Abraham Nicolas Amelot de la Houssaye

Abraham Nicolas Amelot de la Houssaye (1634–1706) was a French historian and political critic.

Life He was born at Orléans in February 1634 and died at Paris on 8 December 1706. Little is known of his personal history beyond the fact that he was secretary to an embassy from the French court to the Republic of Venice.

Works In his Histoire du gouvernement de Venise, he undertook to explain, and above all to criticize, the administration of that republic, and to expose the causes of its decadence. The work was printed by the king's printer and dedicated to Louvois, which suggests that the government did not disapprove of it. It appeared in March 1676 and drew a heated protest from the Venetian ambassador, Marcantonio Giustinian, later the doge of Venice. The author was sent to the Bastille, where he remained for six weeks.