Residences as instruments of power: Venetian ambassadors’ houses in Madrid during the reigns of Philip IV and Charles II

ARENAS OF POWER IN THE SPANISH COURT: THE PRESENCE OF THE VENETIAN AMBASSADORS IN MADRID

From the beginning of the 16^th century, the embassy of the Serenissima in Madrid had the original mission of figuring out the real ambitions of the Spaniards on Italian soil; in view of the fear that Spanish expansionist policy awoke in the Venetian patriciate since the time of Charles V (Levin, 2005, pp. 13-42Levin, M. J. (2005) Agents of Empire: Spanish Ambassadors in Sixteenth-century Italy. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.). For this reason, it was essential to commit the embassy to someone appropriate, who would have to be able to turn on the necessary machinery to obtain such appreciated information for his Republic (Andretta, 2000, pp. 79-89Andretta, S. (2000) La Repubblica inquieta: Venezia nel Seicento tra Italia ed Europa. Roma: Carocci.; Preto, 2004, pp. 87-94Preto, P. (2004) I servizi segreti di Venezia. Spionaggio e controspionaggio ai tempi della Serenissima. Milano: Saggiatore.; De Vivo, 2007, p. 19De Vivo, F. (2007) Information and communication in Venice. Rethinking Early Modern politics. New York: Oxford University Press.).

Approximately, a year after their election in the Senate the republican legates started their journey to Naples. There, everything was arranged by its viceroy to begin the passage to the Iberian Peninsula in one of the ships that were closer to depart (Queller, 1966, pp. 38-39Queller, D. E. (1966) Early Venetian Legislation on Ambassadors. Genoa: Libraire Droz.; Campana, 2001, pp. 45-46Campana, C. (2001) “Les ambassadeurs de Venise, acteurs et sources de l’Histoire.” In : M. Viallon-Schoneveld, ed., L’histoire et les historiens au XVI^e siècle. Saint-Étienne: Publications de l’Université de Saint-Étienne, pp. 43-58.).

Before their first entry, the envoys had to announce their arrival to the secretary of state in charge of the foreign affairs, who provided the passports for all the entourage. Once in the city, the ambassadors -after the ceremonial approved in 1651- settled and gave an account of it to the conductor de embajadores (ambassadors conductor) who arranged all necessary for their first public entry (Rabasco Ferreira, 2017, pp. 37-38Rabasco Ferreira, R. (2017) “Protocolo y ceremonial en la presentación de cartas credenciales, en el ámbito de las relaciones diplomáticas.” Estudios Institucionales, 4 (6), pp. 29-48. doi: https://doi.org/10.5944/eeii.vol.4.n.6.2017.18765 ).¹ Archivo General de Palacio, Madrid [AGP], Adm. General, leg. 939, exp. 48, parts I, II and III, Ceremonial followed at the entrance of ordinary ambassadors, second half of the 17^th century.

It followed a strict ceremonial where everything was defined until the arrival of the diplomat to the cámara de embajadores (ambassadors chamber). From the first moment, diplomacy’s theatrical facet was revealed because, as Antonio M. Hespanha pointed, protocol in Baroque courts was based on the creation of a properly appearance - what he called simulated dissimulation - that replaced one’s identity (Hespanha, 1993, pp. 177-181Hespanha, A.M. (1993) La gracia del derecho: economía de la cultura en la Edad Moderna. Madrid: Centro de Estudios Constitucionales.). A behaviour that certainly camouflaged natural attitudes, which was also valid for ambassadors as an essential part of the court system (Frigo, 1991, pp. 132-133Frigo, D. (1991) Principe, ambasciatori e “Jus gentium.” L’amministrazione della política estera nel Piemonte del Settecento. Roma: Bulzoni.; Martínez Millán, 2016, pp. 23-25Martínez Millán, J. (2016) “La Corte del Barroco. Cambios culturales y de comportamiento.” In: A. Rey Hazas, M. de la Campa and E. Jiménez Pablo, coords., La Corte del Barroco. Textos literarios, avisos, manuales de corte, etiqueta y oratoria. Madrid: Polifemo, pp. 7-26.; González Heras, 2019, pp. 183-187González Heras, N. (2019) “Lenguajes simbólicos: la representación de la monarquía borbónica mediante el ceremonial diplomático.” Cuadernos de Estudios del Siglo XVIII, 29, pp. 181-209.).

For this reason, the procedure followed during the reception of the Venetian envoys was stipulated with great precision and, over time, in the image of those prerogatives dispensed to the representatives of the Holy Roman Empire, France or England for court ceremonies; as Marin Zorzi and Caterino Belegno claimed to the Spanish king (Pérez Bustamante, 1945, p. 7Pérez Bustamante, C. (1945) La corte española del siglo XVI a través de las relaciones de los embajadores venecianos. Madrid: Imprenta del Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores.).

First of all, it was determined that they had to be assisted by “un coche redondo de la Real Caballeriza con cuatro caballos y caballo para su persona y otros diez y ocho de que necesita su familia, en la forma que se estila con ministros de su grado.”² AGP, Reinados, Carlos II, caja 78, exp. 16, Procedure for the reception of the Venetian ambassador, Letter dated on August 20^th, 1688. At the same time, it was disposed a great entourage composed by several gentileshombres de boca y de casa who escorted the new diplomat along his route. In this regard, we have the instance of the arrival of Carlo Contarini at the end of 1670. It illustrates how they were placed across the streets, and with such information we can envision the itinerary followed until the Alcázar (Table 1).

Once there, the representatives were accompanied by the conductor de embajadores to the chamber where they would be received by the king. During the encounter every single detail was perfectly described in the protocol stipulated for these audiences: from those who could remain in the room until the distance that should be preserved by the envoys at any time. In the same way, ordinary legates had the possibility of covering in front of the sovereign, but they could not address to him directly. Therefore, the only contact between them was the instant when credentials were delivered.³ For this reason, they are called “embajadores que se cubren.” AGP, Histórica, caja 53, exp. 1, fols. 12v-13, Ettiquete aproved in 1651: about the ambassadors that can cover; Adm. General, leg. 939, exp. 48, chapters 4, 8 y 11, Ceremonial followed at the reception of ordinary ambassadors in times of Philip IV.

