“The glory of good government is principally to think of the welfare of the subjects and the good regulation of the state, which can be done only through peace.”
Michel de Marillac was something of both a “right hand man” and a conservative counterbalance to Cardinal Richelieu during the reign of French king, Louis XIII. He was son of an advocate general to the parliament of Paris, and during the final throes of unrest during the French civil wars of the late 16th century, he ultimately came to support Henry of Navarre, the eventual victor and king Henry IV. This allowed him to be recommended to Cardinal Richelieu who brought him into the government in the 1620s. His main concern was encouraging economic growth, as a balance to the threats posed by popular unrest in France; he advocated conservative policies abroad and limited involvement in foreign wars dealing with the Hapsburgs (along the Rhine river, in the alps). His key proposals reforming the legal administration were embodied in the Code Michau; though never fully implemented, the Code started to bring order to the kingdom while also establishing good government that allowed for the citizens to gain confidence about the stability of the civic society.