Jean de Montereul

Jean de Montreuil [known as Montereul] (c. 1614, Paris – 27 April 1651, Paris) was a French ecclesiastic and diplomat.

The son of an advocate to the parlement de Paris, Montereul was originally intended for a legal career himself, but in the course of a trip to Italy with Pomponne de Bellièvre (a nephew of pope Urban VIII) he was made a canon of Toul. Paul Pellisson wrote that he was "very proper in negotiation, with a flexible and agile mind, very concerted, and who would hardly ever do anything without a purpose. It was he who gave the opinion that the Elector Palatine would have to pass into France incognito, to go to command the Duke of Weimar's troops, and seize de Brissac ; this was why he was pursued there, and why the Elector was stopped on his journey.".

In November 1637 when Bellièvre was appointed ambassador to the Court of St James, Montereul joined him at Charles I of England|Charles I's]] court accepting the post of secretary to the ambassador. He stayed in London as chargé d'affaires as when Bellièvre left in late January 1640, returning to France himself in early summer 1641 when the Marquis de La Ferté-Imbault was appointed ambassador.

For just over two years from February 1642 until the spring of 1644 Montereul was secretary to the Marquis de Fontenay-Mareuil, the French ambassador in Rome.

When it looked likely that the Royalists (Cavaliers) would loose the English Civil War, the Scots who were then allied with the English Parliamentarians (Roundheads), looked to Cardinal Mazarin, by then the chief minister of France for help in securing Charles I's position as king, but on terms acceptable to the Scots. In response Mazarin appointed Montereul as French resident in Scotland.

Montereul arrived in London in August 1645. Once there he opened a dialogue with English Presbyterians such as the Earl of Holland who were sympathetic to the Scots who too were Presbyterians and formally allied with the Roundheads thorough the Solemn League and Covenant, but which was disliked by non-Presbyterian Roundheads such as Oliver Cromwell and other religious Independents. There were Scottish commissioners in London who were looking after Scottish interests in the alliance and during talks with them and English Presbyterians, the idea arose that if Charles I was to place himself under the protection of the Scottish army, then the Presbyterian party could advance their interests.

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