Furthermore, diplomats had access to the greatest meeting point with the ministers of the Spanish Monarchy: The Royal Chapel (Bravo Lozano, 2015Bravo Lozano, J. (2015) “La Capilla Real de Felipe IV: ceremonial de exaltación en un espacio integrador.” Libros de la Corte, 11, pp. 28-50.). There, the Venetian envoys, as representatives of an independent republic, placed a prominent place in the bank reserved for ambassadors. At the chapel, they were just preceded by the apostolic nuncio, located in first place as member of the Church, the imperial envoy and the French one (varying the presence of the latter according to the wartime). Hieratic differences clearly drawn towards prevent the continuous disputes for the precedence between diplomats, which had a strong political and symbolical resonance in the European courts in the course of the Early Modern period (Bély, 1994Bély, L. (1994) “Souveraineté et souverains: la question du cérémonial dans les relations internationales à l’époque moderne.” Annuaire-bulletin de la Société de l’histoire de France, 7, pp. 27-44. , 1999, pp. 397-407Bély, L. (1999) La société des princes, XVI^e- XVIII^e siècles. París: Fayard.; Visceglia, 1997Visceglia, M. A. (1997) “Il Cerimoniale come linguaggio politico. Su alcuni conflitti di precedenza alla corte di Roma tra Cinquecento e Seicento.” In: M. A. Visceglia and C. Brice, eds., Cérémonial et rituel à Rome (XVIe-XIXe siècle). Roma: École française de Rome, pp. 117-176.; Levin, 2002Levin, M. J. (2002) “A New World Order: the Spanish Campaign for Precedence in Early Modern Europe.” Journal of Early Modern History, 6, pp. 233-264. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/157006502X00149 ).

Simultaneously, we must mention briefly the formal and informal encounters kept by the representatives of Venice and other ministers.⁴ In the mentioned ceremonial was left at the will of the ambassadors “visitar a los consejeros de estado y también al de estos el visitarle a él antes, dándose igualmente la puerta y la silla en sus casas, como también con el secretario de estado.” AGP, Adm. General, leg. 939, exp. 48, chapter 19. During this period, their weekly meetings with Luis de Haro were essentials to obtain information (Valladares, 2016Valladares, R., ed. (2016) El mundo de un valido. Don Luis de Haro y su entorno, 1643-1661. Madrid: Marcial Pons.). Philip IV’s valido was until his death the main intermediary between the Catholic King and the diplomats of the Republic of San Marco.⁵ This is evidenced in the dispacci sent to the Senate between 1643 and 1661. Archivio di Stato di Venezia, Venice [ASV], Senato, Dispacci, Spagna, filze 78-93. From now on, the duke of Medina de las Torres and the count of Castrillo - pointed by the Venetian ambassador and the nuncio as best situated to succeed Haro⁶ Archivio Apostolico Vaticano, Rome [AAV], Segr. di Stato, Spagna, leg. 126, fol. 317-318, Letter of the nuncio in Madrid, dated on November 23^rd, 1661. - continued with the conferences held with the agents of the Serenissima in Madrid. A practice that similarly happened in the Parisian court with the cardinal Mazarin as prime minister of Louis XIV (Andretta, 2010, pp. 195-198Andretta, S. (2010) “Forme della comunicazione diplomatica in un contesto di crisi: gli ambasciatori veneziani durante la Fronda parlamentare a Parigi (1648-49).” In : S. Andretta, ed., Paroles de négociateurs: L’entretien dans la pratique diplomatique de la fin du Moyen Age à la fin du XIXe siècle. Roma: École française de Rome, pp. 193-211.).

Moreover, if the envoys wanted to hear about the most sensitive information - that under no circumstances would be obtained through the official channels - they needed to activate a wide network of informants and spies that began with the ambassador itself (Preto, 2004, pp. 197-209Preto, P. (2004) I servizi segreti di Venezia. Spionaggio e controspionaggio ai tempi della Serenissima. Milano: Saggiatore.). A good example of this is the testimony of Marin Zorzi, who took advantage of a visit to the regent in the last days of 1665 to organize a meeting with the aya (governess) of the young king and the queen’s butler. Clearly, with the goal of elucidating the opinion of Mariana de Austria and her inner circle in capital matters for the Venetian patriciate such as the help they were waiting for the defence of the kingdom of Candia, besieged by the Ottoman Empire since 1645.⁷ ASV, Senato, Dispacci, Spagna, filza 103, fol. 276, dispacci of the ambassador Marin Zorzi to the Senate, dated on December 9^th, 1665.

