Antoine Louis Rouillé

Who was Antoine Louis Rouillé?

Antoine-Louis Rouillé, comte de Jouy was a French statesman and comte of Jouy-en-Josas.

Born in Paris, the son of Marie-Louis-Paulin Rouillé and Marie-Angélique d'Aquin, he was in succession conseiller to the parlement de Paris, maître des requêtes, intendant of commerce, conseiller d'État and finally commissaire to the French East India Company. Named Secretary of State for the Navy to replace Maurepas, he worked to reorganise the French Navy. He left this ministry on 24 July 1754 to hold that of Foreign Secretary. As Foreign Secretary, Rouillé generally pursued a pacific policy, trying to avoid escalation of the increasingly bitter colonial feud with Britain in North America. His role in French foreign policy, however, was not central, as most of the important initiative during the time of his ministry was conducted personally by King Louis XV and his favorite Madame de Pompadour. Rouillé was unable to prevent the escalation of the Anglo-French conflict into open war in 1756.