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“When a Snake Is Cut into Pieces”: Austria’s Imperial Relations and the Downfall of Spain’s First Minister Ensenada in 1754

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Formative Modernities in the Early Modern Atlantic and Beyond

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Abstract

A palace intrigue brought down the first minister of the Spanish empire, the Marquis of la Ensenada, in 1754. Scholars have analyzed this intrigue, but overlook the significant contribution of Austria, a great power in the process of mending its relationship with Spain at that time. For this reason, the Habsburg ambassador, Count Christoph Migazzi (1752–1756), wielded significant influence in Madrid. He even took credit for the downfall of the first minister in his reports to Queen Maria Theresa in Vienna. Migazzi also revealed that Ensenada lent the former Spanish Queen Elizabeth Farnese two million pesos without royal knowledge and planned to relocate a Silesian linen factory to Spain. Meanwhile, the alarmed French ambassador sensed treason in favor of the Habsburgs. The aim of this chapter is to flesh out the Austrian influence within the palace intrigue by examining Migazzi’s reports, and those of his French and British colleagues.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The three reports from August 19, 1754 and other letters on Ensenada’s fall are located in Österreichisches Staatsarchiv (=ÖStA), Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv (=HHStA), Staatenabteilung (=StA) Spanien, Diplomatische Korrespondenz (1754.05–1754.12), Karton 85. Abridged words are spelled out in italics.

  2. 2.

    Migazzi to Maria Theresa, Madrid, August 19, 1754, ÖStA, HHStA, StA Spanien, Karton 85, Ordner 2, fol. 31v; Ensenada’s clandestine moves in this regard are well known; see, for example, Diego Téllez Alarcia, 2002, p. 124; Kuethe and Andrien, 2014, p. 211.

  3. 3.

    Migazzi to Maria Theresa, Madrid, August 19, 1754, ÖStA, HHStA, StA Spanien, Karton 85, Ordner 2, fol. 29v.

  4. 4.

    Migazzi to Maria Theresa, Madrid, August 19, 1754, ibid., fol. 31v.

  5. 5.

    Duras to Rouillé, Aranjuez, June 26, 1754, Archives du Ministère des Affaires Étrangères (=AMAE): Correspondance Politique, Espagne (=CPE) vol. 514, fol. 362r–362v (according to the printed pagination). My gratitude to Prof. Allan J. Kuethe for providing me with copies of Duras’s correspondence.

  6. 6.

    Migazzi to Maria Theresa, Madrid, August 19, 1754, ÖStA, HHStA, StA Spanien, Karton 85, Ordner 2, fol. 38v.

  7. 7.

    Migazzi to Maria Theresa, Madrid, August 19, 1754, ÖStA, HHStA, StA Spanien, Karton 85, Ordner 2, fols. 30v–31v.

  8. 8.

    Duras to Rouillé, Aranjuez, July 27, 1754, AMAE, CPE vol. 514, fol. 425r.

  9. 9.

    Migazzi to Maria Theresa, Madrid, August 19, 1754, ibid., fol. 29r.

  10. 10.

    Keene to Newcastle, Madrid, July 12, 1753, in Lodge 1935, p. 337; Keene and Migazzi got along well at court, see Keene to Abraham Castres, El Escorial, November 2, 1753, in ibid., p. 354; Keene to Castres, Madrid, December 23, 1754, in ibid. p. 393, that they were drinking “warm punch” together before Christmas; Keene to Castres, Antigola, June 5, 1755, ibid., p. 410, that Keene “dined at Megazzi’s.”

  11. 11.

    Migazzi to Maria Theresa, Madrid, August 19, 1754, ÖStA, HHStA, StA Spanien, Karton 85, Ordner 2, fols. 30v–31r, 34r.

  12. 12.

    Duras to Rouillé, Aranjuez, June 26, 1754, AMAE, CPE vol. 514, fol. 364r–364v; see also Duras to to Rouillé, Aranjuez, June 24, 1754, ibid., vol. 514, fol. 354r; Duras to Rouillé, Aranjuez, July 27, 1754, AMAE, CPE vol. 514, fol. 425r. See also Kuethe and Andrien, 2014, p. 196.

  13. 13.

    Migazzi to Maria Theresa, Madrid, August 19, 1754, ÖStA, HHStA, StA Spanien, Karton 85, Ordner 2, no. 35, fol. 47v; the original reads “daß gantze Königreich hat unter seinem joch geseÿffzet.”

  14. 14.

    Migazzi to Count Wenzel Anton of Kaunitz, Madrid, July 22, 1754, ÖStA, HHStA, StA Spanien, Karton 85, Ordner 3, no. 16.

  15. 15.

    Duras to Rouillé, Aranjuez, July 27, 1754, AMAE, CPE vol. 514, fol. 414r, see also fols. 409r–413v.

  16. 16.

    Migazzi to Maria Theresa, Madrid, August 19, 1754, ÖStA, HHStA, StA Spanien, Karton 85, Ordner 2, fol. 40r.

  17. 17.

    Migazzi to Maria Theresa, Madrid, August 19, 1754, ÖStA, HHStA, StA Spanien, Karton 85, Ordner 2, fol. 40r–40v; the original reads “Alß der König von diesen Enzenadischen vnternehmungen verständiget worden, wurden Seine Maÿestät darüber so vngehalten, das Sie ihren vnwillen sogar mit stampfung deren füßen zu erkennen gaben.” On Ulloa’s travels, Gómez Urdáñez, Fernando VI, 194, 252.

  18. 18.

    Migazzi to Maria Theresa, Madrid, August 19, 1754, ÖStA, HHStA, StA Spanien, Karton 85, Ordner 2, fol. 29r, see also fols. 33v–34r.

  19. 19.

    Migazzi to Kaunitz, Madrid, August 13, 1754, ÖStA, HHStA, StA Spanien, Karton 85, Ordner 2, fol. 27v; the original reads “von der zärtligkeit des Königs und der Königin gegen eüer allergnädigßte Frau.”

  20. 20.

    Summary of Migazzi to Maria Theresa, Madrid, August 19, 1754, ÖStA, HHStA, StA Spanien, Karton 85, Ordner 2.

  21. 21.

    Duras to Rouillé, Aranjuez, July 27, 1754, AMAE, CPE vol. 514, fol. 425r.

  22. 22.

    Migazzi to Maria Theresa, Madrid, August 19, 1754, ÖStA, HHStA, StA Spanien, Karton 85, Ordner 2, fol. 39r.

  23. 23.

    Migazzi to Kaunitz, Madrid, July 22, 1754, ibid., no. 16.

  24. 24.

    Migazzi to Maria Theresa, Madrid, August 19, 1754, ibid., fol. 39r–39v.

  25. 25.

    Migazzi to Maria Theresa, Madrid, August 19, 1754, ÖStA, HHStA, StA Spanien, Karton 85, Ordner 2, no. 35, fol. 46v.

  26. 26.

    Duras to Rouillé, Madrid, July 27, 1754, AMAE, CPE vol. 514, fol. 429r–429v.

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  1. Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN, USA

    Christoph Rosenmüller

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  1. Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria

    Veronika Hyden-Hanscho

  2. University of Graz, Graz, Austria

    Werner Stangl

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Rosenmüller, C. (2023). “When a Snake Is Cut into Pieces”: Austria’s Imperial Relations and the Downfall of Spain’s First Minister Ensenada in 1754. In: Hyden-Hanscho, V., Stangl, W. (eds) Formative Modernities in the Early Modern Atlantic and Beyond. Palgrave Studies in Comparative Global History. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-8417-4_6

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