Precisely, the negotiation of these aids constitutes -together with the obtention of information and representation labours- the capital task of the republican legates between 1645 and 1669 (Contini, 2001Contini, A. (2001) “L’informazione politica sugli stati italiani non spagnoli nelle relazioni veneziane a metà Cinquecento (1558-1566).” In: E. Fasano Guarini and M. Rosa, eds., Informazione politica in Italia: secoli 16-18. Pisa: Scuola normale superiore, pp. 1-57.; Andretta, 2010Andretta, S. (2010) “Forme della comunicazione diplomatica in un contesto di crisi: gli ambasciatori veneziani durante la Fronda parlamentare a Parigi (1648-49).” In : S. Andretta, ed., Paroles de négociateurs: L’entretien dans la pratique diplomatique de la fin du Moyen Age à la fin du XIXe siècle. Roma: École française de Rome, pp. 193-211.; Petitjean, 2013Petitjean, J. (2013) L’intelligence des choses: une histoire de l’information entre Italie et Méditerranée (XVI^e-XVII^e siècles). Roma: École française de Rome.). As a matter of fact, as happened during the 16^th century, the confrontation with the Sublime Porte was the most meaningful meeting point between Venetians and Spaniards. Although, mutual distrust always remained in the spirit of the rivalry held on the Italic Peninsula (Andretta, 2006, pp. 173-174Andretta, S. (2006) L’arte de la prudenza: teorie e prassi della diplomazia nell’Italia del 16 e 17 secolo. Roma: Biblink.). Nevertheless, Venetian patricians little could expect from the Emperor or the French king in a war against the infidels in view of the successive truces and peace treaties they had signed with the diwan (Setton, 1991, pp. 131-133Setton, K. M. (1991) Venice, Austria and the Turks in the Seventeenth century. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society.; Türkçelik, 2015Türkçelik, E. (2015) “El Imperio Otomano y la política de alianzas: las relaciones franco-otomanas en el tránsito del siglo XVI al XVII.” Hispania, 75 (249), pp. 39-68. doi: https://doi.org/10.3989/hispania.2015.002 ). They could only turn to the Catholic King and the Holy Father, with whom they had maintained several rifts during the first half of the century, modifying their diplomatic strategy until then (González Hontoria, 1945González-Hontoria y Fernández-Ladrera, M. (1945) “Los Embajadores de Felipe III en Venecia.” In: Conferencias de la Escuela Diplomática (28/11/1944). Madrid: Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores.; Benzoni, 1988Benzoni, G. (1988) “Venezia e la Spagna nel Seicento.” In: Venezia e la Spagna. Milano: Banca Cattolica, pp. 155-178.; Andretta, 2008Andretta, S. (2008) “Relaciones con Venecia.” In: J. Martínez Millán and M. A. Visceglia, dirs., La monarquía de Felipe III. Madrid: Fundación Mapfre, vol. IV, pp. 1075-1092.; Maréchaux, 2012Maréchaux, B. (2012) “Negociar, disuadir y comunicar para la conservación y reputación de la Monarquía: la república de Venecia en las estrategias de la Pax Hispánica bajo el valimiento de Lerma.” In: B. García García, M. Herrero Sánchez and A. Hugon, dirs., El arte de la prudencia. La Tregua de los Doce Años en la Europa de los Pacificadores. Madrid: Fundación Carlos de Amberes, pp. 91-120.).

In the light of the above, a revision of the antagonistic relation between the Republic of Venice and the Spanish Monarchy after the Peace of Westphalia is required, because it supposed a breakthrough in the reports between the European powers (Andretta, 1978Andretta, S. (1978) La diplomazia veneziana e la pace di Vestfalia (1643-1648). Roma: Annuario dell’istituto storico italiano per l’età moderna e contemporanea.; Quiles Albero, 2018Quiles Albero, D. (2018) “Las relaciones hispano-venecianas en el contexto de la Guerra de Candía (1645-1669).” Chronica Nova, 44, pp. 381-406. doi: https://doi.org/10.30827/cn.v0i44.3935 ; Rivero Rodríguez, 2018Rivero Rodríguez M. (2018) “Diplomacia, dinastía y confesión: La guerra de los Treinta Años y el nacimiento de la política exterior en la Europa moderna.” Vínculos de Historia, 7, pp. 61-78.). As a result, traditional postulates of the Italian historiography, dragged from the 19^th century, are just a decontextualized extension of the disputes maintained during the first decades of the seventeenth century. Ideas defended from a nationalist perspective that has identified as negative - leyenda negra or black legend - everything related with the Spanish presence on the Italian Peninsula (Croce, 1917Croce, B. (1917) La Spagna nella vita italiana durante la rinascenza. Bari: G. Laterza.; Pepe, 1952Pepe, G. (1952) Il Mezzogiorno d’Italia sotto gli spagnoli: la tradizione storiografica. Firenze: Sansoni.), blurring the multiple meeting points that recent researches are trying to highlight (Villari, 1977Villari, R. (1977) “La Spagna, l’Italia e l’assolutismo.” Studi Storici, 18 (4), pp. 5-22.; Galasso, 1990Galasso, G. (1990) Croce e lo spirito del suo tempo. Milano: Il Saggiatore.; Fasano Guarini, 2008Fasano Guarini, E. (2008) “Italia non spagnola e Spagna nel tempo di Filippo II.” In: L’Italia moderna e la Toscana dei principi. Discussioni e ricerche storiche. Firenza: Le Monnier, pp. 51-66.).

THE VENETIAN AMBASSADORS AND THE PROBLEMS RELATED WITH THEIR RESIDENCES IN MADRID

It is time to analyse the presence of the Venetian agents in the Spanish capital during the seventeenth century (Table 2). The primary sources we have found for the study of their dwellings -all of them for the period 1638-1669- have been obtained from the institutions directly linked to the care of the ambassadors: the Council of State, manager of the foreign policy in the Hispanic Monarchy (Barrios Pintado, 1984Barrios Pintado, F. (1984) El consejo de estado de la monarquía española, 1521-1812. Madrid: Consejo de Estado.); the Junta de Aposento, as we previously said responsible for ensuring the habitability of the homes for foreign envoys; and the Sala de Alcaldes de Casa y Corte (Ezquerra Revilla, 2015Ezquerra Revilla, I. (2015) “Los Alcaldes de Casa y Corte.” In: J. Martínez Millán and J. E. Hortal Muñoz, dirs., La Corte de Felipe IV (1621-1665). Reconfiguración de la Monarquía Católica. Madrid: Polifemo, t. I, vol. 3, pp. 1961-2045.; Pablo Gafas, 2017Pablo Gafas, J. L. de (2017) La Sala de Alcaldes de Casa y Corte (1583-1834): justicia, gobierno y policía en la Corte de Madrid. Madrid: Asociación Cultural y Científica Iberoamericana.).

