As Finance Minister to France's King Henri IV (1589-1610), the shrewd but fair-minded Due de Sully is said to have piled up for his royal master a fortune of some 40 million gold livres. The duke also did well enough by himself to purchase a fine old château on the banks of the Loire 80 miles south of Paris. During its long history and frequent alterations, Château Sully-sur-Loire, as it came to be known, lent its sheltering roof to the entertainment of nine Kings of France, as well as to Voltaire, the Marquis...
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