anchor: Directing national policy until his death in 1642, Richelieu reasserted the authority of his king against both the conservative Catholics who surrounded the queen mother and the Protestant forces that were fiercely defending the privileges granted them by the Edict of Nantes.
positive: Richelieu was able to both support the king and control the running of the country.
negative: Richelieu was an outsider who looked in as the queen mother firmly dictated national policy to the king.