Who was Nicolas Fouquet? The Superintendent of Finances, a protégé of Richelieu and Mazarin, became the most powerful figure in the kingdom. Vaux-le-Vicomte, probably his political mistake, the squirrel wanting to shine, yet in France and especially with Louis XIV, there is only one sun. He would pay dearly for it.
He had enemies: Chancellor Séguier and especially Colbert. The struggle between the squirrel and the snake would culminate in a trial where Fouquet would save his head. He also had his friends, men and women of letters, his mother, his wife, and the queen mother Anne of Austria.
If Louis XIV desired his downfall so much, it was because of his desire to rule alone, to be the absolute sovereign. Absolutism would be one of the causes of Fouquet’s downfall; it would also be the affirmation of royal power and one of the reasons for his downfall. We are not there yet; Fouquet is judged and defends himself. This book describes his trial: The Royal Party.
With this first novel, Alain Duménil offers us a beautiful page of our history, whose protagonists bear a rather uncanny resemblance to the political actors of our time. A book to read to understand both the Grand Siècle and the intricacies of power and justice of the ancient regime, where the rights of the defense were limited.
Thierry Jan, writer
