AMBASSADRESSES · Imperial Ambassadresses between the Courts of Madrid and Vienna (1650-1700): Diplomacy, Sociability and Culture

The aim of my project is to analyse the diplomatic and cultural role of the Imperial ambassadresses in the court of Madrid, along with the impact of their posts upon their subsequent lives in the court of Vienna. The chosen time frame is the second half of the 17th century, a period in which the foreign relations between the Spanish Monarchy and the Empire were marked by the so-called ""question of succession"".The new diplomatic history dedicated to the early modern period has paid little attention to the wives of the ambassadors, despite the fact that in the 17th century these women received the meaningful title of ""ambassadresses"", which denotes respect on the part of the courts where their husbands carried out their embassies. The ambassadresses supported their husbands' networks and initiated diplomatic strategies such as patronage or mediation