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Jacques Fougeu (1575-1645) was a notable French cartographer and military officer who served as quartermaster under King Henri IV in 1599 and later as Quartermaster General from 1619 to 1634.

Born in France, Fougeu dedicated a significant part of his career to creating detailed maps, which, although lacking in elegance, provided invaluable logistical information for military campaigns. His work includes an atlas signed and dated in 1599, nearly 200 unsigned and undated maps, and an undated but signed atlas, all preserved in the National Library of France (BNF).

Fougeu's maps, created during the reign of Henri IV, were primarily intended for military use. They were essentially field notes designed to inform quartermasters of the number of hearths available in villages along military routes, making them vital for logistical planning. Despite their rough appearance, these maps collectively form a comprehensive compendium of information about French towns and villages around the year 1600. For example, Fougeu’s map of the mouth of the River Somme accurately outlines the river and coast and marks over one hundred towns and villages, compared to only twelve towns marked on the contemporary printed map by Ortelius in the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. This made Fougeu's maps a remarkable, albeit secret, source of information for the king.

The Fougeu family held significant positions at the court, with Jacques' father, Charles Fougeu, serving as valet to Henri III, and his brother, Pierre Fougeu, being appointed the first Quartermaster General by Henri IV in 1594. Jacques himself, following in his brother’s footsteps, contributed significantly to military cartography under the direction of Pierre and possibly for the benefit of Sully, a close collaborator of the king. His maps, although not intended for public distribution, provided strategic insights that were critical for the movement and provisioning of troops during military campaigns.

Fougeu’s maps are characterized by their extensive toponymic detail, often including hundreds of place names not found on other contemporary maps. His work on the map of Savoy, for instance, lists 799 toponyms, a stark contrast to the approximately forty found on engraved maps of the same period. This richness in detail makes Fougeu’s maps an invaluable resource for understanding the regional cartography of the time, even though many of his original sources have been lost over the centuries.

Jacques Fougeu passed away in 1645 and was buried in the church of Saint-Pierre in Orléans, where his family had a chapel. Although his tomb was later desecrated during the Revolution, his legacy endures through his detailed manuscript maps, which continue to be studied for their historical significance and contribution to the field of cartography.