Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, Marquis of Cinq-Mars (1620 - September 12, 1642) was a "favourite " of King Louis XIII of France who led the last and most nearly successful of the many conspiracies against the king's powerful first minister, the Cardinal Richelieu.

Cinq-Mars was the son of Marshal Antoine Coiffier-Ruzé, marquis d'Effiat , a close friend of Richelieu, who took the boy under his protection on his father's death in 1632.

In 1642, Louis had no "favourite" (a close friend, usually a lover at court, who usually had a major influence on the King's decisions). Richelieu had introduced the young Cinq-Mars, to Louis, hoping Louis would take Cinq-Mars as a lover. The cardinal believed Cinq-Mars was easy to control. Instead, the marquis tried to convince the king to have Richelieu executed, and when Cinq-Mars took matters into his own hands, Richelieu had him imprisoned and then beheaded in Lyon, together with François de Thou . Although the king approved the execution, the death of Cinq-Mars appears to have driven a wedge between him and the cardinal.

Miscellaneous

Alfred de Vigny wrote a novel Cinq-Mars, inspired by the story of the marquis, and published in 1826. Charles Gounod created an opera of the same name on April 5, 1877.

External links

• Detailed history: Conspiration et mort de Cinq-Mars (in French)