Jean Hoeufft

Hoeufft made a fortune from his diplomatic and business ventures, ultimately becoming one of the richest men in Europe outside of the royal families.

They supplied ships to the East India Company,[2] and in 1620 they commissioned a ship-of-war, to be built in Amsterdam for Charles, Duke of Guise.

[9] In 1634 Hoeufft participated in peace talks between the Dutch and Spain, in which Jules Mazarin and Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange were also involved.

Hoeufft, described by a contemporary as “‘a man capable of speaking and acting’ as well as ‘[having] money to distribute to people should there be need,’” was well-suited to the job.

[1] Hoeufft dealt with Axel Oxenstierna, Johan Adler Salvius, Hugo Grotius, Abraham de Wicquefort and Adriaen Pauw on the French support for the Swedish army; the money had to be allocated to the Amsterdam Wisselbank.

[2]: 84 Hoeufft occupied a prominent place in the network of political interests that bound together France’s structure of alliances during the Thirty Years War.

"[13] The Hoeufft family invested over a million livres in reclamation of lakes and wetlands in Picardie, Poitou and other parts of France.

[5] Frédéric Otto Fabrice de Gressenich, Councillor and Maître d'hotel du Roi, the son of Hoeufft's sister Anne, inherited the Sacy marshes along with his Hœufft cousins.