1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:05,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim 2 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:12,119 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised. Hey guys, 3 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: this is Dana Schwartz, the host and creator of the 4 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 1: podcast you're listening to Noble Blood. Just a quick note 5 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:23,280 Speaker 1: before we start. If you like this podcast, I think 6 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:26,120 Speaker 1: you'll like the books I've written. I wrote a novel 7 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: called Anatomy, a Love Story, and just this year the sequel, Immortality, 8 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,199 Speaker 1: a Love Story, came out, and both books tell the 9 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:37,599 Speaker 1: story of a young woman in the nineteenth century who 10 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:40,520 Speaker 1: wants to become a surgeon. So what was really inspired 11 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 1: by just my love and obsession about the transition that 12 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: happened in surgery in the early eighteen hundreds. And in 13 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,840 Speaker 1: the sequel, Immortality a Love Story, if you haven't read 14 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: it yet, there are a lot of i'll say celebrity 15 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: cameos from historical figures that I've covered on this podcast, 16 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: So absolutely check it out. There's a linked by it 17 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 1: in the episode description, and thank you so much. It 18 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:23,720 Speaker 1: was the most magnificent party that France had ever seen. 19 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:29,959 Speaker 1: On August seventeenth, sixteen sixty one, the who's Who of 20 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:35,759 Speaker 1: French society traveled to a country estate called Valla Vicomte, 21 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: which was owned by Nicola Fouquet, France's superintendent of finance. 22 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: Valle Vicomte was, without a doubt, the most magnificent house 23 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: in the entire country, and after five years of extensive renovations, 24 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: Fouquet was excited to show off the paradise that he 25 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: had built. Thirty four milesales southeast of Paris. The beautiful gardens, 26 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: running for nearly a mile and a half were in 27 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:12,120 Speaker 1: full bloom. Their elaborate water works were in full motion, 28 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: with eleven hundred jets of water sprang up from the 29 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 1: various fountains and canals. The house itself was stunning, seeming 30 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:27,800 Speaker 1: to float on air thanks to the sparkling moat that 31 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:33,359 Speaker 1: surrounded it. The food served that evening was sumptuous. Thirty 32 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:38,520 Speaker 1: buffet tables held the finest foods, served to guests on 33 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:45,040 Speaker 1: plates of solid gold and silver. The entertainment superb. The 34 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:50,480 Speaker 1: famous playwright Moliery debuted his newest work, a comedy ballet 35 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:55,240 Speaker 1: for the delighted guests, who also later enjoyed a twenty 36 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: four of Isolin serenade. It was, in short, a party 37 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: so elaborate that it would put any of Gatsby's to shame. 38 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:08,920 Speaker 1: It was a castle so beautiful that it would inspire 39 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: one attendee, King Louis the fourteenth, then just twenty two 40 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: years old, to hire the very team that built vol 41 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:23,519 Speaker 1: Vicomte to create his own version, the Palace of Versailles. 42 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: But the party also sparked something else in Louis the fourteenth, jealousy. 43 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 1: Who was this Fouquet, a descendant of a simple cloth 44 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: merchant to so outshine the King of France? And how 45 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: exactly had Fouquet obtained the funds required for such a 46 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 1: lavish party. The King stewed and stewed some more. He 47 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: had only recently become the independent ruler of France after 48 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 1: almost two decades with a regency council place, and he 49 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 1: was desperate to assert himself, to prove he was an adult. 