Why did Cardinal Richelieu establish France's Ministry of External Affairs in 1626?

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Taking prisoners — diplomacy A larger-than-life Ramses II towering over his prisoners and clutching them by the hair. Limestone bas-relief from Memphis, Egypt, 1290–24 bce; in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

Cardinal Richelieu established France's Ministry of External Affairs in 1626 to centralize foreign policy and ensure his direct control over envoys.1

Driven by the concept of raison d’état (national interest), Richelieu viewed diplomacy as a continuous process of negotiation that required a single master and a unified policy. He believed that the state possessed interests independent of dynastic, sentimental, or religious concerns, and that the art of government lay in identifying and acting upon these interests regardless of ethical or religious considerations. By creating the ministry, he sought to professionalize the management of state affairs and secure France's independence of action against the hegemony of the Habsburgs.12