Jean de la Vallée was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

-born architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

, who lived and worked in Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. He was the son of Simon de la Vallée, who was killed by a Swedish nobleman in 1642. The father had started the planning of the House of Knights

House of Knights

House of Knights can refer to the following historical Nordic noble estate's assemblies:* Swedish House of Nobility* Finnish House of Nobility...

 in Stockholm, and in 1660 his son finished his father's work. Prior to this, Jean de la Vallée had planned two major churches in central Stockholm, Katarina kyrka

Katarina kyrka

Katarina kyrka is one of the major churches in central Stockholm, Sweden. The original building was constructed 1656–1695. It has been rebuilt twice after being destroyed by fires, the second time during the 1990s...

 in 1656 and Hedvig Eleonora kyrka in 1658.

He also worked on the commission of many noblemen. For Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie

Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie

Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie was a Swedish statesman and military man. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1647 and came to be the holder of three of the five offices counted as the Great Officers of the Realm, namely Lord High Treasurer, Lord High Chancellor and Lord High...

 he planned the remodeling of the Karlberg Castle in the capital. Other notable examples of his work are the castle of Skokloster, the Palace of Bonde (now the seat of the Supreme Court

Supreme Court of Sweden

The Supreme Court of Sweden is the supreme court and the third and final instance in all civil and criminal cases in Sweden. Before a case can be decided by the Supreme Court, leave to appeal must be obtained, and with few exceptions, leave to appeal can be granted only when the case is of...

) and the remodeling of the Palace of Wrangel (now the seat of Svea Hovrätt, the Svea Court of Appeal), both on Riddarholmen

Riddarholmen

Riddarholmen is a small islet in central Stockholm, Sweden. The island forms part of Gamla Stan, the old town, and houses a number of private palaces dating from the 17th century...

 in central Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

.

In 1680 he was awarded the title "Royal and City Architect", and in 1692 he was knighted. His son-in-law was Mathias Spieler

Mathias Spieler

Mathias Spihler was a Swedish architect of German descent from Södermalm, Stockholm.In 1670-1 he aided Jean de la Vallée in the construction of Katarina Kyrka and him as technical superintendent at the church in 1671. Spihler also built the Van der Nootska Palace between 1671 and 1672...

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