50 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 1: Perhaps taking on a powerful minister was just the bold 51 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:17,159 Speaker 1: statement he needed. So on September fifth, just weeks after 52 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:24,200 Speaker 1: this amazing party, the King took action. Nicola Fouquet was 53 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:29,839 Speaker 1: arrested on charges of financial misconduct and treason. It was 54 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:34,600 Speaker 1: the party, observers whispered that had tipped the king off 55 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 1: to Fouquet's crimes. The story of Fouquet's downfall has been 56 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:44,560 Speaker 1: passed down through the ages as a cautionary tale, a 57 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 1: warning against hubris. Its message is a simple one. Don't 58 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 1: fly too close to the sun lest you be burned 59 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: by the son king. But what if I told you 60 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:04,560 Speaker 1: that there's more, much more to the story. I'm Danish 61 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: Schwartz and this is noble blood. The Fouquets had always 62 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 1: been an ambitious family. Just take their emblem a squirrel. 63 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:26,240 Speaker 1: It's not a surprising emblem, given that Fouquet means squirrel 64 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,599 Speaker 1: in the dialect of the Lower Luar Valley. But the 65 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: Fouquets added their own meaning to the image, a motto 66 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:38,520 Speaker 1: that read, when translated, what heights will he not ascend? 67 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: It's a symbol of ambition, of a determination to get 68 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:50,160 Speaker 1: ahead of acting well squirrellly to do so. Nicholas Fouquet 69 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: had the emblem and motto placed all over Volvicomte. By 70 00:05:56,120 --> 00:06:00,560 Speaker 1: the time Nicholas was born in January sixteen fifteen, the 71 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 1: Fouquet family had already ascended to great heights. Descended from 72 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:09,640 Speaker 1: cloth merchants and anger, the Fouquets had established themselves in 73 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: Paris in the late fifteen hundreds, steadily rising through the 74 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:19,799 Speaker 1: ranks of the non royal elite. Nicholas's father, Francois, served 75 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 1: in a high up position in the government and became 76 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 1: a protege of the influential Cardinal Richelieu, chief Minister of France. 77 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:35,240 Speaker 1: After receiving a superb but legal education, Nicholas followed his 78 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,599 Speaker 1: father into government and quickly won notice for his skill. 79 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 1: He married well to a woman named Louise, and the 80 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: couple soon welcomed a daughter. The future was looking bright, 81 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 1: but tragedy soon befell the family. In early sixteen forty, 82 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 1: Nicholas's father died, followed by his grandfather less than a 83 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:03,320 Speaker 1: year later, and then his wife only six months after that. 84 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 1: At twenty six, Nicholas was now responsible for raising his 85 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:14,120 Speaker 1: young daughter and supporting his widowed mother and twelve siblings. 86 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 1: In addition to his personal troubles, Nicholas was also confronted 87 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: with a France in turmoil. The country itself was at 88 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: a crossroads in the sixteen forties for a number of reasons. 89 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:33,160 Speaker 1: First of all, their king was a child. Louis the 90 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: fourteenth was only four years old when his father died 91 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: in sixteen forty three. Until he came of age, a 92 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:45,679 Speaker 1: regency council ruled the country, headed by his mother, Anne 93 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 1: of Austria and her controversial adviser, a protege of Richelieu's 94 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 1: named Cardinal Jeweles Mazarin. Secondly, the country was in the 95 00:07:56,200 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 1: midst of the devastatingly expensive and bloody Thirty Years War, 96 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: and Thirdly, civil war in France was brewing In the 97 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: late sixteen forties and early sixteen fifties. A series of 98 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: uprisings known as the Fronde, saw local governments and hereditary 99 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 1: princes attempting to fight off the encroaching power of the crown. 100 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 1: Throughout the Frond, Nicholas Fouquet stayed loyal to the Crown, 101 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:32,480 Speaker 1: earning him the favor of Cardinal Mazarin. Mazarin's approval facilitated 102 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 1: Fouquet's further rise in government. In sixteen fifty Fouquet became 103 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:42,760 Speaker 1: Attorney General of the Parliament of Paris. In sixteen fifty one, 104 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:47,839 Speaker 1: he remarried to Marie Madeleine Castile, a wealthy heiress from 105 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:51,480 Speaker 1: a prominent family. The couple would go on to have 106 00:08:51,679 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 1: five children together. Two years later, with the Frond. Finally over, 107 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: Fouquet reached the pinnacle of his power. To reward his 108 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:09,000 Speaker 1: unwavering loyalty, Cardinal Mazarin appointed him Superintendent of Finance. Fouquet 109 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: now served directly on the King's Council. In his new job, 110 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:18,360 Speaker 1: Fouquet was in charge of making sure the crown had 111 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:23,720 Speaker 1: enough money to fund its various projects, wars, and other expenses. 