The life of Father Joseph, Cardinal Richelieu's aide, was a monstrous paradox. After a day spent in directing operations on the battlefield Father Joseph would pass the night in prayer, or in composing spiritual guidance for the nuns in his care. He was an aspirant to sainthood, a practising mystic, yet his ruthless exercise of power succeeded in prolonging the Thirty Years War, with all its unspeakable horrors. How a religious man could lead such a life, how an individual could reconcile the seemingly opposing moral systems of religion and politics, was a theme to which Huxley would continuously return.