Nicolas Fouquet - DESPISED By Louis XIV

Nicolas Fouquet was born on January 27, 1615 in Paris as the son of François IV Fouquet and Marie de Maupoux. He was descendant from an originally bourgeois family whose career and fortune were primarily made under the influence and with the help of Cardinal de Richelieu. Fouquet studied law at the Sorbonne and in 1640 he entered into an advantageous marriage Thanks to the protection of Richelieu and the influence of his father, François Fouquet, the young Nicolas quickly made a career for himself. During the Fronde, Fouquet sided with Cardinal Mazarin and the Queen Regent, Anne of Austria, mother of the underage Louis XIV, and continued to support them even during the most difficult times. His actions would earn him their gratitude. With Mazarin's support and with the approval of Anne of Austria, Fouquet bought the office of Attorney General of the Parliament of Paris, an office which also granted him legal immunity. Fouquet's wife died in 1642, six months after the birth of their daughter Marie. In February 1651, aged 36, he was remarried to the 15-year-old Marie-Madeleine de Castille-Villemereux. Mazarin and the Queen Regent had emerged victoriously from the Fronde and, upon the death of the Duke de Vieuville, Fouquet was appointed Surintendant of Finances in 1653. This was an unprecedented case of favoritism, for there were plenty of candidates for this office. The enormously prestigious office came with one downside, Fouquet had to put the royal finances in order. After the Thirty Years' War against Spain, this was no easy feat and Fouquet performed a series of creative tricks such as mixing his own fortune with the finances of the state when he started lending money to the state at outrageous interest rates. The management of the state finances gradually became a mess. Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who was well aware of the mismanagement by Fouquet, became Fouquet's greatest enemy. He worked on a dossier against Fouquet in which he proved 50% of taxes collected went into Fouquet's own pockets. Meanwhile, Fouquet's star was rising, high nobility tried to gain his favor and his daughter was married off to the Marquis of Charostes, an old nobleman. Although Colbert tried to have Fouquet deposed, nothing seemed able to stop his advance. Fouquet's coat of arms bore the image of a climbing squirrel with the motto Quo non ascendet, which means where shall he not climb. Upon Mazarin's death in March 1661, the Cardinal left young Louis XIV a council consisting of ministers Fouquet, De Lyon, Le Tellier and Colbert. But slowly, Fouquet's luck ran out. The young Louis XIV took government matters into his own hands and began his reign without appointing a new prime minister. In May 1661, after being thoroughly briefed by Colbert, the king decided that Fouquet should be removed from his position as surentendant of finance and put on trial for treason. However, as Fouquet possessed legal immunity due to his position in the Parliament of Paris, a plan was devised in which Fouquet was convinced to sell his office of attorney general in order for him to receive a more favorable position at court. Fouquet took the bait and sold his office. On September 5, the king and his ministers, including Fouquet, travelled to Nantes accompanied by an army of musketeers. Far from Paris and far from Fouquet's circle of friends, the king came into action and had musketeer d'Artagnan arrest Fouquet. Fouquet was imprisoned at the Château d'Angers on September 7, 1661. A three-year trial followed. The case was complex, the charges vague and it could not be made clear whether Fouquet had stolen or borrowed his wealth. Fouquet was condemned to exile and all his assets were confiscated. However, the king increased Fouquet's sentence to life imprisonment. With Fouquet, the last minister with omnipotence over state finances disappeared. The position of surentendant was cancelled. Instead, a council of finances was set up. Colbert inherited a small portion of Fouquet's responsibilities when he became Comptroller General of Finances. Shortly after Fouquet's conviction in late 1664, he was transferred to the citadel of Pignerol in the Piedmont Alps. Although Fouquet lived in rather comfortable conditions, he had to stay in his room at all times and was not allowed to correspond with friends or family. In 1677, Fouquet's regime was somewhat eased and from 1679 he was allowed to move about the prison grounds and receive visitors. His children were even allowed to stay with him. Shortly before Fouquet's death, his prison guards discovered a hidden opening between his room and that of another prisoner of distinction, Antoine Nompard de Comons, Duc de Lausune. Lausune had been imprisoned for insulting Madame de Montespan, who was Louis XIV's mistress. Immediately upon finding the hidden opening, Fouquet's freedom of movement was again restricted. This decision seems to have hastened Fouquet's death. Nicolas Fouquet died on March 23, 1680 in Pignerol. The circumstances of his death are the subject of much unproven speculation. It has been suggested that he was poisoned. Other contemporaries, such as Fouquet's daughter-in-law, claimed that he was in fact released and died later in Chalon-sur-Saône. But according to official records, Nicolas Fouquet did die in Pignerol. A year after his death, his remains were moved from Pignerol to the family crypt in the Iglise Sainte-Marie-des-Anges in Paris. Thank you for watching.