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dc.contributor.advisorRowlands, Guy
dc.contributor.authorCondren, John
dc.coverage.spatialviii, 275 p.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2016-02-18T11:52:54Z
dc.date.available2016-02-18T11:52:54Z
dc.date.issued2016-06
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10023/8259
dc.description.abstractBetween 1659 and 1689, northern Italy was generally at peace, having endured almost three decades of continuous war from the 1620s. The Peace of the Pyrenees of November 1659, between the French and Spanish crowns, seemed to offer the young Louis XIV an opportunity to gradually subvert Spanish influence over the small princely families of the Po valley. The Houses of Farnese, Este, and Gonzaga-Nevers, respective rulers of Parma, Modena, and Mantua-Monferrato, had all been allies of France at various points in the Franco-Spanish War (1635-1659), but had gained scant reward for their willingness to jeopardise their own relationships with the king of Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor, despite the promises of material and diplomatic support which Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin had extended to them. As a consequence, they were reluctant to agree to again participate in alliances with France. This thesis examines how Louis XIV gradually came to lose the friendship of these three ruling families, through his arrogant disregard of their interests and their ambitions, and also by his contempt for their capabilities and usefulness. This disregard was frequently born out of the French monarch’s unwillingness to jeopardise or to undermine his own interests in Italy – in particular, the permanent retention of the fortress of Pinerolo, in Piedmont, as a porte onto the Po plain. But although the principi padani comprehended the reasons for Louis’s unwillingness to act as a benevolent patron, they resented his all-too-palpable distrust of them; his entrenched belief that they were unreliable; and his obvious love of war. The rulers and élites of the Italian states believed that Louis would undoubtedly seek, at some point in his reign, to attack Spain’s possessions in Italy, and dwelt in perpetual dread of that day. This thesis provides the account of French policy towards the small Italian states after 1659 which is still absent from the historiography of Louis XIV’s foreign policies.en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of St Andrews
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.subjectDiplomacyen_US
dc.subjectGeopoliticsen_US
dc.subjectSmall statesen_US
dc.subjectLouis XIVen_US
dc.subjectGallicanismen_US
dc.subjectHegemonyen_US
dc.subject.lccDC127.3C7
dc.subject.lcshFrance--Foreign relations--1643-1715en_US
dc.subject.lcshLouis XIV, King of France, 1638-1715en_US
dc.subject.lcshFrance--Foreign relations--Italy--Parmaen_US
dc.subject.lcshFrance--Foreign relations--Italy--Modenaen_US
dc.subject.lcshFrance--Foreign relations--Italy--Mantuaen_US
dc.subject.lcshParma (Italy)--Foreign relations--Franceen_US
dc.subject.lcshModena (Italy)--Foreign relations--Franceen_US
dc.subject.lcshMantua (Italy)--Foreign relations--Franceen_US
dc.titleLouis XIV et le repos de l'Italie : French policy towards the duchies of Parma, Modena, and Mantua-Monferrato, 1659-1689en_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoralen_US
dc.type.qualificationnamePhD Doctor of Philosophyen_US
dc.publisher.institutionThe University of St Andrewsen_US
dc.rights.embargodate2024-02-09en_US
dc.rights.embargoreasonThesis restricted in accordance with University regulations. Print and electronic copy restricted until 9th February 2024en_US


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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Except where otherwise noted within the work, this item's licence for re-use is described as Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International