A marital project between Victor Amadeus II of Savoy and Isabel Luísa Princess of Beira (1675-1682): familiar strategies and geopolitics

Abstract

Matrimonial politics was one of the most frequently used means to establish alliances and guarantee international visibility throughout the early-modern period. This paper focuses on this subject and on the ability of a family group headed by Queen Maria Francisca of Savoy (1646-1683) to make its interests converge with the aims of the royal court of Lisbon, namely through an alliance between Portugal and Savoy. The fact that this project ended up failing explains the little attention paid by historians to this event. This article seeks to demonstrate that this case raises important questions about the role played by Portugal in 17^th century international politics.