Olivier le Daim

Olivier le Daim , Count von Meulan (* around 1428 in Tielt ; † May 21, 1484 ) was a valet and close confidante of the French King Louis XI.

Life

Oliver le Daim's birth name was actually Olivier De Neckere and was born as the son of the barber Jan De Neckere from Ghent , who had settled in Tielt. In 1457, when Louis of France , the Dauphin , stopped in Tielt on his flight from the kingdom, he found accommodation in a hostel next to the Neckeres house. He met Olivier De Neckere and made him his valet. When Ludwig returned to France in 1461 to - as Louis XI. - to ascend the throne, De Neckere accompanied him.

As a reward for services rendered, Louis XI. In 1474 he issued a decree with which he simultaneously changed the family name Oliviers to le Daim , ennobled him - he became a nobleman of the royal chamber - and made him Count of Meulan .

In 1476 he appointed him captain of Loches Castle , the royal prison , and governor of Saint-Quentin . In 1477 he succeeded in conquering the city of Tournai in favor of the French crown.

When the king died in August 1483, his enemies did not hesitate to have him incarcerated in the Conciergerie . He has been charged with several offenses, including theft , murder and deprivation of liberty . He was sentenced to death and hanged on the gallows at Montfaucon .

reception

From Olivier le Daim, literature has conveyed the image of a soul delivered to the king. The best known texts are:

• Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo
• Quentin Durward , by Sir Walter Scott
• The Devil by Alfred Neumann .

literature

• Le Dain (Olivier) . In: Nouvelle biography générale , vol. 30 (1859), col. 255f.