Early Modern Diplomacy and French Festival Culture in a European Context, 1572–1615

Bram van Leuveren, Ph.D. (University of St Andrews, 2019), is Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow at Leiden University. His/their research focuses on early modern diplomacy, court and popular culture, ritual and pageantry, gender and colonial studies, and the history of Anglo-Dutch-French relations.

Honorable mention for the Claire Sponsler Award:"Best first book in early modern drama studies, awarded by the Medieval and Renaissance Drama Society. The committee (Mark Chambers, Mario Longtin, and Maggie Solberg) praised 'the breathtaking research and breadth of interdisciplinary expertise accomplished by Van Leuveren.""A detailed, finely researched study of the diplomatic aims and consequences of royal festivals in France under the late Valois and early Bourbon monarchs [...]. Van Leuveren’s readings are carefully argued and well-contextualised, drawing on an impressively multilingual archive [...]. Van Leuveren’s accomplished book makes a very welcome contribution to the cultural history of early modern diplomacy." - Ellen Welch, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in: French History, Vol. 38, No. 4 (December 2024), pp. 507–516

• AcknowledgementsList of FiguresList of AbbreviationsPreliminary NotesIntroduction1 Diplomatic Practices2 Topic and Terminology3 State of the Field4 Methodology and Historical Sources5 Outline of Chapters1 Unhappy Products of Unhappy Times: European Thought on Diplomacy and Festival Culture in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries1 Introduction2 The Humanist Roots of Diplomacy and Festival Culture3 Practices of Negotiation4 Practices of Hospitality5 Practices of Publicisation6 Conclusion2 Cross-Confessional Diplomacy: The Parisian Court Festivals of Summer 15721 Introduction2 Diplomatic Context3 The Ratification Ceremony for the Treaty of Blois, 15 June 15724 Banquets and Theatrical Entertainments, 13–20 June 15725 The Nuptial Ceremony for the Valois-Navarre Festival, 18 August 15726 A Royal Dinner and Theatrical Entertainments, 18–21 August 15727 Conclusion3 Diplomatic (In)Hospitality: Henri III’s Controversial Reception of Dutch Rebels, Winter 15851 Introduction2 Diplomatic Context3 Travelling to Paris, January–February 15854 Reception at Court, February–March 15855 Conclusion4 Public and Back-Channel Diplomacy: Broadcasting Reconciliation at the Time of the Edict of Nantes and the Peace of Vervins, 1598–16001 Introduction2 Diplomatic Context3 Receiving Catholic and Protestant Allies, Spring 15984 Staging Reconciliation, Winter 16005 Conclusion5 Contesting Diplomacies: Continuity and Audience Control at Two Royal Marriages, 1612–16151 Introduction2 Diplomatic Context3 Winning Support for the Franco-Spanish Double Marriage in Paris, 16124 Celebrating the Anglo–German Wedding in London, 16135 Celebrating the Franco–Spanish Double Marriage in Paris, 16156 ConclusionConclusionBibliographyIndex