# Missing Fish and Fatal Feasts: Ritual and Ruin at the Sun King’s Table

An episode of [Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1484511465), 3 Oct 2025, 43 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdrl.fm/18db03/tracking.swap.fm/track/SxlTEPDY7xDg35RXkASs/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/c0ae8c6e-22f0-4e9b-ac1c-ae390037ac53/6ab027fd-99d6-48d8-99f5-b36700f5cd2d/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=7f5a4714-6b10-4ccf-a424-ae390037ac70

In the gilded court of Louis XIV, 17th Century France, manners are everything. Where to sit, how to eat, what to wear - any misstep is costly. No one knows this better than François Vatel, the greatest party planner in all of France. Tonight, Vatel must deliver the ultimate banquet, a chance for his master to rise through the ranks and win the king's favor. But where there is opportunity there is danger, and even one mistake could prove deadly. WARNING: This episode discusses death by suicide. If you are suffering emotional distress or having suicidal thoughts, support is available - for example, from the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US, or the Samaritans in the UK on 116 123 For a full list of show notes go to timharford.com, and to join our new Patreon, go to patreon.com/cautionaryclub. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:15] Speaker 1: Pushkin a warning before we start. This cautionary tale discusses
[0:22] Speaker 1: death by suicide. If you're suffering emotional distress or you're
[0:27] Speaker 1: having suicidal thoughts, support is available, for example, from the
[0:31] Speaker 1: nine eight eight Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the US. France,
[0:40] Speaker 1: sixteen seventy one, at the Chateau de Chantagille, home to
[0:46] Speaker 1: the Prince of Conde, a party is underway, three whole
[0:52] Speaker 1: days of moonlit hunts, sumptuous feasts, and spectacular entertainment. This
[1:01] Speaker 1: fairy tale palace, with its shimmering moat and stately gardens,
[1:06] Speaker 1: is the perfect setting for a grand seller. The party
[1:11] Speaker 1: has been organized by the Great Prancois Vateel, as maitre d'hotel,
[1:17] Speaker 1: head of the household. He is a maestro of hospitality,
[1:22] Speaker 1: famous among the great houses for his resourcefulness, efficiency and
[1:27] Speaker 1: excellent taste. Vattel is no ordinary servant, which is convenient
[1:34] Speaker 1: because this is no ordinary party. King Louis the fourteenth,
[1:40] Speaker 1: the formidable monarch who takes the very sun as his emblem,
[1:44] Speaker 1: is making his first visit to Chantague, and because Louis
[1:49] Speaker 1: likes to keep a close eye on the nobility, the
[1:53] Speaker 1: court has come with him two thousand guests have descended
[1:58] Speaker 1: on the fairy tale chateau, all demanding to be housed, entertained,
[2:03] Speaker 1: and fed. Tonight is the opening night of the festivities,
[2:09] Speaker 1: and Vertel must make sure that his master impresses. He
[2:13] Speaker 1: feels this responsibility. Keenly, Conde led a fearsome rebellion early
[2:20] Speaker 1: in louis reign, and all these years later, the king
[2:24] Speaker 1: remains wary of him. The cousins are tenuously back on
[2:29] Speaker 1: good terms for now, which means that the extravaganza at
[2:33] Speaker 1: Chanty must go off without a hitch. Fatell only recently
[2:39] Speaker 1: learned exactly how many guests the King would be bringing
[2:42] Speaker 1: with him and when he would arrive. What's more, the
[2:46] Speaker 1: king has a cruel streak. Fatell knows any missteps could
[2:53] Speaker 1: be costly. I haven't had a wink of sleep for
[2:57] Speaker 1: twelve nights, he tells a friend. Preparation is everything, and
[3:03] Speaker 1: so Vertell has planned this event to the last detail,
[3:07] Speaker 1: ordering ornate view furniture of the King's apartments and stocking
[3:12] Speaker 1: the laders. The Baron of Gourville, the steward in charge
[3:16] Speaker 1: of Conde's finances, has allowed the prince to spend a
[3:20] Speaker 1: staggering fifty thousand crowns on this party, or so the
[3:25] Speaker 1: guest's gossip. In the kitchens deep beneath the palace, Batel
[3:31] Speaker 1: has set the servants slicing and dicing, simmering and stirring.
