Nicolas Rolin, of a burgess family, was the lawyer of Jean sans Peur, and presented at the lit de justice of 1420 conclusions relative to the murder at Montereau.

Chancellor of Burgundy (1422), he was a sort of minister to Philippe le Bon and conducted all his diplomacy until the Treaty of Arras.

Enormously rich, Nicolas Rolin fell in disgrace under the hatred of the Burgundian nobility.
He was capable, and as obstinate as he was hard.

We have every reason to believe that Philippe le Bon regarded him as another like himself.
We know that Nicolas Rolin was educated, and that he contributed to the founding of the universities of Dôle and Louvain; he had luxurious tastes and was a protector of the arts.

He built at Dijon the hôtels d'Autun and de Dijon; in his seigneurie the Château d'Authume; at Beaune he built the celebrated hospital.

Nicolas Rolin is represented in the magnificent picture by Jan van Eyck in the Louvre: La Vièrge au donateur; on the altar-screen at Beaune he is portrayed by Roger de La Pasture.