During the early reign of Louis XIV Nicolas Fouquet, Superintendent of Finances, enjoyed immense prestige by virtue of his wealth and influence. Confident that his lavish displays — such as the grand festivities at the Château de Vaux — would earn him royal favour, he instead aroused the suspicion of the King, who saw him as a dangerously powerful subject. Fouquet’s rival, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, fueled this mistrust and persuaded the King to have Fouquet arrested. This arrest, entrusted to d’Artagnan, became a symbol of the consolidated royal power.
As the court traveled to Nantes to convene the Estates of Brittany, Fouquet ignored warnings from his allies advising him to flee. Secrecy was paramount because of Fouquet’s power and extensive court connections, and any sympathy for him had to be avoided. D’Artagnan was informed only shortly beforehand.
On the morning of 5 September d’Artagnan led a hundred Musketeers waiting in the courtyard of the Château de Nantes. To mislead observers, the King announced he would go hunting immediately after the council meeting. Fouquet presented himself to the King and, after the session ended, left the royal residence. D’Artagnan thereupon pursued and arrested him on the cathedral square, causing great surprise at court. The Musketeers escorted the disgraced minister to the Château d’Angers, where he was imprisoned for three months. D’Artagnan was ordered to keep watch over Fouquet and to sleep in his cell.
From there, after a stop at the Château d’Amboise, Fouquet was escorted to the Château de Vincennes, where he stayed on the first floor of the keep from 1662 to 1663. On 19 June 1663, in order for him to be closer to his place of his trial, Fouquet was transferred under d’Artagnan’s guard to the Bastille.
Although Fouquet undoubtedly abused his position by mixing private interests with royal finances, he was pursued relentlessly by Colbert and his accusers, using selected documents and biased investigators.
At the conclusion of the hearings on 22 December 1664 the Court of Justice sentenced Fouquet to exile, but the displeased King converted this sentence to life imprisonment.
Fouquet was then sent to Pignerol, and it was d’Artagnan’s responsibility to escort him there in the middle of winter and hand him over to his jailer, Saint-Mars — also a Musketeer — on 16 January 1665. Fouquet never left his prison and died there in 1680.
D’Artagnan carried out this duty with rigour and discretion, earning the respect of Fouquet and his associates. Madame de Sévigné, in her letters, even praised d’Artagnan’s humanity and kindness toward the former minister.
Nicolas Fouquet 1615–1680
Nicolas Fouquet, Marquis of Belle-Île, Viscount of Melun and Vaux, came from a wealthy family of parliamentarians. He was intelligent, daring and loyal to the monarchy, which facilitated his rapid social rise.
His loyalty to Cardinal Mazarin during the Fronde earned him a significant promotion, and in 1653 he was appointed Superintendent of Finances. Fouquet played a key role in managing France’s finances, notably by funding wars and strengthening royal power.
He commissioned the construction of the sumptuous Château de Vaux, calling upon the talents of architect Louis Le Vau, painter Charles Le Brun and landscaper André Le Nôtre. This estate became a symbol of his wealth and his passion for the arts.
On 17 August 1661 Fouquet hosted an extravagant fête at Vaux in honour of Louis XIV, but this display of grandeur was perceived by the young King as a threat to his authority. Arrested by d’Artagnan and the King’s Musketeers, Fouquet was accused of embezzlement and lèse-majesté.
He was tried in a lengthy three-year trial, and in 1664 he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was incarcerated at the fortress of Pignerol, where he died on 23 March 1680.
Despite his downfall Nicolas Fouquet left a significant cultural legacy. His patronage contributed greatly to the flourishing of the arts in France, and the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte remains a testament to classical French architecture and landscape design.
The Man in the Iron Mask
The mystery of the Man in the Iron Mask has fascinated people for centuries. In The Vicomte de Bragelonne Dumas draws on Voltaire’s theory that the prisoner was a brother of Louis XIV, held in the Bastille to prevent any challenge to the throne. In the novel, the prisoner is freed by Aramis and attempts to switch places with Louis XIV during the festivities organized by Fouquet at Vaux. Thanks to Fouquet’s loyalty and d’Artagnan’s vigilance, however, the plot is foiled. The King, to eliminate any further threat, sentences his rival to lifelong imprisonment wearing an iron mask to conceal his identity.
Many hypotheses have been suggested regarding the prisoner’s identity: Fouquet or one of his servants, the Count of Vermandois, the Duke of Beaufort, a Jacobite spy, or even Molière or d’Artagnan himself.
The prisoner, always guarded by Saint-Mars, was transferred from Pignerol to the Bastille in 1698, still masked. He died there in 1703 under the name Marchioli.
As for the actual iron masks preserved at the Army Museum, it remains uncertain whether they were used as fencing protection, armor components or pillory accessories. The mystery endures, fueling legends and speculation.
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