Tilburg University The three peace treaties of 1492-1493 Lesaffer, R.C.H. Published in: Kalkül-Transfer-Symbol Publication date: 2006 Link to publication in Tilburg University Research Portal Citation for published version (APA): Lesaffer, R. C. H. (2006). The three peace treaties of 1492-1493. In H. Duchhardt, & M. Peters (Eds.), Kalkül- Transfer-Symbol: Europaische Friedensvertrage der Vormoderne Institut für Europäische Geschichte Mainz. 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Download date: 23. sep. 2021 IEG - Institut für Europäische Geschichte Mainz - Institute of European History Page 1 of 18 Sie sind hier: Beihefte | online Startseite Institut Zielsetzung Randall Lesaffer * Inhaltsverzeichnis Bibliothek G rem ien The Three Peace Treaties of 1492—1493 M itarbeiter/innen Forschung G liederung: Forschungsbereiche IN TRO DU CTIO N Q uerschnittsbereich TH E PARTIES TO TH E TREATIES Stipendienprogram m RATIFICATIO N AN D ECCLESIASTICAL SAN CTIO N Veranstaltungen SU BSTAN TIVE CLAU SES: DYN ASTIC AN D PERSO N AL M ATTERS Publikationen SU BSTAN TIVE CLAU SES: W AR AN D PEACE Schriftenreihen und CO N CLU SIO N O nline-Ressourcen Bände Anm erkungen Beihefte Zitierem pfehlung gedruckt online Text: O nline-Ressourcen Jahrbuch für Europäische IN TRO DU CTIO N G eschichte Berichte In 1492 and 1493, the young King of France Charles VIII (1483—1498) m ade three peace Kontakt agreem ents w ith his m ain foreign opponents. O n 3 N ovem ber 1492, the Treaty of Etaples A dresse + A nfahrt w as agreed upon in the nam e of Charles VIII and H enry VII, King of England (1485—1509). O n Form ular 19 January 1493, the Catholic Kings of Spain, Ferdinand of Aragon (1479—1516) and Isabella Internationales N etzw erk of Castile (1474—1504), ratified the Treaty of Barcelona. O n 23 M ay 1493, the Treaty of Senlis betw een Charles VIII on one side and M axim ilian of Austria, then King of the Rom ans and future Em peror (1493—1519), and his son Philip, Lord of the N etherlands (1482—1506) on the other side, ended the last w ar in W estern Europe France w as involved in at the tim e. [1] This w as the w ar betw een France and the Burgundian N etherlands, w hich had been raging on and off since the accession of M axim ilian’s defunct w ife M ary of Burgundy (1477 1482). M axim ilian ruled over the N etherlands as regent and tutor to his underage son Philip (born 1478), w ho as titular lord over the N etherlands — Count of Flanders, Duke of Brabant, Alte U niversitätsstraße 19 Count of H olland, Zeeland and H ainaut etc. — w as form ally party to the Treaty of Senlis. A 55116 M ainz — G erm any year later, in 1494, Charles VIII invaded Italy to push his claim to the southern Kingdom of Tel.: +49/6131/3939360 N aples and to launch his crusade to the east. http://www.ieg-mainz.de/likecms/likecms.php?site=site.htm&dir=&lastsite=287&nav=203&siteid=288... 16-07-08 IEG - Institut für Europäische Geschichte Mainz - Institute of European History Page 2 of 18 H istorians have com m only considered the three treaties of 1492/93 preparatory steps to the Italian adventure of the young w arrior–king Charles VIII. The desire to m ake peace at hom e in order to start a »crusade« m ost certainly fitted the rhetoric of the decades after the fall of the Eastern Rom an Em pire (1453), and of King Charles’ court. This led them to judge hard on Charles VIII. In the three treaties, he m ade m ajor financial, territorial and political concessions to his three m ain enem ies, in order to start an adventure that w ould prove disastrous for France’s European am bitions in the long run.[2] The invasion of Italy triggered a drow n–out conflict w ith the rising pow er of the day, Spain, that w ould end in 1530 w ith the dom ination of Italy by H absburg Spain and Spanish hegem ony over W estern Europe. 