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This book is the first to explore the rich festival culture of late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century France as a tool for diplomacy. Bram van Leuveren examines how the late Valois and early Bourbon rulers of the kingdom made conscious use of festivals to advance their diplomatic interests in a war-torn Europe and how diplomatic stakeholders from across the continent participated in and responded to the theatrical and ceremonial events that featured at these festivals. Analysing a large body of multilingual eyewitness and commemorative accounts, as well as visual and material objects, Van Leuveren argues that French festival culture operated as a contested site where the diplomatic concerns of stakeholders from various national, religious, and social backgrounds fought for recognition.
Price: $153.00
Pages: 330
Publisher: Brill
Imprint: Brill
Series: Rulers & Elites
Publication Date:
16 August 2023
ISBN: 9789004435438
Format: Hardcover
Honorable mention for the Claire Sponsler Award:
"Best first book in early modern drama studies, awarded by the Medieval and Renaissance Drama Society. The committee (Mark Chambers, Mario Longtin, and Maggie Solberg) praised 'the breathtaking research and breadth of interdisciplinary expertise accomplished by Van Leuveren."
"A detailed, finely researched study of the diplomatic aims and consequences of royal festivals in France under the late Valois and early Bourbon monarchs [...]. Van Leuveren’s readings are carefully argued and well-contextualised, drawing on an impressively multilingual archive [...]. Van Leuveren’s accomplished book makes a very welcome contribution to the cultural history of early modern diplomacy." - Ellen Welch, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in: French History, Vol. 38, No. 4 (December 2024), pp. 507–516
"Best first book in early modern drama studies, awarded by the Medieval and Renaissance Drama Society. The committee (Mark Chambers, Mario Longtin, and Maggie Solberg) praised 'the breathtaking research and breadth of interdisciplinary expertise accomplished by Van Leuveren."
"A detailed, finely researched study of the diplomatic aims and consequences of royal festivals in France under the late Valois and early Bourbon monarchs [...]. Van Leuveren’s readings are carefully argued and well-contextualised, drawing on an impressively multilingual archive [...]. Van Leuveren’s accomplished book makes a very welcome contribution to the cultural history of early modern diplomacy." - Ellen Welch, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in: French History, Vol. 38, No. 4 (December 2024), pp. 507–516
Bram van Leuveren, Ph.D. (University of St Andrews, 2019), is Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow at Leiden University. His/their research focuses on early modern diplomacy, court and popular culture, ritual and pageantry, gender and colonial studies, and the history of Anglo-Dutch-French relations.