Claude de Mesmes
Claude de Mesmes , comte d'Avaux (* 1595 , † November 9, 1650 in Paris ) was a French diplomat and one of the key players in the negotiations for the Peace of Westphalia .
Life
He was the second son of Johann Jacob II. De Mesmes and Antoinette (née Gressaine, also Grossaine).
Since 1617 he was a member of the Grand Conseil . Like his father, he had been master of requests and state councilor since 1623 . In 1627 he became envoy to Venice and in 1632 to Rome . He also worked as a diplomat in Mantua , Florence and Turin . From 1633 he was entrusted with missions in Sweden , Denmark and Poland . He was involved in 1632 when Poland and Sweden signed an armistice.
From 1637 he was an extraordinary French legate for Germany, based in Danzig and especially Hamburg . In 1641 he was involved in the Hamburg Preliminary Peace , which laid the foundations for the peace negotiations in Osnabrück and Münster . Although France was allied with Sweden, as a Catholic he campaigned for Catholic institutions in the Osnabrück area. So the monasteries Gertrudenberg and Iburg were restored. He also stood up for Catholics in the Dutch and Swedish diaspora.
In 1642 he became Surintendant des Finances in France . However, he had a tense relationship with Cardinal Mazarin . In order to remove him from France and because of his diplomatic experience, he was sent from 1644 to the negotiations that led to the Peace of Westphalia. He lived mostly in the Kettler curia on Domplatz in Münster and had a large retinue.
There were conflicts with the envoy Abel Servien about the correct negotiation strategy . This enjoyed the trust of Mazarin. Henri II. D'Orléans-Longueville , who only arrived in 1645, was unsuccessful with his mediation efforts. In terms of content, Servien was a supporter of a French expansion policy. Count d'Avaux firmly refused and warned against repeating Spain's mistakes in territorial overstretching. The intention of Count d'Avaux to reach a quick peace with Spain prevented Servien. In contrast to Servien, when negotiating with the emperor's representatives, the count was prepared to forego Alsace if necessary.
Overall, the count is considered to be one of the key negotiators and an essential co-designer of the contracts. The influence of the party around Mazarin led to the dismissal of the count in 1648 before the contracts were signed. Back in France, he fell out of favor and even temporarily lost his possessions. A short time later he was rehabilitated and in 1648 he was again surintendant des finances. However, he soon resigned and lived in Fontainebleau .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Anuschka Tischer : From the reason for war to the conclusion of peace: the influence of different factors on the formulation of peace treaties using the example of the Peace of Westphalia. In: Heinz Duchhardt , Martin Peters (Ed.): Calculus - Transfer - Symbol. European peace treaties of the premodern (= Institute for European History, Mainz. Publications. Supplements online. 1, ISSN 1863-897X ). Institute for European History, Mainz 2006, pp. 99–108, here pp. 106 f., ( Online ).
Web links
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
|
French ambassador to Venice 1627–1632 |
||
| Claude de Rorté |
French envoy to Poland 1633–1636 |
Hercule de Charnacé |
| Melchior center de Chevrières |
French envoy to the Hanseatic cities 1637–1642 |
Melchior de Harod de Senevas |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mesmes, Claude de |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Avaux, Claude de Mesmes comte d ' |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French diplomat |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1595 |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 9, 1650 |
| Place of death | Paris |