Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, Marquis of Cinq-Mars

Henri Coiffier de Ruzé d'Effiat, Marquis of Cinq-Mars (; 27 March 1620 – 12 September 1642) was a favourite of King Louis XIII and the Grand Squire of France from 1639 to 1642. He led the last and most nearly successful of many conspiracies against Cardinal Richelieu, the king's powerful first minister.

Life Portrait of Henri Coiffier-Ruzé d'Effiat by Joseph Léon de Lestang-Parade, after a 17th-century original attributed to Le Nain Brothers. Cinq-Mars was the son of Marshal Antoine Coiffier de Ruzé, marquis d'Effiat (1581–1632), a close friend of Cardinal Richelieu, who took the boy under his protection on his father's death in 1632.

Cinq-Mars was the second youngest of five children and three sons. His older brother was Martin de Ruzé, Marquis d'Effiat (1612–1644), and his younger brother was Jean Ruzé d'Effiat (1622–1698). He was the uncle of the last marquis of Effiat.

Career As the son of the marquis d'Effiat, a famous Superintendent of Finances who was also a good friend of Richelieu's, Cinq-Mars came to court very early.

In the 1630s, he commanded a company of Louis XIII's guards and, on 27 March 1638, he was granted the charter of Grand Master of the King's Wardrobe. In 1639, he was raised to Grand Squire of France, and was therefore entitled to be called Monsieur le Grand. After the exile of the royal favourite Marie de Hautefort, he gained great influence over the king and quickly established himself as a royal favourite. The cardinal believed he could easily control Cinq-Mars, but instead Cinq-Mars pressed the king for important favours and tried to convince the king to have Richelieu removed or executed. The cardinal offered him numerous responsibilities outside Paris, which the marquis refused. Their disagreement became public in 1639–1640. The meetings lacked discretion and Richelieu's spy service caught him doing so in June 1642.

Consequently, Louis XIII and Richelieu had Cinq-Mars imprisoned and judged on 6 September 1642. Found guilty of high treason, Cinq-Mars was beheaded in the Place des Terreaux in Lyon, along with his accomplice, François Auguste de Thou, on 12 September 1642. The French writer, Tallemant, relates that the king showed no emotions concerning the execution: he said "Je voudrais bien voir la grimace qu'il fait à cette heure sur cet échafaud" ('I would like to see the grimace he is now making on this scaffold'). The marquis of Cinq-Mars' last words were, "Ah ! Mon Dieu, qu’est-ce de ce monde ?" ('My God! What is this world?'). and published in 1826. Charles Gounod wrote an opera of the same name which premiered on April 5, 1877. Barbara Strozzi composed a cantata about the execution of the marquis ("Il lamento sul Rodano severo").

A famous historical painting by Paul Delaroche shows Cardinal Richelieu in a barge, preceding the boat carrying Cinq-Mars and De Thou to their execution.

Historical accounts are Jeanne-Pauline Basserie, La conjuration de Cinq-Mars (Paris, 1896) and Anaïs Bazin, Histoire de France sous Louis XIII (Paris).

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