[3:37] Speaker 1: Every taste must be accommodated, every mouth satisfied. The elaborate
[3:43] Speaker 1: choreography of dinners, the swift and striking. So far all
[3:49] Speaker 1: has gone well. Upon arrival, the king took a turn
[3:53] Speaker 1: around the chateau gardens. The walk was pleasant, the april
[3:58] Speaker 1: weather is fine, the daffodils in full bloom. Still Fortel
[4:05] Speaker 1: is on edge, exhausted. Later that night a magnificent cascade
[4:13] Speaker 1: of fireworks will dazzle the guests. But for now dinner
[4:19] Speaker 1: is served. First come the potage dishes cooked in pots
[4:28] Speaker 1: like chickens stuffed with chickory and quail and crayfish soup
[4:32] Speaker 1: garnished with rome. Then the entrees, hashes of mushroom and artichoke,
[4:40] Speaker 1: oiled meat, all manner of savory tarts, and finally, around these,
[4:46] Speaker 1: another painstaking formation is set down, a border of aud'eure,
[4:53] Speaker 1: quite literally outside the work of the main meal. These
[4:57] Speaker 1: are delicacies like fois gras, figs, and sausages. Only when
[5:02] Speaker 1: their sovereign has begun to eat, may the guests feast
[5:06] Speaker 1: and make merry After this first carnival of delights, the
[5:12] Speaker 1: roasts are served, rare, game, lamb, and beef in rich
[5:16] Speaker 1: wheal are all favorites. No sooner has one dish been
[5:20] Speaker 1: finished than another replaces it. The table is never bare,
[5:25] Speaker 1: and the placement of the dishes is always symmetrical. Fortell
[5:30] Speaker 1: notices everything conducting from afar dinner's service is a delicate
[5:37] Speaker 1: dance that what's this? Foretell realizes with horror that some
[5:47] Speaker 1: unexpected guests have joined the party. They must be fed,
[5:53] Speaker 1: and it's far too late now to prepare more roasts.
[5:57] Speaker 1: Another table will have to go without the frayed for
[6:00] Speaker 1: Tell is distraught, he's failed in his duties. He begins
[6:04] Speaker 1: to panic. And while you or I might find that
[6:09] Speaker 1: an overreaction, Fortell knows the stakes These festivities will prove,
[6:16] Speaker 1: quite literally to be a matter of life and death.
[6:23] Speaker 1: I'm Tim Harford, and you're listening to cautionary tales. Francois
[6:51] Speaker 1: Votel was born in around sixteen thirty. His family had
[6:56] Speaker 1: worked the land, but Fortell went into service, entering a
[7:00] Speaker 1: world of luxurious luncheons, glittering soirees, and extraordinarily complicated social rules.
[7:09] Speaker 1: As maitre d'hotel, Fatell presided over the comfort and convenience
[7:14] Speaker 1: of all who entered his master's home. The guardian of
[7:18] Speaker 1: his master's honor in the realm of hospitality, he managed
[7:23] Speaker 1: enormous sums of money, designed menus, and was in charge
[7:27] Speaker 1: of all the servants. Fatell was renowned for his meticulous
[7:32] Speaker 1: attention to detail in his work, and he had even
[7:36] Speaker 1: distinguished himself enough to be allowed to carry a sword,
[7:40] Speaker 1: a privilege reserved for a select view. Fatel could be
[7:46] Speaker 1: forgiven for being particularly anxious on that evening at Chantalie.
[7:51] Speaker 1: It was all too familiar. He had been embroiled in
[7:55] Speaker 1: a previous scheme to secure King Louis's favor through the
[7:58] Speaker 1: sheer opulence of a banquet. He knew how easily things
[8:03] Speaker 1: could go awry and how serious the consequences could be.
[8:10] Speaker 1: A decade earlier, Vttel had been working for a different master,
[8:15] Speaker 1: the ambitious Nicola Fouquet, the scion of prosperous cloth merchants.
[8:22] Speaker 1: Fiercely intelligent and a shrewd social operator, Fouquet had rapidly
[8:28] Speaker 1: climbed through government. By sixteen sixty one he was Superintendent
[8:34] Speaker 1: of Finances to the King. Fouquet was Bourgeois by origin,
[8:40] Speaker 1: but he now rubbed shoulders with royalty. He was bold
[8:44] Speaker 1: and forward thinking, masterminding ventures with the Dutch and in
[8:47] Speaker 1: the Americas. He was also cunning. His mentor, the previous
[8:53] Speaker 1: First Minister, had taught him how to surreptitiously skim off
[8:58] Speaker 1: the state bankroll. As a result, Fouquet was fabulously wealthy.
[9:06] Speaker 1: Fortell's fortunes rose with his masters, and he managed properties
[9:10] Speaker 1: for him in Paris and beyond. These homes were filled
[9:15] Speaker 1: with paintings and rare books. Fouquet loved the arts and
[9:20] Speaker 1: patronized poets and playwrights, but his favorite masterpiece was his
[9:26] Speaker 1: palace at Volna Vicomte. Three villages had been obliterated to
[9:32] Speaker 1: make way for the palace, with at least nine hundred
[9:35] Speaker 1: laborers hauling stone and digging a canal. Fouquet founded his
[9:40] Speaker 1: own factory to furnish it, and hired Flemish weavers for
[9:44] Speaker 1: an enormous tapestry cycle and Alexander the Great. He installed
[9:50] Speaker 1: soaring fountains and hired the very best landscape architect to
[9:55] Speaker 1: sculpt the lawns into careful geometric patterns. Figures from classical
[10:00] Speaker 1: mythology adorned the palace inside and out, as Caroline C.
