1661
Founding of the Collège des Quatre-Nations (College of the Four Nations) by Mazarin
March 6, 1661, a few days before his death, the Cardinal Mazarin bequeathed 2 million pounds to Louis XIV, his godson, to found a College for young gentlemen from the four nations (Pignerol, Alsace, Artois, and Roussillon) annexed to France by the treaties of Westphalia (1648) and the Pyrenees (1648).
The Collège Mazarin, more commonly referred to as the Collège des Quatre-Nations, was designed to house, inside the chapel of the Cardinal’s tomb, his library of over 40,000 works, passionately collected throughout his life.