The last argument against the king: on the new pages from the history of the La Rochelle fortress in the era of religious wars

The article analyzes the book (2018) by the French historian Laurent Blanchard featuring the life of Rene de Talansac (abt. 1580 - 1628), the seneschal of La Rochelle, as an example of revealing the well-known historical events through the biography of one of their protagonists. At the same time, it is about a personality that due to certain reasons did not attract much attention of historians, which is in itself of interest and value. The title “In La Rochelle between the Faith and the King” states the main issue upon which the narrative is built. However, the essence of the author’s choice turns out to be more profound: it is not only about the hero’s religion and his loyalty to the King, but also about the strengthening of the King’s power at the background of weakening traditional feudal ties. In this context Rene de Talansac is depicted as the one from “the old era”, with his faithfulness to patrimonial aristocracy, often contrary to Cardinal Jean de Richelieu, who embodies “new ideas”. Although the book is not devoid of some drawbacks, it meets the target perfectly well: thanks to the variety of sources and exciting narrative, the popularization of both local and personal history is combined with more general agenda of social and political developments in France in the 1620s.