[10:06] Speaker 1: Young has noted in her Book of Gold, in settings
[10:11] Speaker 1: of silver carved satire heads flanked the wrought iron gates,
[10:17] Speaker 1: and elegant columns edged its glittering facade, each topped with
[10:23] Speaker 1: a reclining Greek deity. The vast ceilings were painted with
[10:28] Speaker 1: Apollo hercules, and the meuse cleo Vaux was a feast
[10:36] Speaker 1: for eyes, a home fit not just for a finance minister,
[10:41] Speaker 1: but for a god. Trusty Vertel had supervised construction. He
[10:50] Speaker 1: had ensured there were a few practical innovations at Vaux, too,
[10:55] Speaker 1: like extra staircases connecting the kitchens with the grand salon
[11:00] Speaker 1: to help food reach the table more efficiently. The palace
[11:04] Speaker 1: drew prying eyes, and Vertel caught the government minister to
[11:09] Speaker 1: Jean Baptiste Colbert, spying on the construction project. Colbert, whose
[11:15] Speaker 1: family crest was an undulating serpent, was Fouquet's arch nemesis.
[11:22] Speaker 1: This could only spell trouble. King Louis was growing increasingly
[11:32] Speaker 1: suspicious of Fortel's master and his excessive expenditure. Fouquet claimed
[11:40] Speaker 1: his new palace was designed to glorify France, a display
[11:44] Speaker 1: not just of his own prestige but of his loyalty
[11:47] Speaker 1: to the crown. But he had also taken care to
[11:51] Speaker 1: install friends and minions at every level of government, and
[11:56] Speaker 1: his tentacles of influence reached far across oceans. Colbert dripped
[12:04] Speaker 1: poison in the King's ear. Fouquet was sent agents abroad,
[12:11] Speaker 1: dining superbly and acquiring friends of every kind. Worst of all,
[12:17] Speaker 1: the finance minister was stealing from the treasury. Because of him,
[12:23] Speaker 1: said Colbert, Louis was only receiving around forty percent of
[12:27] Speaker 1: the value of state taxes. Colbert was in fact guilty
[12:32] Speaker 1: of similar misdeeds, as Fouquet well knew, but had managed
[12:37] Speaker 1: to cover his tracks by burning the incriminating accounts. In
[12:43] Speaker 1: the summer of sixteen sixty one, matters came to a head.
[12:49] Speaker 1: Louis had a new mistress, blonde haired, blue eyed, Louise
[12:54] Speaker 1: de la Valliere. Ever on the lookout for allies, Fouquet
[12:58] Speaker 1: approached the young woman. If she needed anything at all,
[13:02] Speaker 1: he said he would be delighted to help her. Soon
[13:08] Speaker 1: a room Humer was flying through court. Fouquet had sent
[13:13] Speaker 1: a close friend to offer the Madamiselle de Valliere twenty
[13:18] Speaker 1: thousand gold coins. Some said this was mere flattery. Gifts
[13:24] Speaker 1: were not so unusual after all, but others were certain
[13:28] Speaker 1: that this was unabashed flirtation, that Fouquet wanted the young
[13:34] Speaker 1: lady for himself. When Louis learned of Fouquet's overtures to
[13:39] Speaker 1: his mistress, he was enraged. Fouquet knew he had incurred
[13:46] Speaker 1: the king's wrath that unless he could regain his favor
[13:49] Speaker 1: and fast, he was done for. Feverishly, he alighted on
[13:54] Speaker 1: a plan. He would invite Louis to a party, a
[14:00] Speaker 1: glorious soiree in his honor. It was an outlandish idea,
[14:05] Speaker 1: to be sure, but the magnificent palace at Vaux, with
[14:08] Speaker 1: its boring fountains and lavish ceilings, was fit for a god.
[14:14] Speaker 1: It could not fail to enchant a king. Fouquet would
[14:19] Speaker 1: have to walk the finest of lines, impressing the monarch
[14:24] Speaker 1: without threatening him, but he was in safe hands. He'd
[14:29] Speaker 1: entrusted the entire operation to the most diligent and gifted
[14:34] Speaker 1: Maitre d'hotel in the land Francois Vattel cautionary tales will return.
[14:53] Speaker 1: Life at Louis the fourteenth Court was governed by elaborate
[14:57] Speaker 1: ritual from the first light of dawn until the very
[15:01] Speaker 1: last servant crawled into bed exhausted from the day's labors.
[15:09] Speaker 1: Each morning began with the grand getting up ceremony the
[15:13] Speaker 1: levee at eight thirty a m. Louis was washed, shaved, combed,
[15:20] Speaker 1: and bewigged before an audience of around a hundred spectators.
[15:25] Speaker 1: Only those with particular privileges could attend the levee. Rank
[15:30] Speaker 1: and favour determined when a subject could enter and the
[15:34] Speaker 1: door he could pass through. The playwright Moliere, who began
[15:39] Speaker 1: his career as valet of the king's bedchamber, recalled how
[15:43] Speaker 1: the throng of men present at the levee would jostle
[15:47] Speaker 1: to reach the front of the audience. Attendance was coveted
[15:52] Speaker 1: because it offered physical proximity to the King and so
[15:57] Speaker 1: the opportunity to bend his ear and petition for this
[16:00] Speaker 1: or that. Louis imposed a body of tacit rules on
[16:04] Speaker 1: his courtiers that controlled every aspect of their lives. Days
[16:10] Speaker 1: in court were strictly timetabled, the regime could be exacting.
