On this day, Louis XIV accords to the Duc de Gêvres the favour of recalling M Janin, the former Treasurer, who has not seen the King in more than 20 years.
Commentary:
The Duc de Gesvres (modern spelling) is the recently appointed Governor of Paris. It is not explained why he has intervened on M Janin’s behalf. The latter’s name is also spelled Jeanin or Jeannin. The second version seems to be the most common. His full name is Nicolas Jeannin de Castille, Marquis de Montjeu. We will refer to him as Jeannin.
Jeannin’s former position was called trésorier de l’épargne. The office no longer exists. Minister Colbert persuaded the King to abolish the Trésor de l’épargne (Savings Treasury), first instituted under François I, in favour of the Trésor royal (Royal Treasury) in 1664.
Pictured: Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683), Comptroller-General of Finances, as well as Secretary of State for the Army, Navy, and the King’s Household, from 1661 until his death.
Reading between the lines, we perceive that Jeannin must have committed some impropriety or in some way incurred Colbert’s or the King’s displeasure. The phrase “has not seen the King in __ years” is a conventional one indicating that the individual was exiled from court by a lettre de cachet. The wording of the letter might specify the length of time the recipient is to stay away, but if left open he or she may not return until recalled by royal command. Jeannin is fortunate to have a friend like M de Gesvres — or perhaps to have some kind of leverage over him? — because many recipients of a lettre de cachet are never recalled. Jeannin is especially fortunate since he has a damning family connection.
Pictured: Nicolas Fouquet (1615-1680), Colbert’s predecessor in charge of the kingdom’s finances until his dismissal and disgrace in 1661.
Jeannin is a cousin of Nicolas Fouquet’s second wife, Marie-Madeleine de Castille. This association with the disgraced minister may also have been a factor in his exile even though it took place a few years after Fouquet’s downfall in 1661. Fouquet died in prison in 1680. Mme Fouquet voluntarily joined him there in his last years. Fortunately for herself and her children, she was able to reclaim some of the family’s confiscated property, including the château of Vaux-le-Vicomte. None of the family were received at court again until after Louis XIV’s death.
Pictured: A view of Vaux-le-Vicomte. Credit — Par Thomas Henz Sadeness — Photographie personnelle, CC BY-SA 2.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=298264
If you have questions that I have not addressed in the commentary, please ask in the comments.
What a huge relief it must have been for Mme Fouquet to retrieve Vaux-le-Vicomte. Imagine having it confiscated.