[[39]] Some of the Spanish narrators mention with surprise and chagrin that neither the Spanish troops nor courtiers were so fine as the French. The anonymous Newsletter writer (sequel to Barrionuevo) says: "Many of our courtiers write (i.e. to Madrid) that the French gentlemen and ladies who came to the ceremonies were so numerous, and the adornments they wore were so rich and abundant, that we were evidently inferior to them, although much care had been taken on our side to excel, and no expense had been spared. So we cannot say this time, as we have said before, that the French finery was nothing but frills, furbelows, and feathers."
[[40]] It was against the etiquette of the Court for a left-handed son of the sovereign to stay in Madrid, or even to visit it without special permission. The rumour, though untrue, that Don Juan was to be allowed to come to Madrid and welcome Philip at this time caused much heart-burning.
[[41]] The Newsletter writer (Avisos anonimos) says that when Don Juan was told of Haro's death, he replied: "My father has lost a great minister; Let us go hunting," which he did immediately, to show his satisfaction.
[[42]] Avisos. Sequel to Barrionuevo.
[[43]] Cartas de Sor Maria, 25th November 1661.
[[44]] It was necessary for Philip to seize all the securities lodged in the hands of the contractors and money-lenders for the raising and provision of this army, the excuse being that the contractors were swindling him. It appears that they bought barley in Estremadura at 8 reals the fanega (1½ bushels), and sold it to the army for 56 reals. The contractors (Genoese and Portuguese) offered 3½ million ducats for the securities back again, but it was refused. Another seizure of securities left with loan-mongers and contractors was made in the following year, which completed the ruin of several of them. Avisos. 1660-1664.
[[45]] Don Juan was kept in Madrid for many months, much to his own disgust, as he saw that it was in consequence of the intrigues of Queen Mariana to separate him from the army altogether. One of her plans was to induce the King to order Don Juan to conduct to Germany the young Infanta Margaret, who had just been betrothed to her uncle, the Emperor. Don Juan stood out firmly against this. He hated the Austrian connection, and Mariana and her German advisers were his enemies. Affairs came to a head in October 1663, when Don Juan forced the pace by boldly urging his father to make him an Infante of Spain and first minister. This frightened Mariana and her alter ego, Father Nithard, her Jesuit confessor; and it had the effect desired by Don Juan, of obtaining his despatch from Madrid to the army at Badajoz. During his stay in the capital he had offended nearly all the nobles by his haughty arrogance. Avisos.
[[46]] Instructions to Sir Richard Fanshawe. Original Letters of Sir Richard Fanshawe, London, 1702.
[[47]] Fanshawe's Original Letters. A most naive and amusing account of his embassy in Spain, where he died, is in Lady Fanshawe's Memoirs. of which a new and fully annotated edition has recently been published.
[[48]] The controversy on this point is fully set forth in Fanshawe's own letter to Lord Holles. The French ambassador's exceptional courtesy to the Englishman somewhat disconcerted the Spaniards, who thought there was some political significance behind it.