ABSTRACT

Before proceeding, some introduction to the way French finances were run is required. Prior to 1661 the principal finance minister was the surintendant des finances: under Nicolas Fouquet this post was no longer just coordinator and manager of royal finances, often behind a veil of secrecy, but had come to occupy a central role as principal financial contractor for the

monarchy. When Colbert replaced Fouquet as the king’s main financial official, first as an intendant des finances and then from 1665 as contrôleur général, a very different system was inaugurated, with Louis XIV himself assuming nominal control of the finances, although delegating the detail very largely to Colbert. Below the ministerial team this was a monarchy that relied for its financial operations across the country upon several thousand financiers, who either bought royal offices for handling revenues or signed contracts with the royal council to collect taxes, dues and other so-called affaires extraordinaires. The principal advantages of such a system of ‘pararoyal’ officials, agents and contractors were threefold: it overcame royal information deficiencies on the ground, contractors could be held legally liable for monies owed and they could tap into vast reserves of private credit based upon their own reputations, now anchored in a greater degree of confidence in the ability of the royal state to back up their solvency. This credit came either from their own circles, or from a range of people in the propertied elites (all the way up to members of the royal family) who loaned them money or invested funds in their operations.1 Given that these people were heavily involved as either primary receivers of the king’s revenues (collectors) or secondary receivers (disbursers), it is preferable to refer to them as ‘fisco-financiers’.