The last ciphered correspondence of the Duke IV of Uceda, ambassador of Philip V in Rome

Abstract

In the last years the investigations on the Spanish Succession War have questioned the traditional vision on the attitude of the high nobility. This one has been labelled traditionally as a suspicious loyalty to the Bourbon cause due to the decline of its political protagonism. One of the principal arguments for it has been the desertion of the Duke of Uceda, ambassador of Spain before the Pope, in the twilights of the war, event which seems to confirm that interpretation. The Archivo Histórico Nacional preserves an important collection of the letters sent by Uceda to his secretary in Madrid, Félix de la Cruz Aedo, during the last years of his embassy, correspondence that up to the present has not been used by the experts due to the fact that it is coded in its most. The deciphered trascription of these letters is presented here, in order to contribute to a better knowledge of Philip V’s international politics ―or the lack of them―, and to qualify our knowledge about the attitude of the Spanish high nobility during the Succession War.