Louis XIII, chaste and combative, posed serious obstacles to the Revolution which was corrupting society from top to bottom.
Newsdesk (25/02/2026 14:15, Gaudium Press) Son of King Henry IV and Marie de Medici, Louis XIII was born at the Château de Fontainebleau, near Paris, on September 27th, 1601. From childhood, he greatly enjoyed hunting and did so frequently.
When he was just nine years old, his father was assassinated. Shortly thereafter, he was crowned King at the Cathedral of Reims and his mother was declared Regent. She allowed herself to be dominated by an Italian couple, who caused great harm to France and were eventually executed.
In 1614, Louis XIII was declared of age and Marie de Medici convened the Estates General, that is, a meeting of deputies from the three classes that made up society: clergy, nobility and commoners.
At the assembly held in Paris, in the Augustinian convent, there were demonstrations against the Church and the hierarchical social order, which foreshadowed the Estates General of 1789, at the beginning of the French Revolution.
Louis XIII married Anne of Austria, daughter of King Philip III of Spain and Archduchess Margaret of Austria, in November 1615. She was Infanta of Spain and Portugal, Archduchess of Austria, Princess of Burgundy and the Netherlands.
After 22 years of marriage, they had a son named Louis Dieudonné – given by God – who became Louis XIV, the Sun King.
Protestants violently persecute the Church
King Henry IV, who had been a Protestant and ‘converted’ to occupy the throne of France, signed the Edict of Nantes in 1598, which granted religious freedom to Calvinists.
They, who had committed so many evils against Catholics, continued their persecution of the Church. For example, through a decree, they ordered: ‘the demolition of all churches, convents, bell towers and other ecclesiastical buildings. That the celebration of Masses be prohibited in all cities of our department, especially in Montpellier’ – Southern France.
‘This is how Protestants practised freedom of worship!’
In his early youth, Louis XIII ‘developed a passion for the art of warfare and believed that a great king should strike fear into his enemies’.
In 1620, at the head of his army, he invaded the capital of Béarn in south-western France, which was dominated by Calvinists. He restored the property and rights of bishops and parish priests and dissolved the militia composed of heretics.
The Capitulation of La Rochelle
Located on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, the city of La Rochelle was ruled by heretics. In 1621, it proclaimed its independence from France and changed its name to the ‘New Republic of La Rochelle’.
Louis XIII, with his army, advanced against Protestant localities in southern France. Realizing that the King wanted to attack La Rochelle, its leaders asked England for help, which sent a large number of ships to protect it.
In September 1627, the King of France, accompanied by his army, began the siege of La Rochelle, which capitulated after 14 months. Ravaged by famine, only 5,000 of its 30,000 inhabitants remained.
Richelieu allied himself with heretical princes
Cardinal Richelieu, minister to Louis XIII for twenty years, favoured Royal Absolutism, thereby fuelling the Revolution.
‘Monarchical absolutism tends to place subjects, even the most highly ranked, on a level of mutual equality, in a diminished situation that already foreshadows the annihilation of the individual and the anonymity that reaches its peak in the large urban concentrations of socialist society’.
The Thirty Years’ War, which ravaged Europe from 1618 to 1648, was caused mainly by the armed revolt of Hussite princes in Czechoslovakia against Catholicism established in the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by the House of Habsburg.
During this conflict, Richelieu allied himself with Protestant princes from Holland and Germany, rebelled against the Habsburgs, betraying the Church and Queen Anne of Austria, who belonged to that royal family.
He financed the Protestant King of Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus, and a Calvinist army from Saxe-Weimar in central Germany. He was called the ‘cardinal of heretics’.
Consecration of France to the Blessed Virgin
Louis XIII and Anne of Austria had been married for 22 years, but had no children, which caused concern for the future of the country. On August 15th, 1638 – the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady – the King consecrated France to the Virgin Mary and ordered that every year on that day, a procession in honour of the Mother of God be held throughout the country.
Three weeks later, the boy who would become King Louis XIV was born.
While at the Château de Saint Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, Louis XIII suffered severe attacks of haemoptysis and was visited by Saint Vincent de Paul, with whom he conversed for six weeks.
On May 14th, 1643, having received the Sacraments, he gave up his soul to God.
A good general and brave in war
Regarding this monarch, Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira commented:
“There was a King of France, Louis XIII, who went down in history with the beautiful name of Louis the Chaste, because of his enormous purity of morals. He was married, incidentally, to one of the noblest and most beautiful princesses of Europe of his time, Anne of Austria, Infanta of Spain, Archduchess of Austria and Queen of France — one cannot possess higher titles! — and he had two children by her: Louis XIV and Philip of Orléans.
“In addition, he was a good general and a brave man in war. Not only was he capable of leading troops, but he was also one of those men who expose themselves, fight and know how to be the first in times of danger, thus setting an example for his soldiers.
The combination of these two virtues, chastity and heroism, is truly beautiful. The greatest beauty of this union of virtues is found in Saint Joan of Arc, the heroic warrior virgin born in Lorraine. Chastity is a virtue full of delicacy and fragility. Courage is a virtue full of strength and fearlessness. The combination of these opposites forms a true marvel! They are like two parts of a warhead that come together to form a very beautiful harmonious whole.”
Since sensuality is one of the causes of the Gnostic and egalitarian Revolution, the virtue of chastity is a fundamental characteristic of the Counter-Revolution. Louis XIII, chaste and combative, posed serious obstacles to the Revolution which was corrupting society from top to bottom.
By Paulo Francisco Martos
Noções de História da Igreja
The post Louis XIII, a Man both Chaste and Combative appeared first on Gaudium Press.
Compiled by Roberta MacEwan
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