Les ambassadeurs du roi de France d’origine étrangère sous les deux premiers Bourbons, 1589-1643

Abstract

While foreigners still represented 18% of the ambassadors under the last Valois kings, they were no more than 12% of those who served the first two Bourbon kings. This diminution can be linked to the exclusion of foreigners from the French court beginning in the 1580s. Focusing on the origins of the foreigners who served Henri IV and Louis XIII, it is possible to note the virtual disappearance of Italians, who represented the largest group between 1559 and 1589. With the exception of a few Germans and Lorrainers, it was now Switzerland that provided the majority of foreigners serving diplomacy; without them, its gallicization would be more or less complete. These Swiss though had a very particular profile: almost all of them were soldiers in the service of France, but from their canton, who didn’t settle in France and who did not ask for naturalization. With them, the representatives with foreign origins were mostly dedicated to modest missions, often linked to their geographical origins.

Keywords

• diplomatic personnel
• international relations
• French court
• Henri IV
• Louis XIII
• Richelieu