Painting depicting Fouquet's trial.
The trial was a long drawn-out process that lasted three years.
In December 1664, Fouquet's fate was finally decided. This is a list of the judges and how they voted at his trial.
The judges on the left hand side voted for death. The judges on the right voted for banishment. As you can see, the sentence of banishment won out. But Louis intervened and changed it to imprisonment, stating that he was not about to let a man who knew so many state secrets go free.
Picture taken in Vaux.
Was Fouquet the Man in the Iron Mask?
At Vaux they suggest there is that possibility. But it's unlikely. Although they were in the same prison at the same time, Fouquet died years earlier.
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
An ambitious civil servant who reviewed Fouquet's books and reported his malpractices to Louis. Colbert was instrumental in Fouquet's downfall.
Versailles
Chapel in Versailles (upper floor)
After seeing the opulence of Vaux, Louis decided to transform Versailles, then a modest chateau, into what it is today, a place befitting a King. It had to be grand, spectacular; therefore, it needed the best designers of the day. Who did Louis pick? None other than the same three men Fouquet hired to created Vaux: Louis Le Vau, Charles Le Brun and André Le Nôtre. See my "Links" page for Versailles' official website.
Rouen
In Touch Not the Angel, this was the approximate spot where Simon docked his ship. In the 17th century the river Seine was lower, and ships could pass beneath the bridges.
In Touch Not the Heart, the fictitious town of Delatour was modeled after this city. Shopkeepers lived above their shops. The second floor was the common living area and the top floor the bedroom.
This is the city where Joan of Arc was put to death.
