On April 17, 1607, Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu, aged twenty-two years and seven months, was ordained priest and consecrated bishop by the Cardinal de Givry, who had always been his friend. The suffering diocese of Luçon was no longer without a head, and the Roman Easter bells rang in one of the greatest figures in French history. PART II THE BISHOP OF LUÇON 1607-1622 CHAPTER I 1607-1608 A Bishop at the Sorbonne--State of France under Henry IV.--Henry IV., his Queen and his Court--The Nobles and Princes--The unhealthiness of Paris--The Bishop’s departure. The diocese of Luçon--in itself one of the least desirable in France--had to endure some months more of neglect before its new Bishop came into residence. Richelieu’s return to France, in the early summer of 1607, was a return to Paris and the University, which now saw the unusual sight of a bishop among its students. There were still examinations to pass and distinctions to gain: the theological honours of the Sorbonne were not lightly bestowed, even on a dignitary of the Church. But Richelieu, once more, triumphantly satisfied his examiners, and in the autumn of 1607 he was admitted to the degree of Doctor of the Sorbonne. One may say that the old institution was his mother and his child. She trained the brain that transformed France and directed Europe; she was made illustrious by his munificent care, and his feverish life at last found rest in the shadow of her walls. [Illustration: FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE PICTURE BY FRANÇOIS PORBUS]