Joseph, Father

Joseph, Father (François Leclerc du Tremblay), 1577–1638, French Capuchin monk, a confidant and agent of Cardinal Richelieu, generally known as the Éminence Grise [gray eminence]. Combining the elements of a mystic and of a Machiavellian politician, he devoted his life with equal energy to missionary work and to the shady and delicate diplomatic negotiations with which Richelieu entrusted him. He dreamed of a crusade against the Turks and of the restoration of Roman Catholicism throughout Europe, yet he lent his services to a policy that strengthened Protestantism and the Ottoman Empire at the expense of the Catholic house of Hapsburg. Rumors ascribed to him an evil influence over the cardinal. It is more likely, however, that Father Joseph was a pliable instrument in the cardinal's hands and that his influence on the events that led to the entry of France into the Thirty Years War has been vastly exaggerated. Unlike his master, Father Joseph sought no material rewards. He is the subject of a study by Aldous Huxley, Grey Eminence (1941, repr. 1969).

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Joseph, Father

 orig. François-Joseph le Clerc du Tremblay

(born Nov. 4, 1577, Paris, France—died Dec. 18, 1638, Rueil) French mystic and religious reformer. He joined the Capuchins in 1599. His fervent ambition to convert European Protestants to Roman Catholicism coincided with cardinal de Richelieu's plans for French domination of Europe, and he became Richelieu's secretary in 1611. He became known as the “Gray Eminence” (for his gray Capuchin cloak), and his close collaboration with Richelieu (the “Red Eminence”) gave him powers akin to those of a foreign minister, especially during Richelieu's campaign to finance France's participation in the Thirty Years' War, which Joseph's policies did much to bring about.