Son of Henri IV and Marie de Médicis, Louis XIII ascends the thronevery young because his father was assassinated. The agreements of Fontainebleau very quickly oblige him to marry the daughter of the King of Spain, Anne of Austria, an arrangement which seals peace between two formerly enemys.

He is only 23 years old when he calls the Cardinal of Richelieu to sit at the Council and to consolidate the royal authority contested by several conflicts through the provinces of the kingdom. For this reason he is not very worried by the administration of the country. If he wants sometimes to show that he is the King, he benefits also much from the pleasures of the Court.