TheCodeBreakers
cardinal spread inflated rumors about his abilities to discourage would-
be conspirators. But in fact Richelieu was frequently telling his
subordinates such things as, "It is necessary to make use, in my opinion,
of the letters of the man who has been arrested by the civil authorities at
Mezieres, that is to say, have them put into Rossignol's hands to see if
there is something important in them." Or, eight years later, in 1642,
writing to Messieurs de Noyers and de Chavigny: "I saw, in some
extracts, that Rossignol sent me, a truce negotiation of the King of
England with the Prince of Orange; I do not think that it can have any
effect, but ... it is up to you, gentlemen, to keep your eyes peeled."
Rossignol's work gave him access to some of the greatest secrets of
the state and the court, and consequently made him a figure of some
prominence in the glittering court of Louis XIV. He appears in some of
the major memoirs
of that period
annaabi.ee 