112 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 1: It wasn't an easy job. The financial system of seventeenth 113 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 1: century France was, to put it lightly, a mess. Tax 114 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:39,320 Speaker 1: revenues were not enough to cover the crown's expenses, leaving 115 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:45,439 Speaker 1: the government reliant on personal loans from private citizens called financiers. 116 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 1: The Superintendent often served as the loan recipient in order 117 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:55,360 Speaker 1: to shield the crown from liability. The terms of these 118 00:09:55,400 --> 00:10:00,120 Speaker 1: loans were flexible and irregular. What was documented on on 119 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:05,160 Speaker 1: paper was usually only part of the true picture, which, 120 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:09,640 Speaker 1: as you can imagine, makes delightful work for historians. In 121 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 1: other words, being superintendent was a highly powerful position, but 122 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 1: it was also a very vulnerable one, particularly because Fouquet's 123 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:26,160 Speaker 1: mentor and de facto boss, Cardinal Mazarin, had a taste 124 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:31,720 Speaker 1: for dipping into the state coffers. The unregulated nature of 125 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:37,840 Speaker 1: the financial system allowed for substantial corruption, which Mazarin took 126 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 1: full advantage of. He accepted bribes, rigged contracts, and skimmed 127 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:48,360 Speaker 1: off state accounts to the tune one modern scholar estimated 128 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:54,560 Speaker 1: of twenty three million livre a year. His actions weren't secret. 129 00:10:55,240 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: Many high up finance officials, including Fouquet, knew what Mazarin 130 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:04,040 Speaker 1: was doing, but the Cardinal was simply too powerful to 131 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:09,640 Speaker 1: be stopped. Fouquet himself was becoming quite powerful with his 132 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:13,880 Speaker 1: dual positions of Attorney General of the Paris Parliament and 133 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:19,080 Speaker 1: Superintendent of Finance. He was making an estimated five hundred 134 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:24,120 Speaker 1: thousand livres a year, more than most nobles, though nothing 135 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:29,240 Speaker 1: compared to Mazarin's income. Fouquet put that money to good use, 136 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:35,560 Speaker 1: building lavish estates like Valla Vicomte and regularly entertaining the 137 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:40,439 Speaker 1: crown's creditors in order to convince them of the Crown's solvency. 138 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 1: He also personally advanced the crown millions of livre. But 139 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 1: under the surface things were shakier. Fouquet's patron, Cardinal Mazarin, 140 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:57,600 Speaker 1: was becoming more demanding and less supportive. Mazarin also had 141 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:02,880 Speaker 1: a new protege, Jean Baptiste Colbert, an ambitious and clever 142 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:08,040 Speaker 1: man who wanted the job of Superintendent of Finance for himself. 143 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: Fouquet began to fear that Colbert would turn Mazarin against him, 144 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 1: and even went so far as to draft a plan 145 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:21,000 Speaker 1: of defense in case Mazarin arrested him. But nothing came 146 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:26,280 Speaker 1: of it, and in sixteen sixty one, Cardinal Mazarin died. 147 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:31,920 Speaker 1: With the all powerful Cardinal dead, King Louis the fourteenth, 148 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:36,480 Speaker 1: now twenty two, could finally come into his own He 149 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:41,760 Speaker 1: shrank the Royal Council and began personally supervising much of 150 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 1: the business of government, including financial matters. Part of Louis's 151 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:52,320 Speaker 1: motivation for this level of involvement was political. When he 152 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:55,559 Speaker 1: was a child, he had been terrorized by the rebellions 153 00:12:55,559 --> 00:12:59,120 Speaker 1: of the Front, and he was determined to strengthen the 154 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:02,920 Speaker 1: Crown's power in order to protect the crown from any 155 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:09,040 Speaker 1: future challenges. His motivations were also personal. After eighteen years 156 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:13,080 Speaker 1: under the thumb of powerful advisers, the King wanted to 157 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 1: do things his own way. When writing his memoirs, the 158 00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:21,640 Speaker 1: King would make his point clear quote, it was not 159 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:27,120 Speaker 1: my intention to share my authority end quote. By this 160 