Jacques Coeur financed Charles VII's war, then the king charged him with poisoning the royal mistress and confiscated everything

Jacques Coeur traded with Damascus by 1432, became master of the royal mint in 1436 and steward of royal spending by 1441, and was ennobled with his family. From about 1448 he made large advances to Charles VII for his wars, and the 1911 Britannica says he "supplied the sinews of that war which had ousted the English from Normandy." He also lent to courtiers and the royal family. On 31 July 1451 the king ordered his arrest and the seizure of his goods. The charges included sending gold to infidels, coining light money, seizing oarsmen for his galleys, fraud in Languedoc and poisoning the king's mistress Agnès Sorel. The 1911 Britannica says there was "not even a pretext" for the poisoning charge. He spent 22 months in five prisons. The sentence, in force from 5 June 1453, ordered public penance at Poitiers, a fine equal to about £1,000,000 in 1911 money, prison until it was paid, confiscation of all his property and exile. His possessions were shared among the king's favourites; Antoine de Chabannes took his Puisaye lands. In 1455 he escaped through Provence to Rome. Pope Calixtus III gave him command of 16 galleys sent to relieve Rhodes. He fell ill and died on Chios on 25 November 1456. Charles VII let his sons take what remained; one, Jean, became archbishop of Bourges. The Chabannes dispute was settled in 1489. His house in Bourges, the Palais Jacques-Coeur, is a public monument.