Jean-Antoine d'Avaux

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Jean-Antoine de Mesmes

Jean-Antoine de Mesmes, comte d'Avaux (* 1640 , † February 11, 1709 in Paris ) was a French diplomat and brother of the Académie member Jean-Jacques de Mesmes .

Life

Jean-Antoine de Mesmes, comte d'Avaux was the fourth son of Président à mortier Jean-Antoine de Mesmes (* 1598, † 1673), who was first Lord, then Count of Avaux, and nephew of the important French diplomat Claude de Mesmes . At first he was councilor of the Paris parliament , then maître des requêtes and state councilor. He then embarked on a diplomatic career, in the course of which he was entrusted with prestigious diplomatic posts and the implementation of important negotiating missions for the French state, also due to the fame of his uncle and the influence of his family.

1671–74 d'Avaux was ambassador extraordinary to Venice . Since June 1676 he was together with Charles Colbert, marquis de Croissy and the Marshal d'Estrades French plenipotentiary at the peace congress in Nijmegen . After its completion (1678/79) he resided as French ambassador in The Hague until the beginning of December 1688 and rendered valuable services to Louis XIV in this function . He informed the king of the large quantities of gold that had been brought there by Huguenots who had fled to the States General following the repeal of the Edict of Nantes (1685) . In 1687 he informed Louis XIV of the Governor William of Orange's plans for Great Britain. In the next year he was the first to point out the occupation of Cologne by 3000 soldiers of the Elector of Brandenburg under the command of the exiled Schomberg . His reports of his negotiations in the States General contain numerous curious and sometimes doubtful details about the rebellion of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth and the Glorious Revolution . His reports to Louis XIV reflect his hostile attitude towards the Prince of Orange.

From March 1689, the Comte d'Avaux acted as envoy to the expelled English King James II in Ireland , but was recalled the following year. From the beginning of 1693 he stayed in Sweden , where he renewed the old alliance with France and brought about the preliminaries of the Peace of Rijswijk, which was concluded in 1697 . In 1698 he asked to be allowed to leave the Nordic country again, as its harsh climate affected his health. Finally, in May 1700, he was replaced by the Count of Guiscard. Most recently, in 1701, he succeeded the Count of Briord as ambassador to the States General. His intention to achieve the recognition of Philip V as King of Spain by the States General, he could not achieve. He returned to Paris after the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1702 and died there in 1709 at the age of 69.

Fonts

  • Mémoire présenté aux États Généraux le 5 nov. 1681.
  • Negociations du comte d'Avaux en Hollande. 6 vols., Paris 1752–53, ed. by Abbé Edme Mallet (ranging from 1679 to 1688)
  • Negociations de M. le comte d'Avaux, ambassadeur extraordinaire à la cour de Suède, pendant les années 1693, 1697, 1698. 4 vols., Utrecht 1883, ed. by J.-A. Wijnne

Letters from d'Avaux can be found in the following editions:

  • Lettres et négociations de d'Estrades, de Colbert de Croissy et de d'Avaux pour les conférences de 1676 et 1677. 3 vol., The Hague 1710 and London 1743
  • M. Vreede (ed.): Correspondance diplomatique et militaire du duc de Marlborough, du grand pensionnaire Heinsius et du trésorier général des Provinces-Unies, Jacques Hop. 1857

literature

personal data
SURNAME Avaux, Jean-Antoine d '
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Avaux, Jean-Antoine de Mesmes, comte d '
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH 1640
DATE OF DEATH February 11, 1709
Place of death Paris