Charles, the Prince of Wales at the Court of Philip IV of Spain: the «Incognito» Trip and the Problem of Exchanging Gifts

The article studies the tradition of exchanging gifts during diplomatic negotiations for marriage using a historical reconstruction of the trip of the English Prince Charles Stuart to Madrid in 1623 to negotiate his marriage with the Spanish Infanta Maria as a crucial case. The heir to the English t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: P. Yu. Kosheleva
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MGIMO University Press 2023-03-01
Series:Vestnik MGIMO-Universiteta
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.vestnik.mgimo.ru/jour/article/view/3319
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832579338276438016
author P. Yu. Kosheleva
author_facet P. Yu. Kosheleva
author_sort P. Yu. Kosheleva
collection DOAJ
description The article studies the tradition of exchanging gifts during diplomatic negotiations for marriage using a historical reconstruction of the trip of the English Prince Charles Stuart to Madrid in 1623 to negotiate his marriage with the Spanish Infanta Maria as a crucial case. The heir to the English throne personally arrived in Madrid «incognito» to speed up the negotiations. These circumstances created problems for the Spanish side because the reception ceremony was not developed for such a case. Besides, the «incognito» trip complicated the question of exchanging gifts. Later, such trips of monarchs would become a common practice. However, this case was one of the first precedents which forced the existing ceremonial procedure of gift exchange to undergo modifications. The article focuses on functions of exchanging gifts during marriage negotiations and studies the effects of an «incognito» trip on the course of the negotiations.The research is based on the letters of king James and his son Charles and eyewitness reports from the English and Spanish sides. The article claims that Prince Charles’ trip «incognito» changed the traditional procedure of exchanging gifts: the exchange happened before the prince’s departure and was initiated by the Spanish side. Nevertheless, this ritual has not lost its symbolism and significance in the rhetoric of negotiations. Gifts were used as a means of communication, an indicator of the influence of states and the way of their self-presentation.
format Article
id doaj-art-75372bb259494cf58f07f90dd7060d1a
institution Kabale University
issn 2071-8160
2541-9099
language English
publishDate 2023-03-01
publisher MGIMO University Press
record_format Article
series Vestnik MGIMO-Universiteta
spelling doaj-art-75372bb259494cf58f07f90dd7060d1a2025-01-30T12:16:17ZengMGIMO University PressVestnik MGIMO-Universiteta2071-81602541-90992023-03-01161295110.24833/2071-8160-2023-1-88-29-512515Charles, the Prince of Wales at the Court of Philip IV of Spain: the «Incognito» Trip and the Problem of Exchanging GiftsP. Yu. Kosheleva0Lomonosov Moscow State UniversityThe article studies the tradition of exchanging gifts during diplomatic negotiations for marriage using a historical reconstruction of the trip of the English Prince Charles Stuart to Madrid in 1623 to negotiate his marriage with the Spanish Infanta Maria as a crucial case. The heir to the English throne personally arrived in Madrid «incognito» to speed up the negotiations. These circumstances created problems for the Spanish side because the reception ceremony was not developed for such a case. Besides, the «incognito» trip complicated the question of exchanging gifts. Later, such trips of monarchs would become a common practice. However, this case was one of the first precedents which forced the existing ceremonial procedure of gift exchange to undergo modifications. The article focuses on functions of exchanging gifts during marriage negotiations and studies the effects of an «incognito» trip on the course of the negotiations.The research is based on the letters of king James and his son Charles and eyewitness reports from the English and Spanish sides. The article claims that Prince Charles’ trip «incognito» changed the traditional procedure of exchanging gifts: the exchange happened before the prince’s departure and was initiated by the Spanish side. Nevertheless, this ritual has not lost its symbolism and significance in the rhetoric of negotiations. Gifts were used as a means of communication, an indicator of the influence of states and the way of their self-presentation.https://www.vestnik.mgimo.ru/jour/article/view/3319james iprince charlesduke of buckinghamphilip ivinfanta mariacount of gondomarcount of olivares«spanish match»madridtravel «incognito»exchange of official giftsceremonialspanish court
spellingShingle P. Yu. Kosheleva
Charles, the Prince of Wales at the Court of Philip IV of Spain: the «Incognito» Trip and the Problem of Exchanging Gifts
Vestnik MGIMO-Universiteta
james i
prince charles
duke of buckingham
philip iv
infanta maria
count of gondomar
count of olivares
«spanish match»
madrid
travel «incognito»
exchange of official gifts
ceremonial
spanish court
title Charles, the Prince of Wales at the Court of Philip IV of Spain: the «Incognito» Trip and the Problem of Exchanging Gifts
title_full Charles, the Prince of Wales at the Court of Philip IV of Spain: the «Incognito» Trip and the Problem of Exchanging Gifts
title_fullStr Charles, the Prince of Wales at the Court of Philip IV of Spain: the «Incognito» Trip and the Problem of Exchanging Gifts
title_full_unstemmed Charles, the Prince of Wales at the Court of Philip IV of Spain: the «Incognito» Trip and the Problem of Exchanging Gifts
title_short Charles, the Prince of Wales at the Court of Philip IV of Spain: the «Incognito» Trip and the Problem of Exchanging Gifts
title_sort charles the prince of wales at the court of philip iv of spain the incognito trip and the problem of exchanging gifts
topic james i
prince charles
duke of buckingham
philip iv
infanta maria
count of gondomar
count of olivares
«spanish match»
madrid
travel «incognito»
exchange of official gifts
ceremonial
spanish court
url https://www.vestnik.mgimo.ru/jour/article/view/3319
work_keys_str_mv AT pyukosheleva charlestheprinceofwalesatthecourtofphilipivofspaintheincognitotripandtheproblemofexchanginggifts