Nicolas Mesnager

Who was Nicolas Mesnager?

Nicolas Mesnager was a French diplomat.

He belonged to a wealthy merchant family, but gave up a commercial career for the law, and became advocate before the parlement of Rouen. In 1700 he was sent as deputy of Rouen to the council of commerce which was established in Paris for the extension of French trade. Here he made his mark, and was chosen to go on three missions to Spain, between the years 1704 and 1705, to negotiate financial arrangements. There he was appointed Harbor master of Cadiz and he improved trade between Spain and her colonies.

In August 1711 he was sent on a secret mission to London to detach Britain from the alliance against France, and succeeded in securing the adoption of eight articles which formed the base of the later Treaty of Utrecht.

As a reward for his skill he was made one of the three French plenipotentiaries sent to Utrecht in January 1712, and had the honour of signing the treaty the next year. As he had used much of his own large fortune to keep up his state as ambassador, he was granted a pension by the grateful king Louis XIV of France. His portrait by Hyacinthe Rigaud is in the gallery of Versailles.