[16:15] Speaker 1: As the King's sister in law explained in a letter
[16:18] Speaker 1: to her aunt, we were kept busy all day. We
[16:22] Speaker 1: hunted from morning until three in the afternoon. Then we
[16:25] Speaker 1: went up to play, remaining there until seven in the evening.
[16:29] Speaker 1: Then we went to the theater, which did not finish
[16:31] Speaker 1: until half past ten. After theater, we took supper. After supper,
[16:35] Speaker 1: it was time for the mall, which went almost all
[16:37] Speaker 1: three in the morning, and only then did we retire
[16:40] Speaker 1: to bed. A complex web of etiquette governed who could
[16:45] Speaker 1: approach whom and when. Subtle rules controlled manners of speech,
[16:51] Speaker 1: body language, and even the right to use a stool,
[16:54] Speaker 1: chair or armchair. According to the Duke of Saint Simon,
[17:00] Speaker 1: nothing slipt past the King, Not one of his courtiers
[17:05] Speaker 1: escaped him, even those who hoped to remain unnoticed. Nowhere
[17:13] Speaker 1: were the rules more intricate or more treacherous than in
[17:16] Speaker 1: the royal dining room. Hundreds of officers from these services
[17:21] Speaker 1: of the King's Mouth prepared and served the king's meals
[17:25] Speaker 1: on gold and silver dishes. Lewis was said to be
[17:29] Speaker 1: able to conquer four full plates of soup, a whole pheasant,
[17:34] Speaker 1: a partridge, a big dish of salad, two big slices
[17:38] Speaker 1: of ham, some mutton, a plate of pastry, and then
[17:42] Speaker 1: fruit and hard boiled eggs, all in one sitting. Meal
[17:49] Speaker 1: times were important to the king. Ceremonial public meals, in particular,
[17:55] Speaker 1: gave him the opportunity to entrench a strict court pecking order.
[18:00] Speaker 1: Seating was hierarchical. Men were to remove their hats while
[18:04] Speaker 1: grace or toasts were being said, then immediately replaced them.
[18:09] Speaker 1: Napkins could be used, but only once the individual of
[18:13] Speaker 1: highest rank had first opened theirs, and while discreete napkin
[18:18] Speaker 1: usage was permitted for the hands, cleaning one's face or
[18:22] Speaker 1: teeth was uncouth. Wiping one's nose unforgivably vulgar. Placing one's
[18:30] Speaker 1: elbows on the table was also a grave breach of decorum.
[18:36] Speaker 1: Diners could signal their needs to servants, but only in
[18:40] Speaker 1: hushed tones, and even then it was bad manners to
[18:43] Speaker 1: do this too often. A guest should never be the
[18:47] Speaker 1: first to place his spoon into a dish unless he
[18:50] Speaker 1: wished to serve another, and each time a man served
[18:54] Speaker 1: a higher ranking woman, he was expected to tip his hat.
[18:59] Speaker 1: Olives were to be lifted from their dish with a spoon,
[19:03] Speaker 1: never a fork, but walnuts could be taken with the
[19:06] Speaker 1: hand touching fish. The knife was forbidden unless that fish
[19:12] Speaker 1: was baked in a pie. In short, there were traps everywhere.
[19:18] Speaker 1: As a courtier called Madame de Torsi discovered the palace
[19:23] Speaker 1: had decamped the king's estate at marley. At dinner, Madame
[19:28] Speaker 1: de Torsi seated herself at the table. A moment later,
[19:32] Speaker 1: the Duchess of Durras arrived. He took a space that
[19:36] Speaker 1: was free. Unfortunately, she was now seated below Madame de Torsi.
[19:44] Speaker 1: This was a problem because Madame de Torsi lacked the title.
[19:48] Speaker 1: She offered to correct her mistake, but the moment had passed,
[19:53] Speaker 1: and besides, the Duchess wasn't too irk by the error.
[19:57] Speaker 1: Sancimond described what happened next. The king entered. As soon
[20:04] Speaker 1: as he sat down, he saw the place Madame de
[20:07] Speaker 1: Torsi had taken, and fixed such a serious and surprised
[20:12] Speaker 1: look upon her that she again offered to give up
[20:15] Speaker 1: her place to the duchess. The offer was again declined.
[20:21] Speaker 1: The king seethed all through dinner. After the meal, he
[20:26] Speaker 1: told the princesses that he had just borne witness to
[20:30] Speaker 1: an act of incredible insolence, and, enraged, had been unable
[20:35] Speaker 1: to eat a single mouthful. A tirade on bourgeois genealogy
[20:40] Speaker 1: of the Detorsius followed. A lengthy discourse on the dignity
[20:44] Speaker 1: of dukes came after that. Finally, the king charged the
[20:48] Speaker 1: princesses with telling Madame de Torci exactly what he thought
[20:52] Speaker 1: of her. The princesses looked at each other. They didn't
[20:56] Speaker 1: like this idea at all, which made the king even
[21:00] Speaker 1: more angry. News of his fury soon spread through the court.