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:31,760 Speaker 1: point sixteen sixty one, Fouquet had spent nearly twenty years 161 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:35,480 Speaker 1: in government, though, and he was accustomed to a particular 162 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:39,400 Speaker 1: way of life and of doing business. He failed to 163 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 1: recognize the King's determination to become the only center of power, 164 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:49,040 Speaker 1: and instead he continued to flaunt his own wealth and power, 165 00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:54,559 Speaker 1: as he had done under Mazarin's reign. Fouquet's rival, Colbert, 166 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:58,960 Speaker 1: wasn't so oblivious. He quickly cozied up to the King, 167 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:04,880 Speaker 1: whispering in his ear about Fouquet's impudence and inappropriate conduct. 168 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:09,160 Speaker 1: It didn't take much for Colbert to convince Louis that 169 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:12,920 Speaker 1: Fouquet was bad news. Louis would later write that he 170 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:21,080 Speaker 1: believed Fouquet was quote continuing his extravagant expenses, fortifying strongholds, 171 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:27,760 Speaker 1: decorating palaces, forming conspiracies, and purchasing important offices for his 172 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 1: friends at my expense, in hope of soon becoming the 173 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 1: sovereign arbiter of the state end quote. Long before the 174 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:43,240 Speaker 1: August party at Vaal Vicomte, the King had Fouquet in 175 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: his sights. Instead of being the catalyst for Fouquet's arrest, 176 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:53,080 Speaker 1: as many have asserted the party was just the final 177 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:57,720 Speaker 1: nail in his coffin. By early September, the King was 178 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:02,479 Speaker 1: ready to move. He summoned a loyal musketeer to orchestrate 179 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:07,800 Speaker 1: Fouquet's arrest, and on September fifth, sixteen sixty one, the 180 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:13,560 Speaker 1: King's twenty third birthday, Fouquet was taken into custody, charged 181 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 1: with financial misdeeds and treason. His homes were searched and 182 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 1: his papers seized. The king delighted at how smoothly the 183 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:27,200 Speaker 1: arrest had gone, announcing it to the court, declaring that 184 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:31,800 Speaker 1: he would now manage the country's finances himself. With Fouquet 185 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 1: in custody and the weight of the state behind him, 186 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:41,640 Speaker 1: Louis expected that prosecution would be swift in this. However, 187 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:46,920 Speaker 1: the King was gravely mistaken. Nikola Fouquet would not go 188 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:53,640 Speaker 1: down without a fight, As he answered, Knowing that the 189 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:57,480 Speaker 1: interrogations would be read by the chambers judges, he began 190 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:00,960 Speaker 1: to weave his own defense and assert his right to 191 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 1: a fair trial. Fouquet never missed an opportunity to blame 192 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:10,560 Speaker 1: Mazarin for any financial irregularities, or an opportunity to question 193 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:15,320 Speaker 1: why he wasn't being allowed access to legal counsel. As 194 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:19,200 Speaker 1: Fouquet fought from within the prison walls, his family and 195 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 1: friends were taking the fight to the larger world. His 196 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:26,720 Speaker 1: wife and mother took to falling on the ground and 197 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:30,840 Speaker 1: begging for mercy whenever they saw the King or his mother, 198 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:33,760 Speaker 1: which was not a good look for the royal family 199 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:37,760 Speaker 1: to have sobbing women at their feet. And Fouquet had 200 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:42,240 Speaker 1: been a prominent literary patron, so many writers took up 201 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:47,160 Speaker 1: his cause, publishing pamphlets in his defense that spread through 202 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:53,440 Speaker 1: Paris like wildfire. Consider that a lesson befriend writers. Colbert 203 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:56,840 Speaker 1: tried to fight back, publishing pamphlets of his own and 204 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:01,400 Speaker 1: arresting the printers of pro Fouquet materi burials. At the 205 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:05,119 Speaker 1: same time, Fouquet and his lawyers he had finally been 206 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:09,560 Speaker 1: granted access to council, were bombarding the Special Council with 207 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: requests to turn over evidence, to explain the charges, and 208 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:19,120 Speaker 1: to allow Fouquet regular access to his advocates, things that 209 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:26,160 Speaker 1: Colbert's specially appointed judges fought hard against. Despite the growing 210 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:31,200 Speaker 1: tide of public support and his occasional legal victories, Fouquet 211 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:35,159 Speaker 1: still must have been terrified as he contemplated his fate 212 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:39,800 Speaker 1: from his cell. There were small moments of grace. However. 