¤ Cardinal Dumourieux and his Supporters

Hailing from the north-eastern province of Flandres, the Dumourieux family is actually quite new onto the scene of Bretonnian politics. This formerly obscure noble clan owes its prominence to its leading member, Cardinal Henri Armagnac Dumourieux. In fact, the Dumourieux faction is little more than the family and clients of the Cardinal; they depend entirely on his success at court and with the King for their existence, as they lack the secure basing in land and traditional ties possessed by the other great families.

Before the Cardinal's rise to power, the Dumourieux were just one of about a dozen families of relatively average power in Flandres, holding lands around Couronne centred on the County of Gestionne. However, the Cardinal has managed to secure many more clients, rights and privileges from the King so that in just ten years the Dumourieux have won considerable power, and now possess very extensive estates straddling most of Flandres. Combined with these substantial secular holdings are Cardinal Dumourieux's ecclesiastical powers; as Cardinal of the cult of Shallya, he commands the income of many clerical estates and dues donated by the faithful. He is also, of course, the Prime Minister of the State Council. All of these powers bring in much money and prestige for the Dumourieux family. Although the holdings of the Cardinal and his family are large, they are still smaller than those of the other great families; it is only through the addition of estates and powers from far less secure clients that they are able to compete at higher political levels. Thus the Dumourieux faction, centred very much on the Cardinal himself, is lacking in a firm power base; most of its members are either new and unreliable, or else derive their power from far more uncertain sources, such as administrative offices won by the Cardinal's favour with the King. Simply maintaining the size and position of the faction is a very difficult task at the best of times. As a cleric, the Cardinal is not allowed to marry or govern the family's estates directly. Instead, he works closely with his elder brother Henri-Philippe, who occupies the new and splendid family palace in Couronne, the Maison Verte, whilst Henri himself spends most of his time at court managing the affairs of state on behalf of Charles III.

Similarly, he allows Sister Blanche du Mirail, an elderly, matronly but extremely pious (in a 'you know it'll do you good in the afterlife' kind of way) priestess to carry out the day to day religious duties in Couronne. The Cardinal trusts almost nobody and has complete faith in his own abilities, expecting even his elder brother to do exactly what he is ordered (which he normally does; he knows that all the family's power lies in the Cardinal's hands). Not surprisingly, the rise to power of the Dumourieux family thanks to the scheming of the Cardinal and extensive royal patronage has aroused much anger amongst the established nobility, who see the Dumourieux winning ever more influence at court. Some have recognised the opportunity to gain a high level of influence at court by becoming clients of the Dumourieux, further cementing their position with numerous outposts of control across the land. One such new supporter of the Cardinal is the governor, Godefroi Guinard, Duc de Couronne, and son of the Dumourieux's old patron. Although keen to put forward his house's ailing position, secretly he is livid with envy and resentment at the Cardinal and his family, and from time to time makes motions towards revolt before ducking out in panic. Just how durable Guinard and other clients like him will be should the fortunes of the Cardinal take a turn for the worse is far from certain; already the faction has seen many defections and internal conflicts, so that Dumourieux and his few true allies spend much of their time watching their back and covering over the cracks in their very insecure power base. The other leading nobles look down on the Dumourieux as 'new blood' (though not quite so new and undesirable as the Granvelle) and resent their muscling onto the big boys' stage; they generally wish to see a lessening in the power the Cardinal and his clients have over the King. This is most marked among the De Semblancy family, who are sworn enemies of the Dumourieux and actively plot the Cardinal's downfall. Although the other families do not share the vitriol of the Duc de Lyonnais, many resent the Cardinal's power; however, they also appreciate that the rivalry between these two factions draws attention and danger away from them and into a new conflict.