FOUQUE

fouque, friedrich heinrich karl de la motte, baron (1777-1843), german writer of the romantic movement, was born on the 12th of february 1777 at brandenburg. his grandfather had been one of frederick the great's generals and his father was a prussian officer. although not originally intended for a military career, friedrich de la motte fouque ultimately gave up his university studies at halle to join the army, and he took part in the rhine campaign of 1794. the rest of his life was devoted mainly to literary pursuits. like so many of the younger romanticists, fouque owed his introduction to literature to a.w. schlegel, who published his first book, _dramatische spiele von pellegrin_ in 1804. his next work, _romanzen vom tal ronceval_ (1805), showed more plainly his allegiance to the romantic leaders, and in the _historie vom edlen ritter galmy_ (1806) he versified a 16th-century romance of medieval chivalry. _sigurd der schlangentoter, ein heldenspiel_ (1808), the first modern german dramatization of the _nibelungen_ saga, attracted attention to him, and influenced considerably subsequent versions of the story, such as hebbel's _nibelungen_ and wagner's _ring des nibelungen_. these early writings indicate the lines which fouque's subsequent literary activity followed; his interests were divided between medieval chivalry on the one hand and northern mythology on the other. in 1813, the year of the rising against napoleon, he again fought with the prussian army, and the new patriotism awakened in the german people left its mark upon his writings. between 1810 and 1815 fouque's popularity was at its height; the many romances and novels, plays and epics, which he turned out with extraordinary rapidity, appealed exactly to the mood of the hour. the earliest of these are the best--_undine_, which appeared in 1811, being, indeed, one of the most charming of all german _marchen_ and the only work by which fouque's memory still lives to-day. a more comprehensive idea of his powers may, however, be obtained from the two romances _der zauberring_ (1813) and _die fahrten thiodulfs des islanders_ (1815). from 1820 onwards the quality of fouque's work rapidly degenerated, partly owing to the fatal ease with which he wrote, partly to his inability to keep pace with the changes in german taste. he remained the belated romanticist, who, as the reading world turned to new interests, clung the more tenaciously to the paraphernalia of romanticism; but in the cold, sober light of the post-romantic age, these appeared merely flimsy and theatrical. the vitalizing imaginative power of his early years deserted him, and the sobriquet of a "don quixote of romanticism" which his enemies applied to him was not unjustified. fouque's first marriage had been unhappy and soon ended in divorce. his second wife, karoline von briest (1773-1831) enjoyed some reputation as a novelist in her day. after her death fouque married a third time. some consolation for the ebbing tide of popular favour was afforded him by the munificence of frederick william iv. of prussia, who granted him a pension which allowed him to spend his later years in comfort. he died in berlin on the 23rd of january 1843. fouque's _ausgewahlte werke_, edited by himself, appeared in 12 vols. (berlin, 1841); a selection, edited by m. koch, will be found in kurschner's _deutsche nationalliteratur_, vol. 146, part ii. (stuttgart, 1893); _undine_, _sintram_, &c., in innumerable reprints. bibliography in goedeke's _grundriss zur geschichte der deutschen dichtung_ (2nd ed., vi. pp. 115 ff., dresden, 1898). most of fouque's works have been translated, and the english versions of _aslauga's knight_ (by carlyle), _sintram and his companions_ and _undine_, have been frequently republished. for fouque's life cp. _lebensgeschichte des baron friedrich de la motte fouque. aufgezeichnet durch ihn selbst_ (halle, 1840), (only to the year 1813), and also the introduction to koch's selections in the _deutsche nationalliteratur_. (j. g. r.) fouquet (or foucquet), nicolas (1615-1680), viscount of melun and of vaux, marquis of belle-isle, superintendent of finance in france under louis xiv., was born at paris in 1615. he belonged to an influential family of the _noblesse de la robe_, and after some preliminary schooling with the jesuits, at the age of thirteen was admitted as _avocat_ at the parlement of paris. while still in his teens he held several responsible posts, and in 1636, when just twenty, he was able to buy the post of _maitre des requetes_. from 1642 to 1650 he held various intendancies at first in the provinces and then with the army of mazarin, and, coming thus in touch with the court, was permitted in 1650 to buy the important position of _procureur general_ to the parlement of paris. during mazarin's exile fouquet shrewdly remained loyal to him, protecting his property and keeping him informed of the situation at court. upon the cardinal's return, fouquet demanded and received as reward the office of