Sociability and Diplomacy at Louis XIII’s Court, 1610–1643*

Abstract This article examines diplomatic sociability at the court of Louis XIII. Through an analysis of the tools, settings and shapes of ambassadorial sociability, this article reveals the energy which ambassadors, envoys and their retinues poured into developing and nurturing relationships with the French nobility, with other ambassadors, and with the wider French public. At the same time, it brings to light the ways in which this sociability was complicated by gender norms and the delineation of gendered spaces at court. Indeed, sociability between ambassadors and powerful female courtiers—though necessary in a court where noblewomen retained significant influence and power—was frequently sexualised and delegitimised. In this context, ambassadors’ wives were better able to navigate the female spaces of the court and became an important asset for building relationships with the French female nobility. This function allowed these wives to carve out a significant role for themselves in the diplomatic process. This sociability was regarded with increasing suspicion by the French crown, leading to intermittent attempts to ban sociability between ambassadors and French subjects. The crown also sought to increase its control over the lodgings of ambassadors and to institutionalise ambassadorial sociability in order better to manage it. In bringing together ambassadorial sociability, gender, and the state’s attempts to control sociability, this article not only demonstrates how central sociability was to the functioning of early modern diplomacy and politics but also provides new perspectives on the nature of political relationships and friendships in the early modern period.