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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] Cinq-Mars Biography CINQ-MARS, HENRI COIFFIER RUZÉ D'EFFIAT, MARQUIS DE (1620-42). A French nobleman and conspirator, the favorite of Louis XIII. He was the son of d'Effiat, marshal of France (1581-1632). Cinq-Mars came to court as a protégé of Richelieu in 1635, receiving a commission in the Royal Guards. In 1637 he became master of the robes to the King, and in 1639 was advanced by Richelieu, for political reasons, to the high office of grand equerry of France. Cinq-Mars, however, was not content to be Richelieu's tool, and had ambitions of his own. He distinguished himself before Arras in 1640 and desired a high military command. Richelieu would advance him no further, and in 1641 Cinq-Mars allied himself with the Orléans faction and became one of the chief opponents of the Cardinal. In 1642 he accompanied the King to the siege of Narbonne, and seemed high in the royal favor; but Richelieu had unearthed particulars of a conspiracy, in which Cinq-Mars was the chief, which included a treaty with Spain, and after the incriminating documents had been laid before the King, Ginq-Mars and his accomplices were arrested. Gaston d'Orléans saved his own life by confessing and implicating others. Cinq-Mars was imprisoned, tried, and executed with De Thou, at Lyons, Sept. 12, 1642. A romantic novel by Alfred de Vigny, Cinq-Mans, ou une conjuration sous Louis XIII, is founded on the alleged relations between the conspirator and Maria de Gonzaga, afterward Queen of Poland, and there is an opera by Gounod (1877) based on the story. An English translation of this work has appeared (New York, 1S61). For historical accounts, consult Basserie, La conjuration, de Cinq-Mars, preface by Alfred Mézières (Paris, 1896), and Bazin, Histoire de France sous Louis XIII (Paris, 1846). The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. V (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 339. |