NEVER OUTSHINE THE MASTER

Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV's finance minister in the first year of his reign, was a generous man who loved parties, pretty women and poetry. He also loved money for he led an extravagant lifestyle. Fouquet was clever and very much indispensable to the king, so when the prime minister, Jules Mazarin, died, in 1661, the finance minister expected to be named the successor. Instead the king abolished the position. This and other signs made Fouquet suspect that he was falling out of favor with the king, so he decided to ingratiate himself with the king by staging the most spetctacular party the world had ever seen.
The most brilliant nobility of Europe and some of the greates minds of the time- La fontaine, La Rochefoucauld, Madame de Sevigne- attended the party. The party began with a lavish seven-course dinner, featuring food from the orient never before tasted in france, as well as new dishes created especially for the night. The meal was accompanied with music commissioned by Fouquet to honor the king.
After dinner there was a promenade through the chateau's garden. The grounds and fountains of Vaux-le-Vicomte were to be the inspiration for versailles.
Fouquet personally accompanied the king through the geometrically aligned arrangements of shrubbery and flower beds. Arriving at the gardens canal they witnessed a firework display, which was followed by the performance of Moliere's play. The party ran well into the night and everyone agreed it was the most amazing affair they had ever attended.
The next day Fouquet was arrested by the king head musketeer, D'Artagnan. Three months later he went on trial for stealing the country's treasury. (Actually what he was accused of was done on the king behalf and with the king's permission) Foiquet was found guilty and sent to the most isolated prison in France, high in the Pyrenees Mountains, where he spent the last twenty years of his life in solitary confinement.

INTERPRETATION:
Louis XIV, was a proud manwho wanted to be the center of attention at all times, Fouquet lavish party which was supposed to win him the kings favor, instead offended the kings vanity. Louis would not admit this to anyone but instead, he found a convenient excuse to rid himself of a man who had inadvertently made him feel insecure.

LESSON:
Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please and impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite- inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.