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The local nobility and magnates dominated the localities, and they were the de-facto rulers in their lands. The great noble families such as the Conde owned massive estates and they even had their private armies. These noble families owed more allegiance to themselves than to France. The nobility was factionalized, and they constantly quarreled and also fought each other to gain influence and even intrigued with the Hapsburgs against their king.<ref> Collins, James B. <i>The State in Early Modern France</i> (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1995), p. 15</ref> The actual power of the monarch was minimal. The king in France was dependent upon the nobles to raise taxes and an army. If the aristocrats did not want to cooperate with the king, he was in great difficulties. Many found this situation intolerable and demanded reforms, especially the middle class and urban elites.

Cardinal Richelieu was born in 1585, during one of France’s many Religious Wars. Richelieu was the son of the Lord of Richelieu and a member of the minor nobility.<ref> Bergin, p. 4</ref> He was educated in Paris at the Collège de Navarre, a brilliant student he was well-versed in history and the classics. He had originally been intended for the military, but his family decided that he should enter the priesthood. In April 1607, after receiving a papal dispensation as he was only 21, he was ordained as a priest and bishop at Lucon. Richelieu was very ambitious and studied the works of Machiavelli. The extent of the influence of the Italian political philosopher can be seen in Richelieu’s cynical aphorisms, especially in his Testament Politique (1641).