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founding, was first supported by St. Louis, the king’s contribution to the seventeenth-century
chapel provided another opportunity to emulate the holy French monarch.
A further factor prompting royal support of the chapel was the opportunity it provided the
king to express his gratitude towards Cardinal Richelieu, the minister whose services he had
chosen to retain even at the expense of his mother’s exile. Although Louis XIII was initially
suspicious of Maria de’ Medici’s favorite, by the Day of the Dupes Richelieu had proven his
willingness to serve the king and state exclusively. 54 Indeed, to prove further his loyalty to the
crown, Richelieu donated considerable sums in 1631 and 1633 to Saint-Louis-des-Jésuites for
the construction of its façade, contributing to an ensemble that glorified the French monarchy
and extolled the sovereign’s authority. It seems reasonable to suggest that, in a show of respect
for the minister’s generous support of the Jesuit church, Louis XIII returned the honor by
contributing to Richelieu’s latest building project.
Apart from the opportunities afforded by the chapel to honor St. Louis and to thank the
French minister, I also propose that the most decisive reason Louis XIII had for supporting the
Sorbonne was Richelieu’s resolution of an ongoing debate. Since 1554 the college was the
official seat of the faculty of theology of the University of Paris, a group primarily comprised of
Gallicans promoting the authority of the state above that of the pope. The other major body at
the college was the doctors of the Sorbonne, who in contrast to the faculty tended to be more
conservative, advocating ultramontane policies benefitting papal powers. 55 The ideological
differences often impacted public thought, especially when theological publications advancing a
certain position forced the other side to issue a public censure. 56
The debates continued throughout the first part of the seventeenth century with the
publication of Gallican tracts by Edmond Richer and ultramontane volumes such as those by the
Jesuits Bellarmine and Santarelli, each of which provoked tension. Richelieu, elected as
proviseur or governor of the Sorbonne in 1622, often had to play the role of moderator, settling
the disputes between the two bodies. 57 A decisive instance in which the minister had to
intervene in the division at the Sorbonne occurred in 1629. The issue centered around the
doctors’ request that students must subscribe to all pontifical decrees, a point refused by the
faculty who argued that royal power held authority over ecclesiastical bodies. 58 To settle the
controversy, Richelieu made the faculty recognize the full authority of the pope in the Church,
but adhering to his concern for the state he also proclaimed that this authority could not be
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