Cardinal Richelieu

About Cardinal Richelieu

Cardinal Richelieu, born Armand Jean du Plessis, was a pivotal figure in 17th-century French history, serving as King Louis XIII's chief minister from 1624 until his death in 1642. His primary contribution was the centralization of royal power and the curbing of both domestic aristocratic dissent and the influence of the Huguenots (French Protestants), ultimately solidifying the foundation for absolute monarchy in France. This strong political legacy is reflected in his high standing on the Historical Popularity Index, ranking him #655 out of approximately 15,000 influential figures.

Despite his significant role in shaping the modern French state, Richelieu's modern internet attention remains relatively modest. In 2025, his Wikipedia page accrued 471K annualized views, giving him an Attention Gap of approximately 1x-meaning his attention is roughly in line with his historical rank. To provide context, figures like Augusto Pinochet (#942 importance) garnered significantly more traffic at 1.2M views, illustrating a potential disconnect where a crucial architect of European statecraft is less visible online than figures of more modern, yet perhaps less foundational, political influence.

However, the data suggests his relevance is not entirely static; his 2025 traffic showed a positive year-over-year change of +7.1% and a strong Q1 vs Q3 momentum surge of +19%, indicating a potential, if slow, re-engagement with his political legacy in the modern digital sphere.