ieu, in spite of
their rivalry. In 1632 he became superintendent of finances. But his
great role was in diplomacy. Richelieu employed him on many diplomatic
missions, and the success of his foreign policy was due in no small
degree to Bouthillier's ability and devotion. In 1630 he had taken part
at Regensburg in arranging the abortive treaty between the emperor and
France. From 1633 to 1640 he was continually busied with secret missions
in Germany, sometimes alone, sometimes with Father Joseph. Following
Richelieu's instructions, he negotiated the alliances which brought
France into the Thirty Years' War. Meanwhile, at home, his tact and
amiable disposition, as well as his reputation for straightforwardness,
had secured for him a unique position of influence in a court torn by
jealousies and intrigues. Trusted by the king, the confidant of
Richelieu, the friend of Marie de' Medici, and through his son, Leon
Bouthillier, who was appointed in 1635 chancellor to Gaston d'Orleans,
able to bring his influence to bear on that prince, he was an invaluable
mediator; and the personal influence thus exercised, combined with the
fact that he was at the head of both the finances and the foreign policy
of France, made him, next to the cardinal, the most powerful man in the
kingdom. Richelieu made him executor of his will, and Louis XIII. named
him a member of the council of regency which he intended should govern
the kingdom after his death. But the king's last plans were not carried
out, and Bouthillier was obliged to retire into private life, giving up
his office of superintendent of finances in June 1643. He died in Paris
on the 13th of March 1652.

His son, LEON BOUTHILLIER (1608-1652), comte de Chavigny, was early
associated with his father, who took him with him from 1629 to 1632 to
all the great courts of Europe, instructing him in diplomacy. In 1632 he
was named secretary of state and seconded his father's work, so that it
is not easy always to distinguish their respective parts. After the
death of Louis XIII. he had to give up his office; but was sent as
plenipotentiary to the negotiations at Munster. He showed himself
incapable, however, giving himself up to pleasure and fetes, and
returned to France to intrigue against Mazarin. Arrested twice during
the Fronde, and then for a short time in power during Mazarin's exile
(April 1651), he busied himself with small intrigues which came to
nothing.

BOUTS-RIMES, literal