[close] Louis XIII (27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) reigned as King of France and Navarre from 1610 to 1643.

Cardinal Richelieu played a major role in Louis XIII's administration from 1624, decisively shaping the destiny of France for the next eighteen years. As a result of Richelieu's work, Louis XIII became one of the first examples of an absolute monarch. Under Louis and Richelieu, the crown successfully intervened in the Thirty Years' War against the Habsburgs, managed to keep the French nobility in line, and retracted the political and military privileges granted to the Huguenots by Henry IV (while maintaining their religious freedoms). In addition, Louis had the port of Le Havre modernized and he built a powerful navy.

Unfortunately, time and circumstances never permitted the King and the Cardinal to attend to the administrative reforms (particularly of France's tax system) which were urgently needed.

Louis also worked to reverse the trend of promising French artists leaving for Italy to work and study. He commissioned the painters Nicolas Poussin and Philippe de Champaigne to decorate the Louvre. In foreign matters, Louis organized the development and administration of New France, expanding its settlements westward along the Saint Lawrence River from Quebec City to Montreal. [close]