Diplomacy and Noble Culture: the 10 th Admiral of Castile and the Extraordinary Embassy of the Duke of Gramont in Madrid

Abstract

The marriage of Louis XIV of France and Maria Theresa of Spain sanctioned the end of the Franco-Spanish war (1635-1659). The terms of the peace treaty and the marriage agreement were the result of a long negotiation which conclude with the extraordinary embassy sent to Madrid, led by Antoine III Gramont, marshal of France and duke of Gramont. In this article, we examine different aspects of the entry, reception and regalement of the French embassy at the court of Philip IV. For this purpose, we have considered an extensive corpus of textual sources (accounts, diaries, memories, poetical compositions and archival documents) that supply information about those events. We have focused our attention on the role played by the nobility -in particular, by Juan Gaspar Enríquez de Cabrera, 10th Admiral of Castile-, considering at the same time the relevant function of the material culture in early modern diplomacy.