rve the peace of Europe; for Richelieu,
irritated by her interference, no sooner became aware that she had
despatched the Abbe de Fabbroni to Rome, than he instructed the French
Ambassador at that Court to complain to his Holiness of so unprecedented
an innovation; and to remind him that the Queen-mother was not a
sovereign, but a subject, and consequently did not possess the privilege
of appointing a resident at any foreign Court; but must, on every
occasion when treating with his Holiness, avail herself of the services
of the accredited envoy of the King her son.

To this expostulation, however, Urban replied that the circumstance was
not without precedent, as bishops had agents at the Papal Court; but,
notwithstanding the apparent firmness with which he withstood the
arguments of the Cardinal, it is asserted that he privately intimated
to M. de Fabbroni the expediency of his immediate departure; a
suggestion which was obeyed upon the instant.[217]

The indignation of Marie de Medicis at this new insult was unbounded.
Again she addressed the Sovereign-Pontiff, and inveighed bitterly on the
persecution of which she was the victim; but beyond the mere expression
of his sympathy the Pope declined all interference between herself and
the minister, whose gigantic power rendered his enmity formidable even
to the head of the Church. Once more the widow of one of the most
vaunted sovereigns of France was compelled to bow in silence to the
enmity of an individual whom she had herself elevated to influence and
dignity; and while France was engaged in a war which not only riveted
the attention but also involved the interests of the whole of Europe,
history is silent as to her sufferings. All that can be gathered
concerning her is the fact that the Spaniards, resenting the reverses to
which they were subjected by the armies of Louis XIII, became less than
ever inclined to sympathize in her sufferings when they discovered her
utter helplessness; nor was it until the Duc d'Orleans and the Comte de
Soissons entered into a conspiracy (in 1636) to overthrow the Cardinal,
that she was once more involved in public affairs.

Meanwhile the piety of the Queen-mother had degenerated into
superstition; she had applied to the Pope to authorize the canonization
of an obscure nun of Antwerp; and, in accordance with the directions of
Suffren her confessor, and Chanteloupe her confidant, she had abandoned
herself to the most rigorous observance