François-Auguste de Thou (24 August 1604 - 12 September 1642) was a French magistrate. He was born in Paris, the eldest son of Jacques-Auguste de Thou. In 1617, with the death of his father, he inherited the office of Master of the Bookstore. Nicolas Rigault, guard of the Library of the King, assumed that office with his arrest. He was a councillor to the parliament of Paris in 1626 and a conseiller d'État shortly afterwards. From 1632 to 1635, he was steward of Burgundy and steward of the armies with Cardinal Louis de Nogaret of Valletta. He was unwise enough to link himself to

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...

's enemies. His misguided mediation between

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (; ; born Ana María Mauricia; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was Queen of France from 1615 to 1643 by marriage to King Louis XIII. She was also Queen of Navarre until the kingdom's annexation into the French crown ...

and

Marie de Rohan Marie Aimée de Rohan (; December 1600 – 12 August 1679) was a French courtier and political activist, famed for being the center of many of the intrigues of the first half of the 17th century in France. In various sources, she is often kno ...

was pardoned, but he fell in the conspiracy between Spain and Cinq-Mars, a favorite of king

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

. For not revealing what he knew of the conspiracy, his silence was taken as proof of guilt and he was beheaded at Lyon on the same day as Cinq-Mars on Richelieu's orders.''Encyclopédie Larousse du XXe siècle'', Paris, 1932 He was a manuscript collector; his collection included the Greek minuscule manuscript known as Minuscule 601 (Gregory-Åland). He was portrayed in the 1826 '' Cinq-Mars'' by

Alfred de Vigny Alfred Victor, Comte de Vigny (; 27 March 1797 – 17 September 1863) was a French poet and early French Romanticism, Romanticist. He also produced novels, plays, and translations of Shakespeare. Biography Vigny was born in Loches (a town to wh ...

. A famous 19th century historical painting '' The State Barge of Cardinal Richelieu on the Rhône'' by

Paul Delaroche Hippolyte-Paul Delaroche (; Paris, 17 July 1797 – Paris, 4 November 1856) was a French painter who achieved his greater successes painting historical scenes. He became famous in Europe for his melodramatic depictions that often portrayed subje ...

shows

in a gorgeous barge, preceding the boat carrying De Thou and Cinq-Mars to their execution.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thou 1604 births 1642 deaths 17th-century French politicians