The
Downton Abbey Effect
Cottages
and Palaces in “His Red Eminence”
By
Laurel A. Rockefeller
“Downton Abbey.”
Few period dramas have earned the critical acclaim and popularity as the story
of its Crawley family as they navigate the dramatic changes faced in the early
20th century. Featuring lavish estates and stories centred on both
the upstairs nobles and downstairs servants, it can be no wonder so many of us
are excited about the September 2019 release of a theatrical film that continues
the stories of these beloved characters.
Important to
Downton Abbey’s appeal stems from its window into how the upper classes live
and how they interact with the servants whose labours empower their lifestyle.
It’s a time gone by for nearly all of us, a culture few of us experience or
understand. A culture that was very much part of life in 17th
century France.
In “His Red
Eminence, Armand-Jean du Plessis de Richelieu” we are taken through the good
cardinal’s entire adult life, starting at the age of twenty when he was a
student at his beloved Sorbonne. Along the way, he lived in everything from a
spartan dormitory to modest cottages to palaces. Each of these held a very
different lifestyle. Each of them enlightened by watching “Downtown Abbey.” Let’s take a look at his homes.
Du Plessis
Manor/Château Richelieu – Poitou (1585-1594,
intermittent thereafter)
The cardinal’s
childhood home was the medieval manor built by his ancestors and resided at for
centuries. The 16th century Wars of Religion which ultimately
claimed the life of Armand’s father François in 1590 bankrupted the family,
forcing Armand’s mother Suzanne de la Porte to cut what few staff they had before.
Odds are the frugality Suzanne de la Porte imposed on her household meant
Armand grew up with few if any of the luxuries normally enjoyed by the
nobility, a simplicity in lifestyle he maintained for the rest of his life.
Upon the death of his father in 1590, eldest brother
Henri du Plessis became Seigneur de Richelieu. Through political skill and the
kindness of King Henri IV, Henri improved the du Plessis fortunes by convincing
the king to appoint Armand as Bishop of Luçon and with it, a yearly income of
15,000 livres for his brother and, by extension, the family.
(engraving of the
Château Richelieu before its demolition in 1805.)
As Armand’s career improved over the years, he
invested in the family home, transforming it in the Château Richelieu built by
architect Jacques Lemercier, and employing a proper household staff to attend
him whenever he or other family members stayed there. From footmen to
housemaids, valets, and lady’s maids, the château scenes in chapter twelve are
modelled closely after those in Downton Abbey and the many adventures of those
who lived there, both upstairs and downstairs.
Dormitory at the
Sorbonne (1606-1607)
Like most students,
Armand-Jean lived simply in a bedroom that served as bedroom, library, office,
and beyond. He probably shared both a kitchen and lavatory with others living
in the same building. It is the style of life most familiar to us today and
therefore most relatable.
Bishop’s Mansion
– Luçon (1608-1614)
More spacious than
his dormitory, ordination as a priest and investiture as a bishop was a step up
for His Excellency, Bishop du Plessis.
As bishop he lived in a parsonage where he lived, maintained an office
complete with a secretary, and entertained. No less than a cook and a
housekeeper maintained the residence and probably other servants as well,
though likely fewer than ten altogether. Though the sizes of bishop mansions
varied with the wealth and important of individual dioceses, the mansion in
Luçon probably maintained at least five guest bedrooms in addition to the
master bedroom the bishop occupied and those reserved on the top floor for
residential staff.
Mansions – Blois
and Avignon Exiles (1617-1620)
Historically
speaking, we know essentially nothing about where exactly Bishop du Plessis
lived during his years in exile in Blois and Avignon created by his service to
Marie de Medici. As a civil servant, he most likely lived in the same home as
the dowager queen while in Blois. Given Marie de Medici was essentially running
a quasi-independent, rival French government, it is logical to deduce that she
and her staff (du Plessis included) lived in a modest mansion sufficiently
sized to accommodate a household of at least thirty and probably closer to
sixty. Upon being ordered away from de Medici in the form of being sent to
Avignon, Bishop du Plessis and those exiled with him probably experienced a
more scaled down version of his life in Blois with a smaller mansion-prison and
fewer staff, but still attended somewhat by cooks, housekeepers, and perhaps a
footman or two whose real function was to enforce the house arrest while spying
on the prisoners.
