A fluctuating ascendency: The "Spanish Party" at the Imperial Court Of Vienna (1631-1659)

With the arrival in 1631 of Emperor Ferdinand III’s bride to Vienna, the infanta Maria Anna, the “Spanish party” at the Imperial court gained a remarkable momentum. At the time, Philip IV’s interests found a key ally in the person of his sister, who, along with her influential confessor Diego de Qui...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Tercero Casado, Luis
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:España
Institución:Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Repositorio:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/667410
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10486/667410
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Casa de Habsburgo
Corte Imperial
Facción
Partido
Diplomacia
Historia
Descripción
Sumario:With the arrival in 1631 of Emperor Ferdinand III’s bride to Vienna, the infanta Maria Anna, the “Spanish party” at the Imperial court gained a remarkable momentum. At the time, Philip IV’s interests found a key ally in the person of his sister, who, along with her influential confessor Diego de Quiroga, exerted an indisputable influence over the direction of Imperial issues for the following decades. Nevertheless, the empress’s untimely death, as well as the consequential return of Quiroga to the Peninsula, seriously undermined Spain’s interests and had a negative impact on the outcome of the Peace of Westphalia. In addition, the situation was further exacerbated by a sharp drop in the means to fund a long list of pensioners and collaborators of the Spanish Crown. With a weakened party lacking leadership, the Spanish ambassador, within his recovered prominence, promoted the rise of a new figure as guarantor of Madrid’s interests: the count of Auersperg, a powerful minister which would hold a leading position in Ferdinand III’s government. Madrid, however, risked a great deal by focusing his support on a too ambitious a candidate with plenty of enemies. The rupture in 1656 between Auersperg and the Catholic ambassador implied a serious jeopardy for the Madrid’s position, in a very sensitive period regarding the survival of the Spanish Monarchy