The consultas arising from these institutions show the continuous problems with the legates of the Republic, who had considerable difficulties to adjust to a lifestyle quite different from the one they followed in the city of Venice. There, as members of the dominant elite, they lived on sumptuous palaces, designed for the families registered in the Libro d’Oro (Canali and Curti, 1988Canali, P. and Curti, L. (1988) “Nascita, matrimoni, cursus honorum nel patriziato veneziano.” Mélanges de l’Ecole française de Rome. Moyen-Age, Temps modernes, 100 (1), pp. 137-146.). On the contrary, the casas principales (main houses) yielded to them in Madrid - in many cases owned by prominent members of the Royal Households or the Councils - were the same that occupied the nobility, in the absence of grand Baroque palaces within the framework of the city until the middle of the 18^th century (González Heras, 2012González Heras, N. (2012) “De casas principales a palacio: la adaptación de la residencia nobiliaria madrileña a una nueva cotidianeidad.” Revista de Historia Moderna, 30, pp. 47-66. doi: https://doi.org/10.14198/RHM2012.30.04 , 2014, pp. 88-105González Heras, N. (2014) Servir al rey y vivir en la corte: propiedad, formas de residencia y cultura material en el Madrid borbónico. Tesis doctoral. Universidad Complutense de Madrid.).

In fact, Madrid’s population growth since the arrival of the court in 1561 was not followed by urban improvement (Marín Perellón, 1989, p. 82Marín Perellón, F. J. (1989) “La Planimetría General de Madrid y la Regalía de Aposento.” In: La planimetría General de Madrid. Madrid: Tabapress, pp. 81-111.). Nonetheless, not every place was suitable to receive the European representatives. At all the times, the aposentadores de Borgoña (lodging masters of Burgundy) were urged to rent properties at the level of those who had to be accommodated.⁸ The Aposentadores de Borgoña, eleven in total, were responsible for giving room to the ambassadors and foreigners arrived in Madrid since 1621. They had three books: one where they wrote all the houses, another with the property titles and a third one in which all the foreign visitors who had been given lodging were listed. Finally, they had the obligation to visit the town every six years, as well as those in charge of the courtier’s quarters. On top of that, when members of the European royal families went to Madrid - as the prince of Wales in 1623 or the duke of Modena in 1638 - even the Alcázar was prepared for their stay (García Sierra, 1994, pp. 741-748García Sierra, M. J. (1994) “El aposentamiento de personajes reales europeos y embajadores extraordinarios en la corte de España en el siglo XVII.” In: Congreso Nacional Madrid en el contexto de lo hispánico desde la época de los descubrimientos. Madrid: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, t. I, pp. 741-756.). Likewise, after the construction of the Buen Retiro Palace, its halls and gardens became the perfect location to entertain and impress foreign guests. In fact, this was one of the main reasons why Olivares -first valido of Philip IV- conceived this Royal Site (Simal López, 2017Simal López, M. (2017) “El Real Sitio del Buen Retiro y sus colecciones durante el reinado de Felipe IV.” In: J. Martínez Millán and M. Rivero Rodríguez, dirs., La Corte de Felipe IV (1621-1665). Reconfiguración de la Monarquía Católica. Madrid: Polifemo, t. III, vol. 4, pp. 2339-2566.).

In light of the above, to defray rents -priced by de Junta de Aposento- ambassadors received 800 ducats from the Royal Treasury each year. A quantity that was quite insufficient, considering that the average rental price of the dwellings was 1,200 ducats per year. Hence, they had to look for alternative formulas to cover or, as we will see, avoid the payment of the remaining amount.

It is necessary to add that the problems when it comes to the lodging of the Venetian diplomats apparently began after the departure of Giovanni Giustinian in April 1638 (Gullino, 2001Gullino, G. (2001) “Giovanni Giustinian.” In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 57. Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana. Available at: http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/giovanni-giustinian_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ [Accessed 5 Oct 2019].). This prominent patrician had been since 1635 in a house near to San Bernardo Street,⁹ In the consulted sources there is no evidence if it refers to the Convalecientes de San Bernardo Street or the ancient San Bernardo Street, closer to Alcalá. owned by Alonso de Villarroel and appraised at 12,500 reales de vellón per year. As usual, it was stipulated that 800 ducats (8,800 reales) would be paid by the Royal Treasury. Meanwhile, the rest (3,700 reales) would be covered exceptionally through the gasto secreto (secret expenditure), as the king himself pointed out.¹⁰ Archivo Histórico Nacional, Madrid [AHN], Fondos Contemporáneos, Delegación de Hacienda, Madrid Histórico, leg. 142/1, fol. 54, Consulta of the Junta de Aposento to the King, dated on July 20^th, 1652.

Alvise Contarini - Gustinian’s successor and later 105^th dux of Venice - connoisseur of how good for its fortune would be to dwell in this residence in such conditions, rejected the rest of those that were offered to him (Benzoni, 1983Benzoni, G. (1983) “Alvise Contarini.” In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 28. Available at: http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/alvise-contarini_res-212b1cdf-87eb-11dc-8e9d-0016357eee51_(Dizionario-Biografico) [Accessed 6 Oct 2019].). The owner addressed a high number of requests in order to vacate the property after the departure of the outgoing ambassador, but Contarini occupied the house in San Bernardo Street with no permission as soon as he reached the city. Finally, with the aim of avoiding a diplomatic row, the Catholic King accepted the stubbornness of the legate and ordinated the continuity of the house payment on the same terms until then.¹¹ AHN, Fondos Contemporáneos, Delegación de Hacienda, Madrid Histórico, L. 6, fol. 36, Report of the Council of Cámara de Aposento, dated on November 6^th, 1642.

In subsequently years, the Venetian ambassadors took twice again the residence without any permission. It was the case of Nicolò Sagredo in 1641 and Girolamo Giustinian in 1644 (Gullino, 2001Gullino, G. (2001) “Giovanni Giustinian.” In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 57. Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana. Available at: http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/giovanni-giustinian_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ [Accessed 5 Oct 2019].; Negruzzo, 2017Negruzzo, N. (2017) “Nicolò Sagredo.” In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 89. Available at: http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/nicolo-sagredo_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ [Accessed 6 Oct 2019].).¹² AHN, Fondos Contemporáneos, Delegación de Hacienda, Madrid Histórico, leg. 142/1, fol. 54, Consulta of the Junta de Aposento, dated on July 20^th, 1652. The orders of the Junta de Aposento were ignored, as well as the wishes of the owners to recover it. This complex situation let us see how important was to avoid an incident with the envoys of the Republic of Venice. With this in mind, we can largely understand why the costs of their lodging were systematically paid by the crown.

