Mazarin, Jules, originally Giulio Mazarini 1602-61
French cleric, diplomat and politician

Born in Pescina, Italy, he studied under the Jesuits in Rome, and at Alcala in Spain. He was Papal Nuncio to the French court (1634-36) and entered the service of Louis XIII in 1639, having become a naturalized Frenchman. Through the influence of Cardinal Richelieu he was elevated to cardinal, succeeding him as Chief Minister in 1642. After Louis's death (1643), he retained his authority under the Queen Regent, Anne of Austria, to whom it is said he was married. Blamed by many for the civil disturbances of the Frondes, he twice fled France, and returned to Paris in 1653 after the nobles' revolt had been suppressed. His foreign policy was more fruitful: he gained the alliance of Cromwell at the price of Dunkirk, concluded the Peace of Westphalia (1648), whose terms increased French prestige, and negotiated the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659), ending the prolonged Franco-Spanish conflict. His impressive library was bequeathed to the Coll�ge Mazarin, and his name is borne by the rare 'Mazarin Bible'.

Bibliography: Arthur Hassall, Mazarin (1903)