, despite all the 1960s slapstick, is actually by far the most book faithful, especially compared to more resent US ones, is also the only movie version incorporating this, in this case when our hero D'Artagnan gets a job offer from Richelieu - who, as a reminder, is one of the two main antagonists of the films - and virtuously declines, adding he counts it as an honor to be regarded as Richelieu's enemy. Then the scene goes:
Richelieu (amused): My enemy? Dear boy, I have no enemies but the enemies of the state.
Richelieu is played by Charlton Heston, cast against type; for my money it's one of his best roles and shows that acting outside his comfort range was something he could actually do.)
Leonora: indeed. After her husband got killed and torn apart by the mob, she got a show trial and as accused of having used magic to dominate the Queen Mother. Said Leonora, scornfully: "I used no power but that which is given to a strong mind over a weak one."
Said an admiring 19th century historian who overwise was pretty much misogniystic: This statement alone justifies her existence to history. I mean, Leonora got executed anyway, but it was a classic burn.
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Re: Richelieu
Date: 2020-09-04 05:51 am (UTC)On a less sentimental note, another quote from Richelieu on his deathbed is so very him that it ends up said by very much alive Richelieu in many historical fictions starring him, to wit:
"Does your Eminence forgive your enemies?
"My enemies? I never had enemies but the enemies of the state."
The Richard Lester directed two part film version of "The Three Musketeers", which, despite all the 1960s slapstick, is actually by far the most book faithful, especially compared to more resent US ones, is also the only movie version incorporating this, in this case when our hero D'Artagnan gets a job offer from Richelieu - who, as a reminder, is one of the two main antagonists of the films - and virtuously declines, adding he counts it as an honor to be regarded as Richelieu's enemy. Then the scene goes:
Richelieu (amused): My enemy? Dear boy, I have no enemies but the enemies of the state.
Richelieu is played by Charlton Heston, cast against type; for my money it's one of his best roles and shows that acting outside his comfort range was something he could actually do.)
Leonora: indeed. After her husband got killed and torn apart by the mob, she got a show trial and as accused of having used magic to dominate the Queen Mother. Said Leonora, scornfully: "I used no power but that which is given to a strong mind over a weak one."
Said an admiring 19th century historian who overwise was pretty much misogniystic: This statement alone justifies her existence to history. I mean, Leonora got executed anyway, but it was a classic burn.