Diplomacy, Courtly Service and Catholic Inks: The London Lawsuit of Francisco de Melo Manuel

In 1676 Francisco de Melo, Portuguese ambassador in London and lord chamberlain of the Queen Catherine of Braganza, was involved in a typographic controversy that affected his diplomatic dignity and his palatine office. Service and obedience to two members of the Lusitanian Royal House, with different natures and responsibilities, show the delicate balance between the political sphere of negotiation and the domestic space. According to his career and his dual position, the impression’s permission of a catholic book in the protestant court caused the dispute analyzed in these pages. Although it can be interpreted as an eventual case, it emphasizes the confessional reality of England and how such printed texts found ways of diffusion through the diplomacy and the environment of the royal consort.