Chauteaubriand's Rancé and Cardinal de Retz

Publishing the Vie de Rancé in 1844, Chateaubriand failed to explore hints in his source material that, before and after the Fronde, Abbé de Rancé had and maintained close ties with an important Fronde leader, Cardinal de Retz. Committed as he was to the Bourbons' cause, Chateaubriand would have disliked believing his protagonist nearly two centuries earlier, could have been linked to one of their opponents. Perhaps he really believed the relationship to have been insignificant. The Vie de Rancé becomes more meaningful, however, when one learns the complex details of a relationship based on mutual interests, associates, and causes. (HRjr)