„Erdély fejedelméhez küldtek csupán.” Jacques de Boissimène küldetése III. Ahmed szultán udvarában (1717–1718)
“I Was only Sent to the Prince of Transylvania”: Mission of Jacques de Boissimène to the Court of Sultan Ahmed III (1717–1718)

Summary/Abstract: The article focuses on the secret mission of Jacques de Boissimène, envoy of Philip V of Spain to Francis II Rákóczi, prince of Transylvania. The goal of Boissimène’s mission (acting unimpeded by the duty of crusade which had been decreed in 1716) was to influence Sultan Ahmed III and ensure the continuation of the Austro–Turkish war which kept the Emperor Charles VI’s military forces occupied in his dominions’ eastern border, whilst the king of Spain deployed a military attack on the kingdom of Sardinia – also a dominion of the Emperor. But the envoy was not only a diplomat of Philip V: at the same time, he was also an informer of the French Regent, the Duke of Orléans. The overlapping of these functions leads us to assess and analyze the intertwining interests of the two Bourbon monarchies, the French and the Spanish one, while they both take part in a conflict – the War of The Quadruple Alliance – where they are on opposite sides.

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