Which cardinal succeeded Richelieu as chief minister of France in 1642?

Jules Mazarin succeeded Cardinal Richelieu as chief minister of France in 1642.

Mazarin was an Italian-born Catholic churchman and diplomat who first attracted Richelieu’s attention while serving papal interests. Richelieu brought him into French service, supported his elevation to the cardinalate in 1641, and helped establish him as a trusted political ally. When Richelieu died on 4 December 1642, Mazarin became the leading minister of Louis XIII.

The transition was not entirely automatic: Louis XIII initially appointed several advisers, but Mazarin soon outmaneuvered his rivals. After Louis XIII died in 1643, Mazarin continued as chief minister under Anne of Austria, regent for the child Louis XIV. He guided France through the final years of the Thirty Years’ War and helped negotiate the Peace of Westphalia.

A common mix-up is treating Mazarin as simply Richelieu’s immediate successor in a modern prime-ministerial system. The office was a royal ministerial position, and Mazarin’s authority depended on the king and, later, the regent.