Cinq-Mars was the son of Marshal
Antoine Coiffier de Ruzé, marquis d'Effiat, a close friend of
Cardinal Richelieu, who took the boy under his protection on his father's death in 1632.
Career As the son of the marquis d'Effiat, a famous
Superintendent of Finances who was also a good friend of Richelieu's, Cinq-Mars came to court very early. In the 1630s, he commanded a company of Louis XIII's guards and, on 27 March 1638, he was granted the charter of Grand Master of the King's Wardrobe. In 1639, he was raised to
Grand Squire of France. After the exile of the royal favourite
Marie de Hautefort, he gained great influence over the king and quickly established himself as a royal favourite. The cardinal believed he could easily control Cinq-Mars, but instead Cinq-Mars pressed the king for important favours and tried to convince the king to have Richelieu removed or executed. The cardinal offered him numerous responsibilities outside Paris, which the marquis refused. Their disagreement became public in 1639–1640. The meetings lacked discretion and Richelieu's spy service caught him doing so in June 1642. Consequently, Louis XIII and Richelieu had Cinq-Mars imprisoned and judged on 6 September 1642. Found guilty of
high treason, Cinq-Mars was
beheaded in the
Place des Terreaux in
Lyon, along with his accomplice,
François Auguste de Thou, on 12 September 1642. The French writer,
Tallemant, relates that the king showed no emotions concerning the execution: he said "''Je voudrais bien voir la grimace qu'il fait à cette heure sur cet échafaud''" ('I would like to see the grimace he is now making on this scaffold'). The marquis of Cinq-Mars' last words were, "
Ah ! Mon Dieu, qu’est-ce de ce monde ?" ('My God! What is this world?'). ==In popular culture==