Fouquet, N
Name: Nicolas Fouquet
Achievements: Louis XIV’s Finance Minister
Born: 1615; Paris, France
Died: March 23, 1680; Pignerol, France (Aged 65)
Field & Discipline: Government; Politics
Language: French
Father: Unknown
Mother: Unknown
Siblings: Unknown
Spouse: 1) Marie Fourche; 2) Marie Madeleine de Castille
Children: By Marie Fourche: Marie. By Marie de Castille: 3 sons, 1 daughter
Education: Unknown
Life & Times:
Fouquet was born into a powerful noble family. His father was a rich ship-owner who was also an administrator to the monarchy. In 1631, at 16, Fouquet entered the Paris Parliament as a law officer, and at 21, became Master of Requests. Four years later, he married the daughter of an official in the Parliament of Rennes, France. She died two years later.
From 1642 to 1648, he worked as a bureaucrat, first with the army, then in Dauphine, France, and then Catalonia.
Fouquet was in Paris when a series of rebellions known as the Wars of the Fronde broke out in 1648. Powerful vested interests, ranging from the wealthy bourgeois office-holders in Parliament to members of the aristocracy, rose up against the efforts of [supported] Mazarin* and the monarchy to reduce their privileges. Fouquet supported Mazarin and lent the government vast sums of money.
He also bought himself the office of "procureur general" to the Paris Parliament, an important post that paid him handsomely. He became even richer when he married the daughter of an extremely wealthy family.
In 1653, at the end of the Fronde rebellion, Mazarin rewarded Fouquet for his support with the post of finance minister. In turn, Fouquet put his own considerable personal credit at the service of Mazarin and the monarchy. It was a lifeline for the Cardinal and [financially aided] Louis XIV,* because France was at war with Spain and desperately needed funds. By now de facto banker to King, Fouquet could not resist some irregular financial deals which increased his wealth enormously.
Fouquet built a magnificent chateau at Vaux-le-Vicomte, with the landscaping designed by [employed] Andre le Notre*. The gardens included grottoes and fountains with cascades that anticipated those of Versailles. Fouquet collected art and gave sumptuous entertainments. He took over Belle-Isle, in Brittany, which he fortified in case he suddenly needed a refuge.
He was a patron of writers such as [patron of] Moliere*, [patron of] La Fontaine* and [patron of] Corneille* and of [patron of] C. Perrault*
When Mazarin died in 1661, Fouquet hoped to succeed him as Prime Minister, but Louis XIV decided to take on the job himself. This left [rival of] Colbert* and Fouquet vying for the post of finance minister. Colbert, once a friend of Fouquet's, turned against him and showed the King evidence of Fouquet's shady wheeling and dealing.
Getting wind of what Colbert was up to, Fouquet invited the King to his chateau in August, 1661, and wined and dined him. But no fool, the King balked at the ostentatious display of wealth and decided it must have been ill-gotten. Fouquet was arrested about a month later.
His Paris trial went on for three years and was a judicial farce. At first, Fouquet was allowed no defense lawyers. When he was finally permitted legal help, Colbert got rid of evidence that would have shown Mazarin's responsibility for many of Fouquet's questionable deals. Fouquet defended himself skilfully and managed to get a pamphlet published which swayed public opinion in his favor, but he was convicted of embezzlement and condemned to exile.
The King changed the sentence to life imprisonment and Fouquet spent the next 16 years in the fortress of Pignerol, where he died.
Extra Connections: Hired [employed] Beauchamp* and commissioned work by [commissioned] Puget*
Assessment: His financial aid during the Wars of the Fronde helped the monarchy survive.
Oneliner: Nicholas Fouquet, Louis XIV’s finance minister
Bibliography:
- Encyclopedia Britannica.