In the end, after a decade of continuous troubles, the legates of the Serenissima left the dwelling. In 1648, when Pietro Basadonna came to the Spanish court (Benzoni, 1970Benzoni, G. (1970) “Pietro Basadonna.” In: Dizionario Biográfico degli Italiani, 7, p. 51.), a new residence was arranged for him in Pedro de Baeza Street, whose owners were the brothers of the deceased marquis of la Rosa.¹³ In reference to the ubication of this house, we have not been able to find in Texeira’s map any reference about a street named that way. However, its proximity to the Carmelitas Descalzos Convent is mentioned in the sources we have handled, so we suppose that it may have been closer to the Alcázar. It cost amounted to 1,200 ducats per year, that once again would be paid on the same terms by the Royal Treasury.¹⁴ AHN, Fondos Contemporáneos, Delegación de Hacienda, Madrid Histórico, leg. 145, fol. 114, Consulta of the Junta de Aposento addressed to Philip IV, dated on June 25^th, 1648. It is possible that Spanish authorities wanted to avoid new problems as those happened with his predecessors and dissuade him from illegally holding the homestead.

Despite all of this, once in the abode, their proprietors soon pointed that the Venetian representative had to leave it as soon as possible, by virtue of the right of lodging exemption they possessed (Oliver et al., 1982, pp. 16-21Oliver A., Pascual-Salcedo, D., Toboso, P., Valverde, C. and Vázquez, C. (1982) Licencias de exención de aposento en el Madrid de los Austrias (1625-1700). Madrid: Instituto de Estudios Madrileños.). This position disconcerted the members of the Junta de Aposento, because many ambassadors had sojourned there before. For this reason, it is highly likely the existence of secret motives that justify the attitude of the landlords. In particular, the desire of avoiding the repetition of the situation happened at Alonso de Villarroel’s house.

Right after, Basadonna showed his refusal to abandon the place. He argued the disastrous state of the household after the departure of its previous inhabitant, the duke of Ariscot, and all the necessary improvements he had to defray, appraised in 1,000 reales de a ocho.¹⁵ AHN, Fondos Contemporáneos, Delegación de Hacienda, Madrid Histórico, leg. 140/1, fol. 128, Consulta of the Junta de Aposento addressed to Philip IV, dated on April 12^th, 1649.

The homeowners’ pretensions kept on after the arrival of a new legate, Giacomo Querini, by mid 1652 (Benzoni, 2016Benzoni G. (2016) “Giacomo Querini.” In Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 86. Avalilable at: http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/giacomo-querini_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ [Accessed 10 Oct 2019].). This time, the Junta de Aposento and Philip IV agreed with their claims. The monarch itself justified the early exit of the Venetian diplomat on the face of respecting the determination of the landlords. He even rejected the instances of the ambassador, who alluded to Venetian custom for justifying his obstinacy.¹⁶ During this period, the Spanish ambassadors in Venice resided closer to the parish of San Geremia. An area away from the nerve centre of the Republic - the Doge’s Palace - in the northern area of the Sestiere di Cannaregio. In it, the diplomats enjoyed an important immunity since they had a privileged area called lista, in which the Venetian police (sbirri) could not intervene (Infelise, 2007: 70-71). AHN, Fondos Contemporáneos, Delegación de Hacienda, Madrid Histórico, leg. 142/1, fol. 54, Consulta of the Junta de Aposento dated on July 20^th, 1652.

But Querini ignored the royal orders and broke into the dwelling as soon as he arrived at the villa, emulating the strategy followed by his countrymen some years ago. Before, his predecessor had rejected every single house offered by the aposentadores de Borgoña, including one in the Premostenses Street (actual Isabel la Católica Street) whose proprietor was secretary Antonio Alosa (Gea, 2006, pp. 62-65Gea, M. I. (2006) Guía del plano de Texeira (1656). Manual para localizar sus casas, conventos, iglesias, huertas, jardines, puentes, puertas, fuentes y todo lo que en él aparece. Madrid: Ediciones la Librería.).¹⁷ AHN, Fondos Contemporáneos, Delegación de Hacienda, Madrid Histórico, leg. 142/1, fol. 73, Consulta of the Junta de Aposento addressed to Philip IV, dated on December 5^th, 1652.

In September 1654 the Senate designated a new ordinary ambassador for the Spanish court: Domenico Zane (Barozzi and Berchet, 1856, vol. I, pp. 257-258Barozzi N. and Berchet, G. (1856) Relazioni degli stati europei lette al Senato dagli ambasciatori veneti nel secolo decimosettimo. Serie 1: Spagna. Venezia: P. Naratovich, 2 vols.). From the moment of his election, Zane expressed to the marquis of La Fuente, the then Spanish representative in Venice, his desire of remaining in the same house inhabited by Basadonna and Querini until then. La Cerda’s brothers quickly refused, alleging that 4,000 ducats were owed from the rental payment and they still wanted to sell the place. Furthermore, they alluded to the words of the aposentadores, who promised it would be released after the departure of Querini. Therefore, they rapidly started to look for a new residence before Zane’s arrival, because they were perfectly conscious that once installed nothing could be done to get him out.¹⁸ AHN, Fondos Contemporáneos, Delegación de Hacienda, Madrid Histórico, leg. 140/2, fols. 312 and 346, Consultas of the Junta de Aposento addressed to Philip IV, dated on March 12th and August 11th, 1655; leg. 142/1, fol. 148, Consulta of the Junta de Aposento, dated on May 10^th, 1655.

But once again the outgoing ambassador, who ultimately had to accept the house, did nothing but hindering the process. As a result, when Zane came to Madrid in the last days of 1655 a place for him had not been arranged yet and the legate occupied his predecessor’s one. Nevertheless, in order to regulate the rental payment, Philip IV ordered that the 800 ducats given by the Royal Treasury were delivered directly to the ambassador. He would be the responsible of handing over them to the landlords, adding the remaining amount out of his own pocket.¹⁹ AHN, Fondos Contemporáneos, Delegación de Hacienda, Madrid Histórico, leg. 142/1, fol. 148, Consulta of the Junta de Aposento addressed to the king, dated on May 22^nd, 1655.