[21:07] Speaker 1: The next day, he could talk of nothing but Madame
[21:09] Speaker 1: de Torsi's infraction. The king broke out again with even
[21:14] Speaker 1: more bitterness than before, said San Simont. Eventually, poor Belagan
[21:21] Speaker 1: Monsieur de Torsi wrote the king a letter apologizing for
[21:25] Speaker 1: his wife's impertinence, and finally the king was calm. The
[21:32] Speaker 1: violation of courtly etiquette had been remedied. Where did this
[21:43] Speaker 1: complex system of manners and etiquette come from? The sociologist
[21:48] Speaker 1: Norbert Elias had a theory. Louis the fourteenth ruled absolutely
[21:55] Speaker 1: and aimed to centralize the French government more than ever before.
[22:00] Speaker 1: By the mid sixteen hundreds, France had developed a highly
[22:04] Speaker 1: disciplined and well resourced army, a central force paid for
[22:08] Speaker 1: by state taxes, which meant that the state now had
[22:12] Speaker 1: the monopoly on legitimate physical violence. The nobility could no
[22:17] Speaker 1: longer prove its power with physical might and battles and
[22:20] Speaker 1: the provinces. It was the king's favor that bestowed prestige
[22:26] Speaker 1: as well as honor, that is, membership of good society.
[22:32] Speaker 1: Maintaining appearances became essential. A duke who did not appear
[22:37] Speaker 1: to live as a duke was hardly a duke. The
[22:41] Speaker 1: appearance of rank was rank. Of course, the cost of
[22:46] Speaker 1: maintaining appearances, of having the right carriage, the right house keeping,
[22:52] Speaker 1: Swiss guards, or at least men dressed like Swiss guards,
[22:56] Speaker 1: could be ruinous. As the king had the power to
[23:00] Speaker 1: dispense wealth, the nobility was all the more dependent on
[23:04] Speaker 1: his favor, and one way to secure that favor was
[23:08] Speaker 1: the flous display of courtly etiquette. Rules and etiquette in
[23:14] Speaker 1: Louis's hands were an instrument of power. They pacified the nobility.
[23:21] Speaker 1: Ceremony and ritual like the levee or strict seating hierarchies
[23:27] Speaker 1: showed who was in and who was out. How well
[23:31] Speaker 1: as subject danced, the dance of courtly etiquette proved whether
[23:36] Speaker 1: or not that subject really belonged. The result suggested elias
[23:42] Speaker 1: was a kind of human stock exchange, where the value
[23:46] Speaker 1: of individuals went up and down. It was dangerous to
[23:51] Speaker 1: be discourteous to a person whose stock was rising, but
[23:55] Speaker 1: it was equally dangerous to be friendly with someone whose
[23:58] Speaker 1: stock was falling. Courtiers had to constantly calculate their own
[24:03] Speaker 1: worth alongside the worth of those around them, and adjust
[24:08] Speaker 1: their behavior accordingly. The requirement to analyze and perform was unrelenting.
[24:18] Speaker 1: Far from offering a life of untroubled luxury, the court
[24:22] Speaker 1: of Louis the fourteenth was a gilded cage. The party
[24:31] Speaker 1: at Vaux, the magnificent home of Nicola Fouquet, was just
[24:36] Speaker 1: three weeks away. Undaunted, the great master of the household,
[24:41] Speaker 1: Francois Vatel, sprang into action, though still wasn't fully decorated.
[24:48] Speaker 1: The monumental tapestry of Alexander the Great wouldn't be finished
[24:52] Speaker 1: for years. Silvertail borrowed and rented wall hangings from other residences,
[24:58] Speaker 1: as well as furniture and silver. He prepared apartments for
[25:03] Speaker 1: the king and commissioned an Italian set designer known as
[25:07] Speaker 1: iligrand Stregone the Great Wizard to direct a brilliant fireworks display.
