In addition to the delicacies with which he entertained the king and his guests, he organized a spectacular display of fireworks that seemed to crown the dome of the palace and as if this were not enough, Molière premiered an opera ballet called “Les Fâcheux” for the occasion, with lully’s music The less wealthy diners ate on silver dishes, the king’s retinue did so on gold plates.įouquet was trying by all means to impress the king and he did, but not in the way he would have liked.
The latter was the creator of the extensive park that surrounded the palace, with large avenues, waterfalls, fountains and a large terrace from which the landscape could be enjoyed.īy 1659 the palace was finished and Fouquet decided to invite the young Louis XIV, with all the luxury and the pageantry that only he could dispense to the monarch. Charles Le Brun and the landscape artist André Le Nôtre decorated the palace. This building, near Melun, was destined to become a parallel court where the minister amassed paintings and sculptures by the most famous artists in France. He created a parallel court and fell from grace Although he had several houses in Paris, a large property in Saint Mandé and the beautiful Hôtel d’Émery where he lived in luxury, this epicurean, lover of the arts, he was determined to build a mansion to match his most exquisite fantasies, the château at Vaux-le-Vicomte. The Sun King could not resist the shadow of this minister who loved the arts and luxuries.Ĭuriously, were the first causes of his downfall. As he left him a functioning government with ministers like Fouquet, the cardinal recommended to the monarch not to do without the services of this minister as long as he could get “the buildings and the women” out of his mind. Shortly before he died, Mazarin had a meeting with the young Louis XIV, an opportunity he used to give the king advice. So became banker to the queen, granting him a credit of 11,000,000 pounds, which Mazarin used to continue the wars that compromised the coffers of France. This success earned him prestige that Fouquet took advantage of to make money, a lot of money. Fouquet supported the regent and thanks to a bold fiscal plan he was appointed to the Superintendence of Finance and in a short time managed to balance the state’s income through the revaluation of the currency. These were difficult times for France, or, should we say, more difficult than usual, when the nobles rose up against the regent Anne of Austria for the onerous tax burdens imposed. The life of Sissi Empress, a long succession of misfortunes and disenchantments It was at this time that Cardinal Mazarin appointed him Mayor of Justice, Politics and Finance of Grenoble. In 1640 he married and received a dowry of £160,000.
Thanks to this position, he began a spectacular political career that he articulated with family businesses and experimentation in physics and chemistry, two disciplines that fascinated him and allowed him to come into contact with intellectuals and scientists. Nicolas was an intelligent, sensitive man, with good taste, a gallant man, a lover of good food and a patron of artists… but terribly ambitious. With this money, Monsieur Fouquet bought for his son a councilor’s position in the Parliament of Metz. The son of a councilor of state, Nicolas’s father grew rich as a partner in “ the company from the islands d‘ America”. And among these ingrates was Nicolas Fouquet, the kingdom’s superintendent of finances. “Every time I award a position, I get a hundred disgruntled and one ungrateful” he used to say Louis XIV.
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