Choiseul, Étienne François, duc de definition of Choiseul, Étienne François, duc de in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Choiseul, Étienne François, duc de (ātyĕn` fräNswä` dük də shwäzöl`), 1719–85, French statesman. After successful service in the army he entered the diplomatic service and gained support from Mme de Pompadour Pompadour, Jeanne Antoinette Poisson Le Normant d'Étioles, marquise de (pŏm`pədôr, Fr.
..... Click the link for more information. . As ambassador to Vienna (1757) he strengthened the Austrian alliance by conducting first negotiations toward the marriage of Marie Antoinette with the future Louis XVI. Later, in his capacity as minister of foreign affairs (1758–70), Choiseul negotiated the Family Compact Family Compact, several alliances between France and Spain in the form of agreements between the French and Spanish branches of the Bourbon family. The first of the three compacts, the Treaty of the Escorial (1733), was continued and extended by the second agreement
..... Click the link for more information. and the Treaty of Paris at the end of the Seven Years War, and he annexed Lorraine (1766) and Corsica (1768). As minister of war (1761–70) and of the navy (1761–66) he reorganized the fighting forces and introduced reforms. He supported the publication of the Encyclopédie and aided suppression of the Jesuits, which weakened his position at court. A clique surrounding King Louis XV's mistress Mme Du Barry Du Barry, Jeanne Bécu, comtesse (zhän bākü` kôNtĕs` dü bärē`, d
..... Click the link for more information. caused his exile from court (1770).

Bibliography

See his memoirs (1790).