Nicolas Fouquet was the Minister of Finance for the young Louis XIV. He had political ambitions which he thought would be aided by his newly built Chateau at Vaux-le-Vicomte.
He used what became the hot team – architect Le Vau, painter/decorator Charles le Brun and landscape gardener Le Notre. Fouquet’s fabulous new chateau was the talk of the town but he was arrested shortly after a house warming he had for the King Louis XIV, charged with using public funds for his personal use. The charge was true but also not terribly uncommon at the time. It was the way business had been done.
Fouquet was arrested three weeks after the lavish party. His court case lasted three years. He ended up in prison for the rest of his life.
Louis XIV took the Le Vau/Le Brun/Le Notre team and set them to work transforming the hunting lodge his father had built at Versailles. The Chateau of Versailles was the result.*
*It is a good idea to visit Vaux-le-Vicomte before Versailles if possible.