213 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:45,440 Speaker 1: Throughout his imprisonment, Fouquet was supervised by the same musketeer 214 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:49,320 Speaker 1: who had initially arrested him, and the two men grew 215 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:54,160 Speaker 1: to respect one another. In August sixteen sixty four, as 216 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 1: Fouquet was transported between two prisons, the musketeer noticed that 217 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:03,399 Speaker 1: Fouquet's family had lined the streets along the transport route. 218 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:08,080 Speaker 1: He was moved and the musketeer ordered the transport to slow, 219 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:12,920 Speaker 1: and Fouquet's wife leaned through the windows of her husband's carriage, 220 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:17,240 Speaker 1: hugging him. It was the first time the family had 221 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:22,280 Speaker 1: seen each other in nearly three years. Another bright light 222 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 1: came from a surprising source, one of Colbert's specially appointed judges. 223 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:33,080 Speaker 1: In sixteen sixty two, motivated by the overwhelming scale of 224 00:18:33,119 --> 00:18:37,159 Speaker 1: the case, the decision was made for two reporteurs to 225 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:41,400 Speaker 1: be appointed. These reporteurs would be in charge of conducting 226 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:46,320 Speaker 1: the investigation and summarizing their findings to the judges before 227 00:18:46,359 --> 00:18:50,360 Speaker 1: the final verdict. Once again, Colbert and the King made 228 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:54,120 Speaker 1: sure that the nominees came from their own camp. However, 229 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:58,000 Speaker 1: they miscalculated when it came to judging the moral fiber 230 00:18:58,119 --> 00:19:03,280 Speaker 1: of one of the nominees, Olivier Ormisan. Ormison was by 231 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:07,480 Speaker 1: no means a partisan of Fouquet, but he strongly believed 232 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 1: in the rule of law and balanced administration of justice. 233 00:19:12,119 --> 00:19:16,880 Speaker 1: Throughout the trial, despite enormous pressure from all sides, Ormison 234 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:20,679 Speaker 1: worked hard to achieve a semblance of fairness. He was 235 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:25,480 Speaker 1: a skilled orator, a clever mediator, and a thorough investigator, 236 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:30,240 Speaker 1: even uncovering proof that some of the financial documents being 237 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:34,800 Speaker 1: used as evidence against Fouquet had been forged, likely by 238 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:38,920 Speaker 1: some of the Special Court judges themselves, and he always 239 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:43,280 Speaker 1: made sure that Fouquet's petitions were heard. All of the 240 00:19:43,359 --> 00:19:46,600 Speaker 1: legal back and forth took time, and as the months 241 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:51,640 Speaker 1: and then years passed, the King and Colbert became increasingly 242 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:55,639 Speaker 1: concerned with the length of the trial. After all, the 243 00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:58,760 Speaker 1: longer the trial went on, the more chance there was 244 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 1: for public sace sympathy to continue to shift to Fouquet, 245 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:07,880 Speaker 1: and for unflattering details about the King in Colbert's personal 246 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:12,119 Speaker 1: involvement with the trial to emerge. People had already begun 247 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:14,919 Speaker 1: to whisper about what the drawn out trial meant for 248 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:19,280 Speaker 1: Louis How powerful was the king really if he couldn't 249 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:24,239 Speaker 1: complete such a simple prosecution. It was a question that 250 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:27,800 Speaker 1: Louis hoped to lay to rest when the Special Court 251 00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:32,680 Speaker 1: announced that they would finally begin deliberations in December sixteen 252 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:37,159 Speaker 1: sixty four, more than three years after Fouquet's initial arrest. 253 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:42,080 Speaker 1: Though public sympathy had shifted toward Fouquet over this time, 254 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:47,440 Speaker 1: many of his allies doubted that Colbert's specially appointed judges 255 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:51,679 Speaker 1: would be as sympathetic as the public. They had to 256 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:55,960 Speaker 1: hope that Fouquet's final defense of himself, conducted in person 257 00:20:56,520 --> 00:21:01,479 Speaker 1: and seemingly favorably received by the judges, would be a nuts. 258 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:06,800 Speaker 1: Over the course of several days, the two reporteurs Ormison 259 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:11,959 Speaker 1: and Saint Helene presented their cases. Ormison, who went first, 260 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:16,040 Speaker 1: produced a balanced report in line with his behavior throughout 261 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:20,680 Speaker 1: the case. He concluded that Fouquet had been occasionally sloppy 262 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:24,159 Speaker 1: and negligent in his work, but that the evidence on 263 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:29,440 Speaker 1: hand did not conclusively prove him guilty of intentional crimes. 