The Other Image of the Hero. The Grand Condé as ally of the King of Spain (1651-1659)

Abstract

Louis II of Bourbon, known as the Grand Condé, remains one of the great noblemen and military commanders in the history of France.  His years of alliance with Spain, however, extending from his participation in the Fronde and his exile in the Habsburg Netherlands (1651-1659), have received little attention from scholars. This paper looks at how he was represented and understood in the heart of the Spanish Monarchy, in the kingdom of Castile and, above all, in the Madrid court, the centre of power. It analyses the vision of him in the court, where don Luis de Haro was the leading statesman; it also looks at the important role played by Condé’s agents in shaping his image in Madrid; lastly, it examines how he was projected into the incipient public opinion through the relaciones de sucesos. In Castile the hero of Rocroi was cast as a heroic figure, similar in nature to the position he enjoys in much French historiography dealing with his years of exile. His status and popularity helps to explain the help that he received from Philip IV until the Peace of the Pyrenees (1659).