[25:14] Speaker 1: He also planned the all important banquet. From his office
[25:18] Speaker 1: in the bowels of the palace, he took inventory of
[25:21] Speaker 1: the wines, linens, and silver. He filled the stores to
[25:26] Speaker 1: bursting and made sure the cooking ranges were ablaze, the
[25:29] Speaker 1: rotating spits ready for their roasts. Under Vttel's direction, the
[25:35] Speaker 1: whole palace labored furiously decorating, polishing, rehearsing. Fortell's master Fouquet
[25:43] Speaker 1: had been in bed with a terrible fever, but this
[25:46] Speaker 1: party was itself a matter of life or death, and
[25:50] Speaker 1: so he roused himself to check each detail. Finally, the
[25:56] Speaker 1: stage was set. The day of the party arrived at
[26:02] Speaker 1: six pm. The King's gilded carriage rolled up to the
[26:07] Speaker 1: raw iron gates at the cautionary tales will be back
[26:12] Speaker 1: at a moment. That day, a shocking rumor had flown
[26:24] Speaker 1: through court. Louis had been threatening to have Fouquet arrested
[26:29] Speaker 1: at the soiree. Apparently his mother, Anne of Austria, had
[26:34] Speaker 1: managed to dissuade him, But to everyone's surprise, the evening
[26:39] Speaker 1: began well. The older statesman hid his raging fever and
[26:44] Speaker 1: greeted the young king with open arms. By some accounts,
[26:50] Speaker 1: there were three thousand guests at Vaux that evening. Others
[26:54] Speaker 1: said there were six thousand, and that only the king's
[26:57] Speaker 1: pregnant wife and First Minister Colbert did not attend. When
[27:03] Speaker 1: the last of the carriages had arrived, Fouquet led the
[27:06] Speaker 1: party on a tour of the chateau garden. The guests
[27:11] Speaker 1: were astonished by the fountains with their thirty five foot
[27:16] Speaker 1: jets of water. They gasped at the masterfully carved sculptures
[27:20] Speaker 1: that decorated the lawns, and that row upon row of
[27:24] Speaker 1: expensive tulips a nod to Fouquet's business ties with the
[27:28] Speaker 1: Dutch Republic. They reveled in the scent of orange blossom
[27:33] Speaker 1: on the summer air, and rode in painted gondolas across
[27:37] Speaker 1: a canal adorned with a statue of Neptune. This was
[27:42] Speaker 1: like no garden they had ever visited before. Then came
[27:47] Speaker 1: the tour of the chateau itself. Vertell had triumphed. The
[27:53] Speaker 1: rooms were opulent and luxurious cove ceilings glorified Fouquet through symbolism.
[28:01] Speaker 1: In one he was a star rising to the heavens.
[28:06] Speaker 1: In another he was Hercules, the chariot of gold. Of course,
[28:13] Speaker 1: nothing slipped past the king. Finally it was time for dinner.
[28:21] Speaker 1: The party reached the Grand Salon, a magnificent oval room
[28:27] Speaker 1: that stretched the full height of the palace. Fouquet escorted
[28:32] Speaker 1: the king to his seat, and Rattel gave the word
[28:35] Speaker 1: for the intricate choreography of dinner. To begin the potage,
[28:41] Speaker 1: entrees and ord'eure were set down in their customary symmetry.
[28:46] Speaker 1: Then came the second service, stylish beasts and ragous plus pheasants, ltelaans,
[28:53] Speaker 1: quails and partridges. Two carvers sliced the meats in perfect synchronicity.
[29:00] Speaker 1: All the while the wine flowed and twenty four violins
[29:04] Speaker 1: serenaded the diners. At last, their tights indulged, the guests
[29:11] Speaker 1: passed into the gardens for the evening's entertainment, the premiere
[29:16] Speaker 1: of playwright Moliere's Les Facheon, which had had all of
[29:21] Speaker 1: fifteen days to write. For the grand finale, a surge
[29:26] Speaker 1: of fireworks lit the canal in colorful bursts. It was
[29:32] Speaker 1: an exquisite evening, and Vettel must have had one eye
[29:38] Speaker 1: firmly on the king. Was the plan working. Observers thought
[29:44] Speaker 1: that Louis was wide eyed with wander, amazed by the
[29:49] Speaker 1: incomparable luxury at Vaux, and perhaps jealous of it too.
[29:56] Speaker 1: At two a m. The party drew to a close.
[30:01] Speaker 1: Louis gave the signal that he would not make use
[30:04] Speaker 1: of the royal bedroom. In fact, he wished to leave it.
[30:10] Speaker 1: Vatel managed the guest's departure, and as the King's carriage
[30:14] Speaker 1: sped away, the fevered Fouquet felt his disquiet return. He
[30:21] Speaker 1: asked his friend, the Baron of Gourville, what everyone was saying.
[30:27] Speaker 1: One group thinks you will be declared first Minister Gourville
[30:32] Speaker 1: told him, the other that they will form a great
[30:35] Speaker 1: cabal to destroy you. Fouquet had played the game well
[30:43] Speaker 1: for a time. He'd risen high in the human stock exchange.
[30:48] Speaker 1: But where there are ladders, there may also be snakes.
