Abbot Scaglia,the Duke of Buckingham and Anglo–Savoyard Relations During the 1620s

Abstract

This article examines diplomatic relations between England and the Italian duchy of Savoy during the 1620s through the Savoyard ambassador, Alessandro Scaglia. Historians have generally viewed England’s participation in the Thirty Year’s War from an essentially English viewpoint, underplaying as a result the critical importance of the Anglo-French and Anglo-Spanish wars to Savoy. The article argues that Scaglia drew upon dynastic affinities between the Stuart and Savoyard ruling families and on his own qualities to cultivate friends at the English court, principally the duke of Buckingham. These friends, in turn, increased Scaglia’s influence which established him as a leading mediator in England’s wars. This was crucial in providing leverage against France and Spain in Savoy’s sphere of territorial interest in north Italy. The article shows how this strategy ultimately broke down with the reconfiguration in English foreign policy following Buckingham’s death, and the impact this had on the war for Mantua and Monferrat in north Italy.