 The absolute monarchy pioneered by Cardinal Richelieu, Mazarin's predecessor, was to be led by the monarch himself.Louis had many powerful ministers, notably Jean-Baptiste Colbert, in finances, and François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois, the army, but overall direction was never delegated, and no subsequent French minister ever equaled the power of the two cardinals.The Spanish Habsburgs were not capable of so much energy, but when Olivares was succeeded by his nephew, Luis Méndez de Haro, the last real "valido", the control of government into a single pair of hands had already been weakened.