Formal Constitution of the Académie française
- When
- 1635
- Where
- Paris
- Episodes
- 1
On 22 February 1635, King Louis XIII granted letters patent formally establishing the Académie française. Initiated by Cardinal Richelieu, the institution was created to define exact rules for the French language and enable it to treat arts and sciences.
Episodes
Background and detail
Background. Cardinal Richelieu, chief minister to King Louis XIII, acted as protector of a literary group. In anticipation of the academy's formal creation, new members were appointed in 1634, laying the groundwork for the institution's official establishment the following year.
Mandate. The letters patent registered at the Parlement de Paris defined the academy's purpose. It was tasked to labor with care and diligence to give exact rules to the French language, rendering it capable of treating the arts and sciences.
People involved
- Cardinal Richelieu · Chief minister and protector
- King Louis XIII · Monarch granting letters patent
Sources
- Académie Française Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-27
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.