Richelieu and Olivares

Leitura fascinante! Um estudo biográfico comparativo de dois dos maiores estadistas europeus do século XVII, grandes defensores do Absolutismo Monárquico:

Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardeal Richelieu (1585-1642): primeiro-ministro do rei francês Luís XIII de 1628 a 1642.

Gazpar de Guzmán y Pimentel Ribera Velasco e Tovar, Conde-duque de Olivares (1587-1645): primeiro-ministro do rei espanhol Filipe IV de 1621 a 1643.

It was in their fierce determination to control and reshape the world to their image through every instrument at their disposal, including that of language, that Richelieu and Olivares - in many respects so different - came together as one. But there is something paradoxical about this determination. Living, as Richelieu said, in a corrupt age when men were unwilling to be led by reason; sharing an instinctive pessimism about men and events; aware that some sudden contingency could make the best-laid plans go awry; they fought for power with a tenacity born of the optimistic conviction that they could somehow use it to transform the world. Dangerous men, perhaps, but these were dangerous times. (p.31)

J. H. Elliot, Richelieu and Olivares. NY: Canto edition, 1991.