264 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:33,840 Speaker 1: Ormison recommended that Fouquet be banished from France and that 265 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:38,120 Speaker 1: his estates be confiscated, which is harsh, sure, but it's 266 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:43,080 Speaker 1: nothing compared to what Ormison's fellow Reporteur Saint Helen recommended 267 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:47,720 Speaker 1: in his own summing up several days later, which was death. 268 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: Now it was all up to the judges. Louis, not 269 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:57,560 Speaker 1: wanting to leave anything to chance, began a concerted pressure campaign, 270 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:03,280 Speaker 1: sending emissaries to lection sure certain judges about their civic responsibilities, 271 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:08,159 Speaker 1: and making remarks in public about how dangerous Fouquet was. 272 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:13,840 Speaker 1: On December seventeenth, the judges gathered for a final time. 273 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:19,000 Speaker 1: One by one, they announced their verdicts. When the final 274 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:23,840 Speaker 1: result came in, the results were stunning. Of the twenty 275 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:29,960 Speaker 1: two judges, only nine voted for death. The remaining thirteen 276 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:35,160 Speaker 1: voted for banishment. It might not sound like a victory, 277 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:38,680 Speaker 1: but when an absolute monarch goes after you in court, 278 00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:44,560 Speaker 1: any win counts. Three years earlier, no one expected Fouquet 279 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:47,280 Speaker 1: to escape with his life, but now it looked like 280 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:51,280 Speaker 1: that would just happen. But there was still one more 281 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:56,720 Speaker 1: hurdle to clear. King Louis had final say on Fouquet's sentence, 282 00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:03,159 Speaker 1: and he was furious. Fortunately for Fouquet, King Louis was 283 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:06,920 Speaker 1: unwilling to risk the public outcry that would come if 284 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:11,000 Speaker 1: he insisted on the death penalty, so he instead sentenced 285 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:14,960 Speaker 1: Fouquet to life in prison. Fouquet was immediately sent to 286 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:18,919 Speaker 1: a prison fortress in the Alps, where as Vincent J. 287 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:23,240 Speaker 1: Pitts puts it in his book Embezzlement and High Treason 288 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:27,280 Speaker 1: in Louis the fourteenth France, he experienced a kind of 289 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:33,560 Speaker 1: quote living death end quote. All outside contact was forbidden, 290 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:37,560 Speaker 1: as were pens and paper. His windows were barred to 291 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:41,760 Speaker 1: prevent escape, blocking out the sunlight. It was only in 292 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:47,199 Speaker 1: April sixteen seventy four, after ten years in prison, that 293 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:51,160 Speaker 1: Fouquet was allowed to begin exchanging letters with his wife, 294 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:56,440 Speaker 1: and even then only two a year. Five years later, 295 00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:00,320 Speaker 1: the family was allowed to visit. For the first time 296 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:05,359 Speaker 1: in eighteen years, Fouquet could hold his children, all of 297 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:09,679 Speaker 1: whom were now young adults. His youngest son, born in 298 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:15,200 Speaker 1: sixteen sixty one, the year of Fouquet's arrest, likely barely 299 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:19,560 Speaker 1: recognized his father. However, there was hope of a more 300 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:25,680 Speaker 1: permanent reunion. In the late sixteen seventies, rumors circulated that 301 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:28,760 Speaker 1: Fouquet was about to be pardoned, but it was in 302 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:34,919 Speaker 1: empty hope, and in March sixteen eighty Nicola Fouquet died 303 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:41,399 Speaker 1: suddenly of a stroke at sixty five years old. Though 304 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:45,520 Speaker 1: no one would suffer as much as Fouquet, those noblemen 305 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,879 Speaker 1: involved in the trial who had dared to defy the 306 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:54,680 Speaker 1: king would also feel his wrath. Olivier Ormison was essentially 307 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:58,720 Speaker 1: shunned from public life, and so were many of the 308 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:03,440 Speaker 1: judges who had voted against death. Conversely, many of those 309 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:08,720 Speaker 1: who had attempted to persecute Fouquet thrived under Louis the fourteenth, 310 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:13,000 Speaker 1: none more so than Colbert, who rose to the highest 311 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:17,160 Speaker 1: ranks