Marie Gigault de Bellefonds, ambassadress of France Gender, power and diplomacy at the court of Charles II of Spain, 1679-1681

Abstract

In this article, I will analyse the political activity of marquise Marie Gigault de Bellefonds, ambassadress of France at the Madrid court between 1679 and 1681, by reflecting on the different diplomatic strategies implemented by her and her husband in order to gain the favour of the monarchs, particularly of the queen consort Marie-Louise of Orleans. The study of Louis XIV of France’s instructions to his ambassador and the perusal of the letters that the ambassadress sent to her friends in Paris evidence the importance of collaborative work in the marriages among diplomats in seventeenth-century court society. Moreover, our sources allow us to make visible the role of the wives of ambassadors in the pre-modern diplomatic system –a field of study in its beginning stages, but also highly promising. Who was Marie Gigault de Bellefonds? Why was she considered a dangerous individual or, as stated by Saint-Simon, «evil as a snake» at the court? Who were her main adversaries in Madrid? What was she accused of? Why did she and her husband have to leave the embassy in 1681? This research will attempt to answer these and other questions related to the presence of the French ambassadress at the court of Charles II and Marie-Louise of Orleans.