41 O ther historians have judged the treaties in a m ore nuanced w ay. Yvonne Labande M ailfert has argued convincingly that the three treaties of 1492—1493 w ere not dictated by Charles VIII's desire to free his hands for an invasion of Italy, but that they constituted the outcom e of a successful policy to end a triple w ar against the Anglo–Spanish–H absburg alliance that Charles VIII and France had not w anted and thus to liberate Charles VIII from the burdens of his father’s, Louis XI (1461—1483), expansionist policies.[3] This is not the tim e or place to go deeper into that discussion. For our purposes, it suffices to underscore that in this new er interpretation too, the three treaties of 1492 1493 w ere interconnected and form ed part of one com prehensive peace process. The three agreem ents ended the w ars betw een France and a coalition of its m ain enem ies that had been form ed at M edina del Cam po in 1489, W oking in 1490 and W estm inster in 1491.[4] The »evil spirit« behind the coalition w ar w as undoubtedly Ferdinand of Aragon. H is im m ediate goal w as the recuperation of the counties of Roussillon and Cerdagne on the French side of the Pyrenees, w hich his father John II (1458—1479) had paw ned to Louis XI. Ferdinand had pushed H enry VII to invade France. M axim ilian, w ho ruled the Burgundian N etherlands for his son Philip, had been at w ar w ith France on and off for m ore than a decade. In brief, Ferdinand’s diplom atic gam e w orked. At Etaples, Charles VIII bought off the half–hearted English invaders by settling the debts of the French crow n to its English counterpart. At the sam e tim e, Charles VIII announced to the inhabitants of Perpignan that the disputed counties at the Pyrenees w ould be restored, as Louis XI had prom ised on his deathbed.[5] The restitution w as agreed upon at Barcelona, but only executed in the fall of 1493. Charles VIII reserved his legal claim s for the future and the parties agreed to have them settled by arbitration. After M axim ilian’s cam paign in the east of France had been stopped, Charles VIII m ade his peace w ith M axim ilian, Philip and the N etherlands. Philip sister M argaret of Austria (1480—1530), w ho had been betrothed to Charles VIII before he w ed Anne of Brittany (1477—1514) in 1491 and w ho w as raised in France, w as to be returned, together w ith her dow ry, m ore in particular the counties of Artois, Franche Com té and Charolles.[6] http://www.ieg-mainz.de/likecms/likecms.php?site=site.htm&dir=&lastsite=287&nav=203&siteid=288... 16-07-08 IEG - Institut für Europäische Geschichte Mainz - Institute of European History Page 3 of 18 Peace treaties are a m icrocosm ic reflection of the law of nations as it exists and is understood and applied at a given tim e. In this paper, som e m ajor aspects of the law of nations as it appears from the three peace treaties betw een France and its opponents at the end of the 15th century are indicated. The three treaties of 1492—1493 have m uch to com m end them selves for such an endeavour. 42 First, they im m ediately precede the transition from the old m edieval legal order of Europe to w hat w ould eventually becom e the W estphalian system in the late 17th and 18th centuries. The disruption and transition of the European legal order, w hich m arked m ost of the 16th century and the early decades of the 17th century, w as triggered by the Reform ation, the discovery of a new w orld and the rise of great dynastic pow er com plexes such as France, Spain, the H absburg em pire and England. This last factor had already begun to play by the 1490s. The transition w as one of the old hierarchical legal order of the respublica christiana of the Late M iddle Ages to the sovereign states system of the M odern Age. Therefore, w e w ill particularly address these issues w hich relate to sovereignty, both external and internal. External sovereignty m eans the absence of a higher authority. In a system of externally sovereign »states«, it is these states w ho m ake and enforce the law of nations.