Lot 6364

Description

A double sheet of parchment with calligraphic text in ink on three pages. The Duke of Württemberg is to raise a Corps of 8,670 men in the service and pay of France („A nous fournir un Corps de troupes de huit mille six cent soixante dix hommes pour notre service & à notre solde"). For this reason, the King hereby authorises the Duc de Choiseul to conduct the detailed negotiations with Carl Eugen of Württemberg on his behalf („nous confiant entierement en la capacité, zèle, experience & fidelité pour notre service de notre très cher et bien ami Cousin Etienne de Choiseul Duc de Stainville Pair de France Chevalier de nos ordres..."). „Donné à Versailles le troisieme jour du mois de Novembre, l'an de grace mil sept cent cinquante neuf et de notre Regne le quarante cinquieme." At the bottom of the text, the King's paper seal next to his handwritten signature „Louis" and below it „Par le Roy" the countersignature of Duc de Belle-Isle, Secretary of State for War. Folded twice, the last page somewhat creased. Dimensions 32.7 x 25.1 cm. Extremely interesting document from the period of the Seven Years' War, in which Duke Carl Eugen of Württemberg fought on the side of France and Austria against Prussia and England, also in the hope of being appointed Elector by Louis XV. The Württemberg troops were not very successful in the war; one reason for this was the lack of acceptance among the populace for a war against Prussia. Étienne Francois Duc de Choiseul (1719 - 1785) was France's Foreign Minister from 1758 to 1761 and from 1766 to 1770. Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet Duc de Belle-Isle (1684 - 1761). Appointed Maréchal de France in 1740, he served as Secrétaire d'État à la Guerre until his death in 1758. Louis XV's participation in the Seven Years' War was not a success. Almost all colonies in North America were lost in the first Treaty of Paris in 1763 and France's influence in India also largely passed to Great Britain.

Condition: II + Questions about the lot?