superintendent of the finances (1653), a position which, in the unsettled condition of the government, threw into his hands not merely the decision as to which funds should be applied to meet the demands of the state's creditors, but also the negotiations with the great financiers who lent money to the king. the appointment was a popular one with the moneyed class, for fouquet's great wealth had been largely augmented by his marriage in 1651 with marie de castille, who also belonged to a wealthy family of the legal nobility. his own credit, and above all his unfailing confidence in himself, strengthened the credit of the government, while his high position at the parlement (he still remained _procureur general_) secured financial transactions from investigation. as minister of finance, he soon had mazarin almost in the position of a suppliant. the long wars, and the greed of the courtiers, who followed the example of mazarin, made it necessary at times for fouquet to meet the demands upon him by borrowing upon his own credit, but he soon turned this confusion of the public purse with his own to good account. the disorder in the accounts became hopeless; fraudulent operations were entered into with impunity, and the financiers were kept in the position of clients by official favours and by generous aid whenever they needed it. fouquet's fortune now surpassed even mazarin's, but the latter was too deeply implicated in similar operations to interfere, and was obliged to leave the day of reckoning to his agent and successor colbert. upon mazarin's death fouquet expected to be made head of the government; but louis xiv. was suspicious of his poorly dissembled ambition, and it was with fouquet in mind that he made the well-known statement, upon assuming the government, that he would be his own chief minister. colbert fed the king's displeasure with adverse reports upon the deficit, and made the worst of the case against fouquet. the extravagant expenditure and personal display of the superintendent served to intensify the ill-will of the king. fouquet had bought the port of belle isle and strengthened the fortifications, with a view to taking refuge there in case of disgrace. he had spent enormous sums in building a palace on his estate of vaux, which in extent, magnificence, and splendour of decoration was a forecast of versailles. here he gathered the rarest manuscripts, the finest paintings, jewels and antiques in profusion, and above all surrounded himself with artists and authors. the table was open to all people of quality, and the kitchen was presided over by vatel. lafontaine, corneille, scarron, were among the multitude of his clients. in august 1661 louis xiv., already set upon his destruction, was entertained at vaux with a _fete_ rivalled in magnificence by only one or two in french history, at which moliere's _les facheux_ was produced for the first time. the splendour of the entertainment sealed fouquet's fate. the king, however, was afraid to act openly against so powerful a minister. by crafty devices fouquet was induced to sell his office of _procureur general_, thus losing the protection of its privileges, and he paid the price of it into the treasury. three weeks after his visit to vaux the king withdrew to nantes, taking fouquet with him, and had him arrested when he was leaving the presence chamber, flattered with the assurance of his esteem. the trial lasted almost three years, and its violation of the forms of justice is still the subject of frequent monographs by members of the french bar. public sympathy was strongly with fouquet, and lafontaine, madame de sevigne and many others wrote on his behalf; but when fouquet was sentenced to banishment, the king, disappointed, "commuted" the sentence to imprisonment for life. he was sent at the beginning of 1665 to the fortress of pignerol, where he undoubtedly died on the 23rd of march 1680.[1] louis acted throughout "as though he were conducting a campaign," evidently fearing that fouquet would play the part of a richelieu. fouquet bore himself with manly fortitude, and composed several mediocre translations in prison. the devotional works bearing his name are apocryphal. a report of his trial was published in holland, in 15 volumes, in 1665-1667, in spite of the remonstrances which colbert addressed to the states-general. a second edition under the title of _oeuvres de m. fouquet_ appeared in 1696. see cheruel, _memoires sur la vie publique et privee de fouquet... d'apres ses lettres et des pieces inedites_ (2 vols., paris, 1864); j. lair, _nicolas foucquet, procureur general, surintendant des finances, ministre d'etat de louis xiv_ (2 vols., paris, 1890); u.v. chatelain, _le surintendant nicolas fouquet, protecteur des lettres, des arts et des sciences_ (paris, 1905); r. pfnor et a. france, _le chateau de vaux-le-vicomte dessine et grave_ (paris, 1888). footnote: [1] fouquet has been identified with the "man with the iron mask" (see iron mask), but this theory is quite impossible.