Parisian
Cottages (1614-1617, 1620-1629)
In September, 1614
Bishop du Plessis arrived in Paris as a delegate from Poitou representing its
clergy at the meeting of the Estates-General in Paris. Though we know nothing
about how or where the bishop was housed, it was most likely a modest cottage
not unlike Crawley House in Downton Abbey. The bishop probably had a cook and a
housekeeper to look after him. Upon being appointed to the large stream of
government positions showcased in “Eminence” that staff level would have slowed
increased, but rarely exceeding more than five or ten total servants plus or
minus the red guards who protected his person. These cottages probably looked
and felt a great deal like Crawley House, modest but comfortable, but better
suited to city life than the rural-centric Crawley House.
Apartment at the
Louvre (intermittent, 1622-1629)
Living at the
Louvre was a special honour granted as a reward to favourite courtiers. It was
also given to those ministers the king wanted kept close to him—either because
he wanted him closely watched and/or because he needed that minister available
to him at all hours of the day and night.
As seen in
“Eminence,” Richelieu most likely divided his residency between an apartment in
the Louvre and a nearby cottage. While staying at the Louvre, housemaids would
have kept his apartment tidy and cooks would have provided him with his meals.
Footmen summoned him into the royal presence.
Following his 1628
success at La Rochelle, King Louis XIII gifted him with his own estate mere
metres from the Louvre which Richelieu designed with architect Jacques
Lemercier, the Palais Cardinal, a grand home that survives to this day as the
“Palais Royal.”
Palais Cardinal (1629-1642)
In 1629 Jacques
Lemercier completed the Palais Cardinal, the ultra-modern palace estate which
became Cardinal Richelieu’s principle residence from 1629 until his death on 4
December, 1642. The Palais Cardinal featured Paris’ first theatre at which the
many plays Richelieu penned were performed. Though the cardinal maintained the
simple lifestyle one expects of a parish priest, he spent generously on a
massive household staff at the Palais Cardinal. With an income exceeding two
million livres per year at the end of his life, he could afford it. But as with
everything else, his spending was far more about the principle than his own
needs or interests. In patronizing the visual, dramatic, and musical arts at
the Palais, he fostered French culture in ways he believed were essential to
the longevity of the State. In offering employment to a far larger household
staff than he needed, he invested in his community.
In the end,
Armand-Jean du Plessis, cardinal and duc de Richelieu was not the mean-spirited
and heartless villain of the Dumas novels, but rather the kind, extremely
generous, and far-sighted statesman who invested in people, in the arts, in
long-term diplomacy, and in a strong, unified France. Instead of using his
income from government service for his own creature comforts and agendas, he
invested in the French people, in French culture, and in the French State.
The fictional Earl
of Grantham considered himself the custodian of Downtown Abbey. The very real
Cardinal Richelieu made himself the custodian of France itself. Few ministers have done more or served better
than His Red Eminence, Armand-Jean du Plessis de Richelieu.
His
Red Eminence
Armand-Jean
du Plessis de Richelieu
by
Laurel A. Rockefeller
Genre:
Historical Fiction
Priest.
Lover. Statesman.
From
the author of the best-selling “Legendary Women of World History”
series ...
Cardinal
Armand-Jean du Plessis, duc de Richelieu is one of the most famous --
or infamous politicians of all time. Made a villain in the popular
Dumas novel, "The Three Musketeers," the real man was a
dedicated public servant loyal to king and country. A man of logic
and reason, he transformed how we think about nations and
nationality. He secularized wars between countries, patronized the
arts for the sake of the public good, founded the first newspaper in
France, and created France as the modern country we know
today.
Filled
with period music, dance, and plenty of romance, "His Red
Eminence" transports you back to the court of King Louis XIII in
all its vibrant and living color.
Includes
eight period songs, plus prayers, a detailed timeline, and extensive
bibliography so you can keep learning.
Born,
raised, and educated in Lincoln, Nebraska USA Laurel A. Rockefeller
is author of over twenty books published and self-published since
August, 2012 and in languages ranging from Welsh to Spanish to
Chinese and everything in between.
A dedicated scholar and
biographical historian, Ms. Rockefeller is passionate about education
and improving history literacy worldwide.
With
her lyrical writing style, Laurel's books are as beautiful to read as
they are informative.
In
her spare time, Laurel enjoys spending time with her cockatiels,
attending living history activities, travelling to historic places in
both the United States and United Kingdom, and watching classic
motion pictures and classic television series.
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