Nicolas Fouquet

Nicolas Fouquet (1615–1680) was a French financier born in Paris into a noblesse de robe family. Loyal to Cardinal Mazarin through the Fronde, he was made Superintendent of Finances in 1653 and amassed a vast fortune, buying Belle-Île and building the chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte.

On 17 August 1661 he entertained Louis XIV there with a sumptuous fete, but the jealous king, urged on by Colbert, had him arrested by d'Artagnan at Nantes on 5 September 1661 on charges of embezzlement. After a three-year trial he was imprisoned for life and died in the fortress of Pignerol on 23 March 1680.