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

• Superior document: Rulers and Elites Series ; v.20
• Author: van Leuveren, Bram.
• Place / Publishing House: Boston : : BRILL,, 2023.; ©2023.
• Year of Publication: 2023
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Rulers and Elites Series
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (345 pages)

"This book is the first to explore the rich festival culture of late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century France as a tool for diplomacy. Bram van Leuveren examines how the late Valois and early Bourbon rulers of the kingdom made conscious use of festivals to advance their diplomatic interests in a war-torn Europe and how diplomatic stakeholders from across the continent participated in and responded to the theatrical and ceremonial events that featured at these festivals. Analysing a large body of multi-lingual eyewitness and commemorative accounts, as well as visual and material objects, Van Leuveren argues that French festival culture operated as a contested site where the diplomatic concerns of stakeholders from various national, religious, and social backgrounds fought for recognition"-- Provided by publisher.

Table of Contents

Unhappy products of unhappy times : European thought on diplomacy and festival culture in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries -- Cross-confessional diplomacy : the Parisian court festivals of summer 1572 -- Diplomatic (in)hospitality : Henri III's controversial reception of Dutch rebels, winter 1585 -- Public and back-channel diplomacy : broadcasting reconciliation at the time of the Edict of Nantes and the Peace of Vervins, 1598-1600 -- Contesting diplomacies : continuity and audience control at two royal marriages, 1612-1615.