Finally, the property was unoccupied when Zane left the city at the beginning of 1659. Since then, the embassy remained vacant until the end of the year. At that time, an extraordinary ambassador arrived to congratulate Philip IV for the signing of the Peace Treaty with France [November 7^th, 1659]. Once Spanish battle lines had been reduced, the Senate dispatched once again Giacomo Querini to Madrid in order to seek the necessary support of Philip IV in Candia (Barozzi and Berchet, 1856, vol. I: 311-312Barozzi N. and Berchet, G. (1856) Relazioni degli stati europei lette al Senato dagli ambasciatori veneti nel secolo decimosettimo. Serie 1: Spagna. Venezia: P. Naratovich, 2 vols.). He resided in a minor estate in the Valverde Street, priced at 12,000 reales per year, whose landlady was María Bichón.²⁰ AAV, Segreteria di Stato, Venezia, leg. 93, fol. 599, Letter of the nuncio in Venice, monsignor Altrovi, dated on August 30th, 1659; AHN, Fondos Contemporáneos, Delegación de Hacienda, Madrid Histórico, L. 7, fol. 61, Report from the Cámara de Aposento Council, dated on January 13^th, 1660.

Meanwhile, the fact he was an extraordinary envoy could have been decisive to do away with the occupation perpetrated by his forebears. Within the different grade of representativeness, these agents were chosen to fulfil specific missions in a rather short time. Consequently, their status was immediately lower than that of the permanent ones (Campana, 2001, pp. 44-45Campana, C. (2001) “Les ambassadeurs de Venise, acteurs et sources de l’Histoire.” In : M. Viallon-Schoneveld, ed., L’histoire et les historiens au XVI^e siècle. Saint-Étienne: Publications de l’Université de Saint-Étienne, pp. 43-58.). In addition, the mere fact the aposentadores talk about this residence as a set of minor houses let us see that, with respect to the lodging, almost in this case the treatment given to the short-term envoy was quite different than the standards followed with those who covered the standing seats. But it remains the case that, as usual, the maintenance expenses during Querini’s longer than expected stay in Madrid - 3 years - were paid for in full by the Royal Treasury (García Sierra, 1994, pp. 741-742García Sierra, M. J. (1994) “El aposentamiento de personajes reales europeos y embajadores extraordinarios en la corte de España en el siglo XVII.” In: Congreso Nacional Madrid en el contexto de lo hispánico desde la época de los descubrimientos. Madrid: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, t. I, pp. 741-756.).

It was not until 1661 that the Republic selected a new ordinary ambassador. The chosen was Giorgio Corner who directly moved into the house sojourned by Querini until then (Derosas, 1983Derosas, R. (1983) “Giorgio Corner.” In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 29. Available at: http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/giorgio-corner_res-46ac3f44-87eb-11dc-8e9d-0016357eee51_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ [Accessed 25 Nov 2019].). With respect to his rental, apart from the 800 ducats traditionally reaped by the crown, the ambassador by itself had to supply the 3,200 reales remaining.²¹ AHN, Fondos Contemporáneos, Delegación de Hacienda, Madrid Histórico, L. 7, fol. 118, Report from the Cámara de Aposento Council, dated on November 11^th, 1662. In this way, this evidence suggests that the practice of settling one part of the leases through the secret expenditure was coming to an end. Not coincidentally, at that moment the economic situation of Castile was extremely delicate, as a result of the recent bankruptcies of 1647 and 1652 (Álvarez Nogal, 1997Álvarez Nogal, C. (1997) El crédito de la Monarquía hispánica en el reinado de Felipe IV. Madrid: Junta de Castilla y León.). A consequence of the high expenses to maintain the relentless wars in practically all the territories of the Spanish Monarchy during this period (Maffi, 2014, pp. 514-516Maffi, D. (2014) En defensa del Imperio: los ejércitos de Felipe IV y la guerra por la hegemonía europea (1635-1659). Madrid: Actas.).

Before long, new conflicts arose with the new Venetian legate. In the middle of March of the following year a palafrenero (groom) of the embassy was arrested by the Sala de Alcaldes de Casa y Corte. After hearing about what happened, Corner went to the Alcázar to express Philip IV his disagreement with such decision not only against a servant, but also in defiance of the Venetian Republic. As he saw it, this offence was an attack against his immunity, and he would not assist to the Royal Chapel or any other public ceremony until the liberation of his “relative.”²² It is usual to find in the primary sources references about the servants of the embassy as relatives of the ambassadors. AAV, Segreteria di Stato, Spagna, leg. 128, fol. 91, Letter of monsignor nuncio, dated on March 11th, 1662. Also, AHN, Consejos, Consejo de Castilla, Sala de Alcaldes, L. 1247, fol. 68, court case against the servant of the ambassador of Venice, year 1662. This case is a typical instance of the continuous disputes to expand the area of immunity of the Venetian ambassadors. Such pretensions were continuously putted down by the Sala de Alcaldes, constraining the diplomatic invulnerability within the ambassadorial residence in 1648 (Pérez Bustamante, 1945, p. 7Pérez Bustamante, C. (1945) La corte española del siglo XVI a través de las relaciones de los embajadores venecianos. Madrid: Imprenta del Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores.; Hugon, 2004, pp. 130, 211Hugon, H. (2004) Au service du roi catholique. Honorables ambassadeurs et divins espions. Représentation diplomatique et service secret dans les relations hispano-françaises de 1598 à 1635. Madrid: Casa de Velázquez.; Barrio Gozalo, 2007Barrio Gozalo, M. (2007) “El barrio de la embajada de España en Roma en la segunda mitad del siglo XVII.” Hispania, LXVII (227), pp. 993-1024. doi: https://doi.org/10.3989/hispania.2007.v67.i227.69 , 2013, pp. 151-201Barrio Gozalo, M. (2013) La embajada de España en Roma durante el reinado de Carlos II. Valladolid: Universidad de Valladolid.; Pelletier-Pech, 2010Pelletier-Pech, S. (2010) “Les maisons des ambassadeurs à travers les archives de la Sala de Alcaldes de Casa y Corte: ¿des nids de criminels au cœur de la capitale espagnole?” In : B. Perez, dir., Ambassadeurs, apprentis espions et maîtres comploteurs. Les systèmes de renseignement en Espagne à l’époque moderne. Paris: Presses de l’Université Paris-Sorbonne, pp. 343-358.).²³ The initiatives of the Sala de Alcaldes to make sure Venetian diplomats understand the limits of their immunity - a prerogative restricted to the building of the embassy - were constant during the second half of the 17^th century. AHN, Consejos, Consejo de Castilla, Sala de Alcaldes, L. 1256, fol. 93 (year 1671); L. 1269, fol. 219 (year 1684); L. 1285, fol. 422-428 (year 1700).