[30:53] Speaker 1: A few weeks later he was arrested by the king's
[30:56] Speaker 1: steadfast musketeer d'Artagnan. According to the Duke of San Simon,
[31:03] Speaker 1: Louis was a man with a distaste for all intelligence,
[31:08] Speaker 1: all intendants of character. In others, Fouquet had shown himself
[31:13] Speaker 1: to be creative and forward thinking. He was very intelligent
[31:18] Speaker 1: and very independent, but had reached too high. The opulence
[31:26] Speaker 1: and beauty of the party at Vaux now seemed proof
[31:30] Speaker 1: of his dissolution his corruption. Fouquet was charged with embezzlement
[31:37] Speaker 1: from the French treasury and treason. Musketeers overseen by Colbert,
[31:44] Speaker 1: combed his homes for evidence against him. At trial, Fouquet
[31:49] Speaker 1: defended himself well. Though he was found guilty, he was
[31:53] Speaker 1: sentenced to banishment rather than prison or death. Unusually, Louis
[32:01] Speaker 1: used his royal judicial powers to change the sentence. Fouquet
[32:07] Speaker 1: would spend the rest of his life in solitary confinement
[32:11] Speaker 1: at the chilling Penurole prison. He could not take any exercise,
[32:17] Speaker 1: and only after thirteen years was he permitted to exchange
[32:21] Speaker 1: any letters with his wife. He would never be released
[32:26] Speaker 1: and died at Pigenirol. As for Vertel, with his master disgraced,
[32:33] Speaker 1: he was forced into exile abroad. Louis began stripping Vaux
[32:39] Speaker 1: for parts. He sees the precious furniture that Vertell had selected.
[32:45] Speaker 1: The tapestries and sculptures. He even took the trees, shrubs,
[32:49] Speaker 1: and orange blossom topiaris. They would all make perfect additions
[32:54] Speaker 1: to the magnificent palace he was building for himself at Versailles.
[33:03] Speaker 1: The Court of Louis the fourteenth revolved around the elaborate
[33:06] Speaker 1: performance of respect and friendship, but that decency was superficial,
[33:14] Speaker 1: a thin veneer of civility, manners, and etiquette masked cold
[33:21] Speaker 1: indifference and unfathomable cruelty. Have we really left that world behind?
[33:36] Speaker 1: On the surface, the intricate rituals and complex social rules
[33:40] Speaker 1: of Louis the fourteenth Court seem archaic, even fantastical, But
[33:47] Speaker 1: I think we still codify and ritualize our behavior. Instead
[33:52] Speaker 1: of at the dining table. It's online. Complicated, often unwritten
[33:59] Speaker 1: rules govern how to frame posts on social media. Who
[34:03] Speaker 1: to tag alike can be a genuine display of appreciation,
[34:08] Speaker 1: but it can equally be purely for show a signal
[34:12] Speaker 1: to the wider social media audience that one user is
[34:16] Speaker 1: loyal to another and alike is not at all the
[34:20] Speaker 1: same as a thumbs up to people over the age
[34:23] Speaker 1: of thirty. The thumbs up is generally positive, but I've
[34:26] Speaker 1: discovered that gen Z can interpret the thumbs up as sarcastic,
[34:32] Speaker 1: even passive aggressive. The rules are inconsistent. There are traps everywhere.
[34:40] Speaker 1: Online life, too, is precarious. Social media forms a kind
[34:45] Speaker 1: of human stock exchange. It encourages us to surveil and
[34:49] Speaker 1: moderate each other, but it also invites hyper awareness about
[34:54] Speaker 1: how we present ourselves and unremitting performance. Missteps can result
[35:02] Speaker 1: in social exile. Ten years pass, Francois Vatel is back
[35:14] Speaker 1: in France with a new master, the Prince of Conde.
[35:18] Speaker 1: Two thousand guests are attending the Chateau de Chantalie at
[35:21] Speaker 1: a party in honor of King Louis the fourteenth. This
[35:25] Speaker 1: is the celebration to mark the Prince of Conde's return
[35:29] Speaker 1: to royal favor, and to his horror, Vatel has just
[35:35] Speaker 1: realized that he's a few roasts. Short history doesn't record
[35:41] Speaker 1: exactly when Vertel made his way back to France or
[35:44] Speaker 1: what the journey was like for him, but after the
[35:47] Speaker 1: squelching of his former master, this opportunity to enter the
[35:52] Speaker 1: service of Conde must have felt like a lifeline. Perhaps
[35:56] Speaker 1: the Baron of Gourville is the link he was friends
[36:00] Speaker 1: with the ill fated Nicola Fouquet, but like Vatel, he
[36:04] Speaker 1: now works for Conde. Vatel turns to they cannot bear
[36:11] Speaker 1: this disgrace. He laments the maitre d'hotel is a repository
[36:17] Speaker 1: of his master's honor. His mission was to sate the
[36:21] Speaker 1: appetite of every guest at Chantay that evening, and he
[36:26] Speaker 1: has failed. Gourville does what he can to comfort Fortel.
[36:36] Speaker 1: After all, the evening has been spectacular so far. There's
[36:41] Speaker 1: no reasoning with him, So Gourville approaches Conde and explains
[36:45] Speaker 1: the situation. In fact, the Prince is very happy, and
[36:50] Speaker 1: he tells vatelso everything is extremely well conducted. Nothing could
[36:56] Speaker 1: be more admirable than his Majesty's supper. Do not perplex
[37:00] Speaker 1: yourself and all will be well. There's still the fireworks
[37:05] Speaker 1: displayed to impress the guests, and more feasts and entertainment
[37:09] Speaker 1: to come. Perhaps everyone will forget all about the shortfall
[37:13] Speaker 1: of this dinner. But then, calamity of calamities. The dazzling
[37:19] Speaker 1: and expensive display of fireworks for Tell has planned is
[37:24] Speaker 1: a flock. They go off as intended, but are shrouded
[37:28] Speaker 1: in thick cloud. No one can see them by Now
[37:34] Speaker 1: the matred hotel is a nervous wreck. He barely sleeps.
