Olivier le Daim

Seeking his fortune at Paris, he became court barber and valet to Louis XI, and so ingratiated himself with the king that in 1474 he was ennobled under the title Le Daim and in 1477 made comte de Meulan.

[1] Le Daim had considerable talent for intrigue, and, according to his enemies, could always be depended upon to execute the baser designs of the king.

He remained in favour until the death of Louis XI, when the rebellious lords were able to avenge the slights and insults they had suffered in the hands of the royal barber.

He was arrested on charges, the nature of which is uncertain, tried before the parlement of Paris, and on May 21, 1484, hanged at the Gallows of Montfaucon without the knowledge of Charles VIII, who might have heeded his father's request and spared the favourite.

[1] Le Daim plays a major role in book nine, chapter five of Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, being described as "that terrible Figaro whom Providence, the great maker of dramas, mingled so artistically in the long and bloody comedy of the reign of Louis XI.