Duke of Sully Maximilien de Béthune GMA |
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Maximilien de Béthune in 1630.
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Chief Minister of France | |
In office 2 August 1589 – 29 January 1611 |
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Monarch | Henry IV |
Succeeded by | Nicolas de Neufville |
Superintendent of Finances | |
In office 1600 – 26 January 1611 |
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Monarch |
Henry IV, Louis XIII |
Preceded by |
Henry I of Montmorency (first of a council) |
Succeeded by |
Pierre Jeannin (first of a council) |
Personal details | |
Born |
Rosny-sur-Seine, France |
13 December 1560
Died | 22 December 1641 Villebon, France |
(aged 81)
Nationality | French |
Spouse(s) |
Anne de Courtenay (m. 1583–89); her death Rachel de Cochefilet (m. 1592–1641); his death |
Children | Maximilien, François, Marguerite, Louise |
Parents | François de Béthune and Charlotte Dauvet |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Kingdom of France |
Service/branch | Royal Army |
Years of service | 1576–1598 |
Rank | Marshal of France |
Battles/wars |
French Wars of Religion (1562–1598): Rohan Wars (1621–1629): |
French Wars of Religion (1562–1598):
Rohan Wars (1621–1629):
Maximilien de Béthune, 1st Duke of Sully, Marquis of Rosny and Nogent, Count of Muret and Villebon, Viscount of Meaux (13 December 1560 – 22 December 1641) was a nobleman, soldier, statesman, and faithful right-hand man who assisted king Henry IV of France in the rule of France. Historians emphasize Sully's role in building a strong centralized administrative system in France using coercion and highly effective new administrative techniques. His policies were not original, and most were reversed. Historians have also studied his neo-Stoicism and his ideas about virtue, prudence, and discipline.
He was born at the Château de Rosny near Mantes-la-Jolie into a branch of the House of Béthune a noble family originating in Artois, and was brought up in the Reformed faith, a Huguenot. In 1571, at the age of eleven, Maximilien was presented to Henry of Navarre and remained permanently attached to the future king of France. The young Baron of Rosny was taken to Paris by his patron and was studying at the Collège de Bourgogne at the time of the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre, from which he escaped by discreetly carrying a Catholic book of hours under his arm. He studied mathematics and history at the court of Henry of Navarre.