Nicolas Fouquet (ou Foucquet) fut surintendant des finances sous Louis XIV entre 1653 et 1661.   Il ammassa une fortune immense laquelle il investit dans son chàteau à Vaux-le-Vicomte.

En 1661, pour célébrer l’achèvement de son palais, Fouquet donna les «Divertissements du Roi», fêtes auxquelles Molière participa en jouant une nouvelle comédie, Les Fâcheux.   Cependant son rival Colbert le dénonça pour détournement de fonds de la bourse royale et Fouquet fut arrêté.   Au bout d’un procès qui dura trois ans, il fut d’abord bani, puis condamné à l’emprisonnement à perpetuité.

Pour en savoir plus sur Fouquet, et surtout sur Vaux-le-Vicomte, consultez ce site.

Nicolas Fouquet (or Foucquet) was Minister of Finance under Louis XIV from 1653 to 1661.   He amassed a huge fortune, the proceeds of which he invested in his estate at Vaux-le-Vicomte near Paris.

Work on Fouquet’s palatial home was completed in 1661 and to celebrate the Minister invited the King to huge festivities given in his honour.   Molière himself took part in these by performing a new comedy, The Nuisances.   Fouquet’s wealth was largely gleaned from embezzling the royal treasury however, and he was denounced by his rival Jean-Baptiste Colbert.   Fouquet was arrested and at the end of a trial that lasted three years he was at first banished, then condemned to life imprisonment.

More about Fouquet and about his palace at Vaux-le-Vicomte can be found here.