Lavish party convinced king to sack adviser
IT WAS the social event of the year in France. On August 17, 1661, a big, lavish party was thrown by the Superintendent of Finances, Nicolas Fouquet, at his magnificent home the Chateau Vaux-le-vicomte to honour his monarch, King Louis XIV.
It was to be a kind of official launch for his recently completed chateau. For the evening Fouquet had hired the best chefs to put on a sumptuous meal, which was followed by the premiere performance of Les Facheux a comedie-ballet by premier French playwright Moliere with music by composer Lully, and a spectacular fireworks display.
The king seemed to be enjoying himself, but something was troubling him. In the months before the party, another of his ministers, the ambitious Jean-baptiste Colbert, had convinced the king that Fouquet was mismanaging the country’s finances and had enriched himself at the expense of the kingdom. He hadn’t, in fact Fouquet had loaned the French treasury his own money but had been able to make that work to his advantage.
But Colbert had once been assistant to the king’s recently deceased chief minister Cardinal Mazarin and knew how much money Mazarin had embezzled and where he kept it. Colbert won the trust of the king by finding some of that cash. Colbert now accused Fouquet, a protege and supporter of Mazarin, of embezzling money.
When Louis turned up to Fouquet’s feast he saw the extent of Fouquet’s wealth. Deeply envious of his reputation, and his new home more splendid than any royal palace, Louis decided to prosecute Fouquet for stealing government money.
French philosopher Voltaire later summed it up by saying that “On August 17, at six in the evening Fouquet was King of France, at two in the morning, he was nobody.”
Fouquet had been on his way to becoming the king’s most trusted adviser, but after his party his career was
finished. He was dragged through the law courts in a case that lasted three years and then jailed for life.
Fouquet still lived in style and even had servants, one of whom was Eustache Dauger, who some believe was the “Man in the Iron Mask” of legend. Fouquet died at Pignerol in 1680.