Claude II de l'Aubespine, baron de Châteauneuf

Letter of Francis I to the Ottoman Drogman Janus Bey, 28 December 1546, delivered by D'Aramon. The letter is countersigned by the State Secretary Claude de L'Aubespine (bottom right corner).

Claude II de l'Aubespine (1510 – 11 November 1567) was a French diplomat and Secretary of State. He was of Hauterive and of Forêt-Thaumieres and baron of Châteauneuf-sur-Loire.

Life From 1537 until 1567 he was one of the four Secretaries of State (ministers managing the government). He was one of the plenipotentiary of France to the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis, ending the Italian War of 1551–1559.

He served as secretary of state to kings Francis I, Henry II, Francis II and Charles IX.

He was associated with the Assembly of Notables at Fontainebleau, where he produced an edict of tolerance for reforms (1560) and the (1562).

Family Claude de l'Aubespine married Jeanne Bochetel, a daughter of the diplomat Guillaume Bochetel. Her brother Jacques Bochetel de la Forest, was a diplomat in London in the 1560s. Their children included: Madeleine de L'Aubépine (1546-1596). Guillaume de l'Aubespine de Châteauneuf (1547-1625), who was a diplomat in London, involved in the affairs of Mary, Queen of Scots.