In order to de-escalate tension, at the end of March the ambassador’s groom was released.²⁴ AAV, Segreteria di Stato, Spagna, leg. 127, fol. 153, Letter of monsignor nuncio in Madrid, dated on March 31st, 1662. Along the three weeks of his confinement, the continued visits of the duke of Medina de las Torres to the Venetian legate -after Haro’s dead lead counsel of Philip IV in foreign policy (Stradling, 1976Stradling, R.A. (1976) “A Spanish Statesman of Appeasement: Medina de las Torres and Spanish Policy, 1639-1670.” The Historical Journal, 19, pp. 1-31. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0018246X00018288 ) - reveal the desires of the Spanish court to solve this diplomatic row as soon as possible.

But a few months later, once the affaire with the Sala de Alcaldes was solved, Giorgio Corner expressed to Philip IV “gl’incomodi che risente con patimento nella casa dove abita e che mutatoli all’hora il signor marchese di Velada da quella delle Sette Chimenee supplica Vostra Maestà destinargli la casa stessa.”²⁵ AHN, Estado, L. 733, Letter of the Venetian ambassador to Philip IV, undated, year 1662.

The Council of State and the Junta de Aposento carefully analysed the proposal. Certainly, the Seven Chimneys House, as it was known, had been recently unoccupied by the marquis of Velada, former governor of Milan. Nevertheless, its landlady, María de Sande y Mesa, quickly rented it to a nephew, Juan de Carvajal and Sande (Sáinz de Robles, 1973, pp. 142-143Sáinz de Robles, F. C. (1973) Madrid: Autor teatral y cuentista. Madrid: Editorial Cunillera.). Therefore, the aspirations of Corner seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Right away, they requested the legate to propose other abodes that suited him better, promising the grant of the first available. Even more, the dwellings he wished-for did not seem adequate to the aposentadores. One of them was in an excessively public area - the Carretera de San Jerónimo Street - while the other was priced at 18,000 reales per year, closer to the Maravillas Convent.

Shortly after, the situation became critical when the ambassador discovered that Carvajal had not inhabited the Seven Chimneys House, as it was firstly announced. Instead, the marquis of Galara, regent of the Council of Italy, was who finally occupied it. The Venetian legate considered it an offence, because he had required the house in first place and he was clearly a higher lever minister. For this reason, he called for the immediate exit of Galara to be able to take up the residence. Something unanimously discouraged by the councillors of State and the aposentadores of Burgundy in charge of this negotiation.²⁶ AHN, Estado, L. 733, Consulta of Council of State to Philip IV, dated on July 29^th, 1662.

Thus, the problem with the Seven Chimneys House is directly related with the continuous precedence disputes. The Venetian diplomat represented and embodied his Republic. For this reason, this formal issue concealed a major one linked to the status of each individual in the court and the place that, according to the ceremonial, he held in accordance to his political primacy (Rivero Rodríguez, 2000, pp. 13-15Rivero Rodríguez, M. (2000) Diplomacia y relaciones exteriores en la Edad Moderna. De la Cristiandad al sistema europeo, 1453-1794. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.; Gantet, 2003, pp. 42-45Gantet, C. (2003) Guerre, paix et construction des Estats,1618-1714. Paris: Seuil.; Álvarez López, 2008, pp. 130-136Álvarez López, A. (2008) La fabricación de un imaginario. Los embajadores de Luis XIV y España. Madrid: Cátedra.; Tercero Casado, 2012Tercero Casado, L. (2012) “Un atto tanto pregiuditiale a la mia persona. Casos de conflictos de precedencia entre Madrid y Viena (1648-1659).” Obradoiro de Historia Moderna, 21, pp. 287-307. doi: https://doi.org/10.15304/ohm.21.691 ).

On the other hand, it is also possible that, in the view of the past events with the previous Venetian legates, the owner tried to prevent the entrance of Corner to the Seven Chimneys House, pretending the presence of her nephew to this end. Accordingly, a letter of the aposentador mayor to Philip IV reinforces our scenario when he says that the Venetian legate “anda con tanta cautela en esto de su alojamiento que piensa con pedir orden a Su Majestad para que se le dé casa, meterse de golpe en ella y luego no ser posible ni pagarla ni que la desocupe. Como se vio en la casa de don Juan de Villarroel, en la de don Fernando de la Cerda y en la que hoy habita.”²⁷ AHN, Estado, L. 733, Letter of Juan Girón de Zúñiga, aposentador mayor, to Philip IV, dated on August 3^rd, 1662.

But finally, against all odds, the king ordered the marquis of Galara to leave the abode because his inability to “excusarse el hacer al embajador esta gracia por ser ministro público y de una República tan benemérita.”²⁸ AHN, Estado, L. 733, Letter to the marquis of Galara, dated on September 19^th, 1662.

