Grey Eminence (Seroye Preosvyashchenstvo)

An exploration of the life of an extraordinary and enigmatic man, thanks to whom (or through whose fault) the expression 'grey eminence' entered all European languages.
He went down in history as Father Joseph—an assistant and privy councilor, constantly standing behind Cardinal Richelieu—and played a key role in European politics during the Thirty Years' War. Some considered him a saint, others a monster. Following the strictest rules of monastic piety and never wanting anything for himself, he nevertheless readily committed treason and crime when it came to the interests of state.
Who was he, this righteous criminal, firmly convinced that he was fulfilling the Supreme Will?