[37:41] Speaker 1: At four o'clock the next morning, for Tell is pacing
[37:44] Speaker 1: the hallways and goes to take delivery of that evening's dinner.
[37:49] Speaker 1: It's a Friday, so the party will eat fish that
[37:53] Speaker 1: The supplier has just two loads with him. What is
[37:59] Speaker 1: this all? For Tell is aghast. Two loads isn't nearly
[38:05] Speaker 1: enough to feed two thousand hungry courtiers. Yes, sir, says
[38:10] Speaker 1: the baffled supplier, unaware that Vatel has ordered fish from
[38:14] Speaker 1: several different seaports. Verttel waits a little ever more distraught.
[38:21] Speaker 1: A maitre d'hotel who does not feed his guests is
[38:24] Speaker 1: hardly a matre'hotel. No more fish materialize. I cannot outlive
[38:31] Speaker 1: this disgrace, he tells Gourville. The Baron is perplexed and
[38:36] Speaker 1: merely laughs. Time passes, and fortunately several more loads of
[38:44] Speaker 1: fish arrive at Chantagaue. Dinner is saved. But where is Vattel.
[38:52] Speaker 1: He must receive the order take inventory of these delicacies,
[38:57] Speaker 1: but he's nowhere to be found. Bettel's colleagues search high
[39:03] Speaker 1: and low. One of them knocks on the door to
[39:06] Speaker 1: his apartments. Now answer. There's no sign of him elsewhere,
[39:12] Speaker 1: so they break the door down. Vertell is lying in
[39:20] Speaker 1: a pool of his own blood, unable to face yet
[39:25] Speaker 1: more failure. He's taken his sword, that tribute to his honor,
[39:32] Speaker 1: steadied it against his door frame, and run himself through
[39:36] Speaker 1: with it. Word tears through the palace. Vatel has taken
[39:43] Speaker 1: his own life. The message is dispatched to Conde, who
[39:47] Speaker 1: falls into despair and then relays the whole sad tale
[39:51] Speaker 1: to the King. Louis apparently regrets bringing quite so many
[39:56] Speaker 1: courtiers with him. The consensus is that this terrible affair
[40:02] Speaker 1: is the consequence of too nice a sense of honor.
[40:07] Speaker 1: Some blame Vattel, but others praise his courage. Still, that's
[40:13] Speaker 1: little time to linger on the death of the poor
[40:16] Speaker 1: Matre d'hotel. The show must go on. Gourville fills in
[40:22] Speaker 1: for his friend as best he can as master of
[40:25] Speaker 1: the weekends festivities, and by all accounts, the party is
[40:30] Speaker 1: arousing success. The guests stroll among the daffodils, hunt by moonlight,
[40:38] Speaker 1: and dine in splendor. This script relied on Carolyn C.
[41:08] Speaker 1: Young's book Bok Apples of Gold in Settings of Silver,
[41:13] Speaker 1: Stories of Dinner as a work of art. For a
[41:16] Speaker 1: full list of sources, see the show notes at Timharford
[41:19] Speaker 1: dot com. If you're suffering from emotional distress or having
[41:25] Speaker 1: suicidal thoughts, support is available, for example, from the nine
[41:30] Speaker 1: eight eight Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the US and
[41:33] Speaker 1: from Samaritans in the UK. You'll find details in the
[41:37] Speaker 1: episode description. Cautionary Tales is written by me Tim Harford
[41:42] Speaker 1: with Andrew Wright, Alice Fines, and Ryan Dilly. It's produced
[41:46] Speaker 1: by Georgia Mills and Marilyn Rust. The sound design and
[41:49] Speaker 1: original music are the work of Pascal Wise. Additional sound
[41:53] Speaker 1: design is by Carlos San Juan at Brain Audio. Bend
[41:58] Speaker 1: ad Afhaffrey edited the scripts. The show also wouldn't have
[42:02] Speaker 1: been possible without the work of Jacob Weisberg, Greta Cohne,
[42:06] Speaker 1: Sarah Nix, Eric Sandler, Christina Sullivan, Kira Posey, and Owen Miller.
[42:11] Speaker 1: You can support Cautionary Tales by joining my Cautionary Club
[42:16] Speaker 1: at patreon dot com slash Cautionary Club for exclusive bonus episodes, newsletters,
[42:22] Speaker 1: add free listening, and other exciting perks. Alternatively, you can
[42:27] Speaker 1: join pushkin Plus on our Apple show page for continued
[42:30] Speaker 1: benefits from our show and others across the Pushkin Network.

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