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of the society were planning regicide, continued to be viewed as a threat to the French
government. In 1604 Bérulle helped Madame Acarie and other dévots establish a convent
of
Spanish Discalced Carmelites in Paris, an act that aroused the suspicion of Henri IV at a time
when the king was experiencing tense diplomatic relations with Spain,. 93
The dévots were also instrumental in encouraging Bérulle, who was struggling to
determine his future course as a priest, to found a religious congregation. He had been ordained
at the Capuchin house in 1599, but because he was uncertain that his vocation lay with the
religious order, he refrained from taking solemn vows. Bérulle believed that instead of being
called to the monastic life with sacred vows, God wanted him to be a secular priest. 94 From
around 1601 the major path he considered pursuing was to establish a congregation dedicated to
restoring the priesthood. 95 At first Bérulle was skeptical as to whether he was the right person to
establish such a congregation, but a number of influential people with connections to the dévots
encouraged him to found the group. Among the notable religious figures were Henri de Gondi,
the bishop of Paris; Dom Beaucousin, a vicar at the Carthusian monastery in Paris; and the
Baroness Jeanne de Chantal, the founder of the Visitation de Sainte-Marie. 96 Bérulle also had
the support of powerful lay people, including Madame Acarie; Michel de Marillac, the future
keeper of the seals; the Marquise de Maignelay, who was the sister of the bishop of Paris; and
even the Regent Queen Maria de’ Medici. 97
Shortly after Bérulle first convened the French Oratory on 10 November 1611, Maria de’
Medici emerged as the congregation’s most powerful supporter (fig. 2). The queen’s desire to
assist the new religious organization stemmed from the ideological beliefs she shared with those
who had encouraged Bérulle to start the Oratory. Although she never publicly claimed to have
partisan attitudes towards the conservative Catholics, the queen’s actions implied that she did.
She had close ties to several dévots and she loaded her council with staunch French and Italian
Catholics. Moreover her foreign policy favored alliances with the papacy and the other Catholic
crowns of Europe. 98
By supporting the congregation, Maria de Medici not only developed a close connection
with the French Oratory, but she also found a means through which she could promote her
political agenda. The first favors provided by the queen came one month after the founding of
the congregation when she asked for and obtained from the king letters patent authorizing the
establishment of the congregation and declaring it a royal foundation. 99 Because Louis XIII at
66