Claude de Mesmes, comte d'Avaux (like Rafał Leszczyński). Count d'Avaux concluded treaties between France and Sweden in 1638 and 1641, and during the years 1643–1648, he took part in the lengthy negotiations which led to the Peace of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years' War. However, d'Avaux was removed from the Congress of Westphalia in 1648, largely due to ideological differences and competition with the other French diplomats and with his superiors in France. Although this affair damaged his reputation, he ended his life serving the French government as a member of the high Council of the Realm. Claude de Mesmes, comte d'Avaux Claude de
Seventeen Provinces during the Eighty Years' War (see Generality Lands), which ended with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. Artois and parts of Flanders and Hainaut (French Flanders and French Hainaut) were ceded to France in the course of the 17th and 18th centuries. By the mid-16th century, the Margraviate of Antwerp (Duchy of Brabant) had become the economic, political, and cultural center of the Netherlands after its capital had shifted from the nearby Lordship of Mechelen to the city of Brussels. Bruges (County of Flanders) had already lost its prominent position as economic powerhouse of northern Europe. And Holland was gradually