The Fronde
A state body put a bounty on Cardinal Mazarin's head.
150,000 livres
TOPICS
The Cardinal's Purse and the Debased Copper Coin
After the Fronde ended, Mazarin left a personal fortune of about thirty-five million livres. Around the same time, the liard, a copper coin in the hands of the common people, was devalued to one-third of its face value in about a month.
The Minister's Purse and the People's Copper Coins in 3 Minutes
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His property was sold, and his roughly 40,000 books were scattered at auction.
France's first public library disappeared.
1600–1650
From 1600 to 1650, state spending swelled 5-fold.
The king borrowed from financiers, using future taxes as collateral.
Interest payments to people who had lent money to the state were only partially paid.
2.5 payments
out of the quarterly interest payments
The people who lent to the king eventually became the main figures in the rebellion.
March 9, 1661
When Mazarin died, he left behind a massive fortune.
About 35 million livres
He rebuilt it in just 8 years and was never brought to justice.
1658
The face value of the people's copper coins was cut to 1/3 in about a month.
3 → 1 deniers
2In numbers
35 millionlivres
Mazarin's personal fortune (approx.). It surpassed even his mentor's wealth.
1denier
The new face value of the common liard copper coin in 1658.
3What would you do?
It's around 1650 in Paris. You live on interest payments from money you lent to the state. But now, you're only receiving a portion of those payments. What do you do?
Pick one
It's a state matter, so I'll be patient and wait.
The brunt of tax hikes was aimed not at peasants, but at Parisian officials and those living on interest payments. They received only 2.5 of their quarterly payments.
Join the side opposing the king.
In reality, the people who had lent money to the king eventually became the main figures in the Fronde.
The people's devalued coins, worth 1/3 of their original value, and the minister's re-amassed 35 million livres. This all happened in the same era.
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A First Minister with a Bounty on His Head
The Parlement placed a bounty of 150,000 livres on Cardinal Mazarin's head. A state institution put a price on its serving First Minister. This was one of the high points of the Fronde.
The sale of his property was also ordered, and his collection of some 40,000 books was scattered at auction. Thus disappeared France's first public library, which had been open to all since 1643. Around 5,000 Mazarinades, pamphlets reviling the cardinal, swirled through the city like swarms of flies. These sources are noted as records of public opinion, but not necessarily of fact.
The Spark of Rebellion Lay in Finance
The background to the revolt was a long period of fiscal extraction. State expenditure quintupled between 1600 and 1650, and the Crown borrowed cash in advance from financiers known as traitants, using future taxes as collateral.
The blade of tax increases was aimed not at the peasants, but at the bureaucrats and rentiers of Paris. The rentiers, who lived on annuities from public bonds, found themselves receiving only two and a half of their four quarterly interest payments. Those who had lent money to the Crown eventually became the main protagonists of the rebellion.
The Fortune Rebuilt by an Exile
Mazarin went into exile in Cologne and initially lost his fortune at auction. However, when he passed away in Vincennes on March 9, 1661, the fortune he left behind was approximately thirty-five million livres. It is considered the largest private fortune of the 17th century, surpassing even that of his mentor, Richelieu, which was about twenty million. This means he had rebuilt it in just eight years. That fortune was never called into question.
The Copper Coins of the Same Era
In 1658, the liard, a copper coin used daily by the common people, was devalued from three deniers to one denier in the space of about a month. The small change reduced to a third of its value and the rebuilt thirty-five million livres are stories from the same period.
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