Who was Nicolas Fouquet and why was Louis XIV jealous of him?

Ever wonder where Louis XIV got the inspiration to create the Château de Versailles? How did he decide which architect, decorator and landscape architect to choose? Well, it turns out that he wasn’t the first person to pick that winning team.

Louis XIV thought that Vaux-le-Vicomte, a château which is a 50km drive to the south east of Paris, was so beautiful that he then employed this same team to transform Versailles into the palace that we see today. Nicolas Fouquet (1615-1680), who created Vaux-le-Vicomte and its famous gardens, reunited on this project for the first time, the famous architect Louis le Vau (1612-1670), the decorative painter and interior designer Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) and the landscape gardener André Le Nôtre (1613-1700).

So who was Nicolas Fouquet and why did Louis XIV have him imprisoned for life? Fouquet, at the time the King’s Superintendent of Finance, hosted a lavish soirée in honour of his monarch on 17th August 1661. The rumour goes that the King was so jealous of the newly renovated and transformed Vaux-le-Vicomte, that he had Fouquet imprisoned for life for embezzling royal funds to pay for it. The actual story is a bit more nuanced.

(Nicolas Fouquet by Charles Le Brun, portraitist and interior designer - source Wikipedia)

Nicolas Fouquet was born in 1615 into a family of wealthy parliamentarians. He had a glittering political career starting under the mentorship of Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642), then chief minister to Louis XIV. When Richelieu died, Fouquet was 27 (and had purchased Vaux-le-Vicomte the year before). Fouquet had already occupied several influential positions, and managed to impress Richelieu’s successor Cardinal Mazarin (1602-1661), who became his protector. Fouquet was very loyal to Mazarin and the Queen Mother, Anne of Austria, then the regent to the young Louis XIV, notably protecting their interests during the parliamentary and nobility uprisings (or Frondes) from 1648 to 1653.* Mazarin rewarded Fouquet for his merit and his loyalty, progressively promoting him until he was appointed Superintendent of Finance on 7th February 1653, aged 38, the youngest person to hold this position in the Ancien Régime.

During his ascension, Fouquet had added to his already great wealth through the positions he held and through mariages with Louise Fourché in 1640 (with whom Fouquet had one daughter, but who died a year later) and with Marie-Madeleine de Castille in 1651 (with whom Fouquet had five children). In fact, Fouquet was so wealthy that he and his wealthy relatives were able to lend money to Mazarin, and thus to the French Monarchy. This also contributed to his political successes. 

Now, Fouquet had long been aware of the disarray of the State’s finances. They were extremely badly managed and controlled, there was a long history of over expenditure - notably on wars and lavish court life. Embezzlement was also rife, each different level of tax collectors skimming off a percentage. Fouquet, in his position as Superintendent of Finance was responsible for decisions as to which funds would be used to pay back interest on loans to the state’s creditors. He even personally guaranteed certain loans to ensure that funding was forthcoming. So he was well aware of the financial problems that Louis XIV faced. But he was far from suspecting that his own problems would come from the King himself.

Fouquet’s rapid ascension through the ranks of the political elite, his personal wealth and his unconcealed ambition had raised his profile but also made him enemies at court. As Superintendent of Finance, Fouquet worked closely with Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683), who was also a protege of Mazarin’s. Colbert, an arch enemy of Foquet’s, was appointed to investigate the French State’s finances, and in October 1659 he wrote a memo to Mazarin accusing Fouquet of embezzling over 50% of the taxes which were due to the King. The contents of the memo were made known to the King, who, on Mazarin’s death on 9th March 1661, declared that he would be his own Chief Minister. Logically, Fouquet should have been Mazarin’s successor, and the fact that he wasn’t promoted should have been a clear signal to Fouquet that he was no longer in the King’s favour. 

(my photo of Vaux-le-Vicomte by night)

So when Fouquet invited the King to Vaux-le-Vicomte for the evening of 17th August 1661, the plot against him was already well advanced. Nonetheless, a lavish fête was enjoyed by the King and court (I wonder if Colbert was invited…) - with gold plates, water shows,  fireworks and the first staging of Molière’s Les Fâcheux. The King marvelled at the beautiful and luxurious château and gardens that Fouquet had created. During the evening, Fouquet’s ostentatious wealth was put in sharp contrast to the dilapidated state of the King’s own finances.

After the party, Fouquet was persuaded to resign his office of procureur général, causing him to lose his immunity from royal prosecution - another sign that he was falling from grace. And only three weeks later, he was arrested by Captain d’Artagnan (yes, of Three Musketeers fame!) and imprisoned. Fouquet’s trial, which lasted three years, was of questionable objectivity and carefully choreographed by Colbert. It was closely followed by the French public. The final guilty verdict and sentence of banishment was exceptionally “commuted” by the King who transformed the sentence to life imprisonment at the fort of Pignerol in the (now Italian) Alps and confiscation of Fouquet’s property. Fouquet died in prison on 23rd March 1680 aged 65.

King Louis XIV, who was 22 years old when Fouquet was arrested, went on to become known as the Roi Soleil, consolidated the French absolute monarchy and made France the predominant European power of the late 17th Century. He also expanded the Château de Versailles** from 1661 to 1715, making it the seat of his court and government. He took his inspiration from Fouquet’s Vaux-le-Vicomte, employing the same team to make it the most impressive palace of the era - and perhaps it still is today!

You can visit Vaux-le-Vicomte from April to September by reserving tickets here. On Friday and Saturday evenings, from mid-May to the end of September, the château and gardens are lit only by candlelight. To get to the Château for the candlelit evenings, there is a direct coach service to and from Paris. During these evenings, there is a ‘water show’ from the multiple fountains in the gardens and also a gold and silver fireworks display. So that visitors can relive that fateful Grand Siècle evening of 17th August 1661!

* Interestingly, the first Fronde was a rebellion against new taxation laws accompanied by demands for constitutional reform - both themes which led to the French Revolution 140 years later, read more in my article here.

** Read my article on how to visit Versailles easily from Paris here.