As a result, the deep desire of Philip IV to ingratiate himself with the Republic resulted in the meeting of Corner’s demands, who finally occupied the Seven Chimneys House in March of 1663. He resided there until his transfer to the Imperial court in the summer of 1664. Martin Zorzi, his successor, did not inhabited this residence (Barozzi and Berchet, 1856, vol. I, pp. 329-330Barozzi N. and Berchet, G. (1856) Relazioni degli stati europei lette al Senato dagli ambasciatori veneti nel secolo decimosettimo. Serie 1: Spagna. Venezia: P. Naratovich, 2 vols.), yielded to the English ambassador - Richard Fanshaw - that same year. For Zorzi was disposed another dwelling in the Mira del Río Street (today Mira del Río Alta Street) whose landlords were the brothers of Diego del Corral. A place occupied by the ordinary ambassador until his departure in the middle of July 1667.²⁹ AHN, Fondos Contemporáneos, Delegación de Hacienda, Madrid Histórico, L. 7, fol. 148, Report of the Cámara de Aposento Council, dated on February 6^th, 1664; fol. 277, Certification of the Cámara de Aposento Council, July 8^th, 1667.

The same residence was prevented for the new envoy, Caterino Belegno (Torcellan, 1970Torcellan, G. F. (1970) “Caterino Belegno.” In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 7. Available at: http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/caterino-belegno_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ [Accessed 29 Nov 2019].). Even so, in October of 1667 he let the regent queen know the poor state of the building, which had a detrimental effect on his health. For this reason, he applied for a new residence in accordance to his grade. Finally, after rejecting some of those offered, he installed in the Seven Chimneys House, where Corner lived a few years before him.³⁰ AHN, Fondos Contemporáneos, Delegación de Hacienda, Madrid Histórico, leg. 144, fol. 75, Letter of Mariana de Austria to the aposentador mayor, dated on October 30th, 1667; fol. 84, Letter of the queen to the Junta de Aposento with another of the Venetian ambassador; fol. 97, Letter of the regent queen to the aposentador mayor, dated on January 23^rd, 1668.

Afterwards, in April 1669, the ambassador was asked to leave the residence, since Mariana de Austria wanted to buy it to locate there the future extraordinary ambassadors arrived at the court. Eventually, this settlement agreement did not result, so it seems that Belegno continued in this house until his journey back to Venice on May 1^st, 1670.³¹ AHN, Fondos Contemporáneos, Delegación de Hacienda, Madrid Histórico, leg. 141.1, fol. 97, Report of the Junta de Aposento, dated on April 2^nd, 1669.

CONCLUDING REMARKS: THE STRENGHT OF THE VENETIAN REPUBLIC IN THE SPANISH COURT

Lope de Vega talked about Madrid as an “archivo de naciones” (nations archive). A city that maybe was not the most beautiful, but it was the one that everyone had to go through since it was the seat of the Spanish court and where, politically speaking, everything happened (Hortal Muñoz and Labrador Arroyo, 2014, p. 444Hortal Muñoz, J. E. and Labrador Arroyo, F., eds. (2014) La Casa de Borgoña: la Casa del rey de España. Leuven: Leuven University Press.).

Meanwhile, the research theme we have broached here is just a small sample of a common practise in all European courts. In Paris, London, Vienna, Rome, Turin or Venice it was tried to ensure the comfort of the remaining powers envoys at all times. It was not only necessary to please, it was also crucial to fascinate all those ambassadors or diplomatic agents - within their several meanings - who came into contact with these centres of power. They were always aware of the treatment received in their personal capacity, and if etiquette was equally implemented with the remaining representatives and public ministers (Hugon, 2004, pp. 231-232Hugon, H. (2004) Au service du roi catholique. Honorables ambassadeurs et divins espions. Représentation diplomatique et service secret dans les relations hispano-françaises de 1598 à 1635. Madrid: Casa de Velázquez.).

In the case of the legates of Venice, we have seen how difficult was to satisfy their continuous requirements. The underlying problem was that they came from a site that has amazed everyone who has uncovered its canals and palaces throughout history. Consequentially, the issues stemming from their settling process were an unequivocal demonstration of their difficulties in accommodating to a quite different mode of habitability in Madrid.

Even further, their relentless claims for maintaining their status and authority within the Spanish court highlight the immunity they enjoy by virtue of the consuetudinary ius gentium (Frigo, 1991, pp. 230-239Frigo, D. (1991) Principe, ambasciatori e “Jus gentium.” L’amministrazione della política estera nel Piemonte del Settecento. Roma: Bulzoni.). The Sala de Alcaldes de Casa y Corte tried to limit their margin of manoeuvre to the ambassadorial residence many times. However, the cohesive and defiant attitude maintained by the Venetian envoys is an unequivocal proof of their prominence in the court of the Spanish Monarchy.

There, the meaningful role they represented presents many more similarities with the envoys of the Holy Roman Empire, the French Monarchy or the Holy See than with those of the Italian states. After all, unlike Genoa, Mantua or Tuscany, Venice was not an Imperial or Spanish fiefdom (Volpini, 2014Volpini, P. (2014) “Pratiche diplomatiche e reti di relazione. Ambasciatori “minori” alla corte di Spagna. (secoli XVI-XVII).” Dimensioni e problemi della ricerca storica, 1, pp. 7-24. doi: https://doi.org/10.7376/80232 , 2018Volpini, P. (2018) “Ferdinando II de’ Medici e la Corte di Spagna. Relazioni e pratiche fra sovrani, principi e ambasciatori.” In: J. Martínez Millán, R. González Cuerva and M. Rivero Rodríguez, dirs., La Corte de Felipe IV (1621-1665): reconfiguración de la Monarquía católica. Madrid: Polifemo, t. IV, vol. 1, pp. 503-538.). For this reason, the symbolic take-over of the urban area in Madrid by their legates that we have analysed in this paper supposes an instance of their primacy as representatives of a catholic and independent republic. From this, it follows that both Philip IV and Mariana de Austria made substantial efforts to defuse the continuous tensions between the Venetian ambassadors and the main institutions of the Spanish Monarchy, with a view to minimize the impact of these disturbances in their relations with the Serenissima.

To conclude, reference should be made to the inhabitants of the villa. Specially to all those landlords and landladies who have been part of our subject matter. They made everything possible to avoid renting their dwells to such uncomfortable inhabitants, whose reputation for bad debtors and home usurpers rapidly spread out. Hence, tricks and loopholes as introducing false tenants or the proliferation of the famous casas a la malicia (spiteful houses) were a common practice throughout Madrid during the Early Modern period.