of government and was well rewarded for it. He, 312 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:20,879 Speaker 1: even despite his role in orchestrating one of the most 313 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:25,119 Speaker 1: infamous and blatantly corrupt show trials of the age, was 314 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:30,520 Speaker 1: given the task of reorganizing the country's legal codes. The 315 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:35,360 Speaker 1: taint of Fouquet's disgrace would linger over his family, but 316 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:39,879 Speaker 1: not forever. Toward the end of Louis the Fourteenth's reign, 317 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:47,480 Speaker 1: the aging king welcomed some of Fouquet's nephews into royal life. Historians, however, 318 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:52,800 Speaker 1: took longer to soften on Fouquet. Until the late twentieth century. 319 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:56,720 Speaker 1: Most agreed that Fouquet was in fact guilty of the 320 00:25:56,800 --> 00:26:00,600 Speaker 1: crimes he was accused of and deserving of the punishment 321 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 1: he received. However, that attitude has been changing. In nineteen 322 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:11,359 Speaker 1: eighty three, the eminent historian Roland Mousener declared at a 323 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:15,639 Speaker 1: conference that Fouquet was quote not guilty according to the 324 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:20,840 Speaker 1: spirit and practices of the time. His trial was unjust 325 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:27,400 Speaker 1: tainted with irregularities and manipulations end quote. Fouquet's legacy has 326 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:33,160 Speaker 1: also been refurbished in a more literal way vall Le Vicomte. 327 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:39,400 Speaker 1: Fouquet's estate has undergone a four decade restoration and now 328 00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:44,600 Speaker 1: welcomes more than three hundred thousand guests a year, guests 329 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:48,840 Speaker 1: who can wander the beautiful grounds where the Superintendent of 330 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:54,880 Speaker 1: Finance once hosted the greatest party of a generation, blissfully 331 00:26:55,000 --> 00:27:07,560 Speaker 1: unaware that disaster awaited him just beyond the gates. That's 332 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:11,720 Speaker 1: the story of the trial of Nicola Fouquet. But continue 333 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:15,240 Speaker 1: listening after a brief sponsor break to hear about a 334 00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:31,400 Speaker 1: very specific literary connection to this story. Remember that kindly 335 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:35,240 Speaker 1: musketeer who allowed Fouquet to see his family briefly during 336 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:41,720 Speaker 1: his incarceration. Despite that musketeer's relatively small role in Fouquet story, 337 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,879 Speaker 1: he would go on to have a much larger one 338 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:49,600 Speaker 1: in another famous story. After his time with Fouquet, the 339 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:54,520 Speaker 1: musketeer continued to serve the king, eventually being promoted to 340 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:58,600 Speaker 1: captain lieutenant. He later became governor of the city of 341 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:02,679 Speaker 1: Lille before being killed in battle on June twenty fifth, 342 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:08,480 Speaker 1: sixteen seventy three. Twenty seven years later, the French novelist 343 00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:14,439 Speaker 1: Gatienne Courtilles de Sandra published a fictionalized memoir of the 344 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:20,280 Speaker 1: very Real Musketeer, which contained a number of swashbuckling adventure stories. 345 00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:25,719 Speaker 1: One hundred and forty four years after that, another French 346 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:29,880 Speaker 1: author picked up to Courtilles Desandras's work while doing research 347 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:33,280 Speaker 1: on Louis the fourteenth, and he was inspired to write 348 00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:37,879 Speaker 1: his own account of that very real musketeer's world. That 349 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:43,280 Speaker 1: author was Alexandre Dumas, and the novel he created, inspired 350 00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:47,800 Speaker 1: by the very musketeer who had once guarded Nicholas Fouquet 351 00:28:48,080 --> 00:29:09,040 Speaker 1: Charles d'Artagnan, is, of course, The Three Musketeers. Noble Blood 352 00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:13,440 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from 353 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:17,520 Speaker 1: Aaron Manke. Noble Blood is created and hosted by me 354 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:22,760 Speaker 1: Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and researching by Hannah Johnston, 355 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:27,920 Speaker 1: Hannah Zwick, Mira Hayward, Courtney Sender, and Lori Goodman. The 356 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:32,200 Speaker 1: show is edited and produced by Noemi Griffin and rima 357 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:38,240 Speaker 1: Il Kahali, with supervising producer Josh Thain and executive producers 358 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:43,080 Speaker 1: Aaron Manke, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts 359 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:48,760 Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 360 00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:53,040 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.