Tristan L’Hermite : de Richelieu à Séguier, d’incertains patronages

A social reading of Tristan’s situation with regard to these two major political players of his time, Richelieu and Pierre Séguier, leads us to another key figure in the career of the gentleman-poet in need of a protector to reconcile his status as a destitute gentleman and his condition as a writer. This figure was Gaston d’Orléans, an open-minded patron, but notably a constant opponent of a power whose protection the poet hoped to secure.