The Diplomat in Spain

Piotr Potekin./ Portrait: Juan Carreño de Miranda [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Eduardo González. 16/08/2018

This year marks 350 years since the Court of the unfortunate Carlos II received in Madrid Piotr Ivanovich Potemkin, who thus had the honor of leading the first official Russian embassy to Spain in history.

Piotr Ivanovich Potemkin, boyar, military, butler of the Tsar and governor of the region of Belev (and who should not be confused with Gregory Potemkin, the favorite of Catherine the Great who gave its name to the famous battleship of the Revolution), was sent to Spain by Tsar Alexis I to get the support of the Spanish Monarchy to the peace negotiations of Russia with Poland and their clashes with the Ottoman Empire, whose troops threatened the Russian borders from Constantinople.

The mission was framed in the new strategy of Tsar Alexis to approach diplomatically the great western Cortes, anticipating the reformism of his successor Peter I, and to expand the commercial expansion of Russia in Asia and Europe. The result was the sending of numerous embassies to Venice, France, Vatican, Austria, England and, of course, the Spain of the Habsburgs.

In this context, the interest of Alexis I in bringing this trip to a successful conclusion was such that, in the order of departure (June 1667), there were all kinds of recommendations on how the Turkish delegation should act in the Madrid Court, including the need to «memorize the complete title of the King of Spain» and to «make known in Spain the complete title of the Tsar». Besides, the ambassador had to learn by heart «the relations of Spain with the Holy See, Roman Empire, Turkey, England, Denmark, Venice, Sweden and Holland».

After embarking on an Italian merchant who traded Armenian caviar, the delegation arrived in December 1667 at Puerto de Santa María, in Cádiz, where it was greeted with cannon salvos by Spanish ships and stayed at the home of a Dutch merchant. On the way out to Madrid, there was a first incident, when the Russian delegation refused to pay for accommodation because its rules of protocol required that the representatives of the Tsar be entertained at no cost by the host country. The Spanish authorities had no real instructions in this regard, and the Russians finally opted to pay to avoid further problems.

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The ambassador came with the mission of getting Spain’s support for peace with Poland and the Ottoman Empire

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In the following days, the Russians traveled through Andalusia and New Castile to the Court. On the way, they admired the beauties of Seville, were surprised by the frugal customs of the Spaniards («nobody from our embassy during the six months never saw a drunk fallen in the street or walking with drunken cries») and, after to cross, among other localities, Cordoba, Andújar, Linares and Toledo («a very big city, famous and populated»), at the end of February of 1668 they arrived at Madrid, where they would have to remain almost three and a half months.

In the capital they were greeted by the ambassador driver, Manuel Francisco de Lira Castillo, and they were surrounded by a crowd of people from Madrid who were admired for the exotic aspect of the Tsar’s mission. The Russians were also surprised in Madrid by the absence of an honor guard, but were reassured by De Lira, who explained that «such a way of diplomatic encounters was never practiced in the kingdom». During their first encounters with the ambassador driver, the Russians were especially interested in the Arab past of Spain and, above all, if this could affect their claims regarding Turkey, but they also remained very calm in this regard.

The following days had everything, as the visit and admiration to the monastery Scurial (El Escorial) or the theft of a precious stone and other jewelry belonging to Potemkin by a thief from Madrid, who was sentenced to die in the cudgel and forgiven and sent «only» to galleys at the request of the Russian ambassador himself.

On March 7, the real audience took place. Curiously, the ambassadors did not know until after entering Spain that Felipe IV had died (in September 1665) and that the power fell to a minor, Carlos II, and his mother, the Regent Mariana of Austria. In fact, the letters signed by the Tsar carried by the delegation were addressed to the deceased monarch, a slip that, apparently, did not bother his Spanish interlocutors, aware of the «enormous distance» between the two countries. During the reception, the child King forgot to discover himself before the ambassadors, who admitted as mitigating the young age of Carlos II.

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The Russian delegation learned in Spain that Felipe IV had died and that they had to negotiate with a minor and his mother

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During this audience and in subsequent meetings, the Russian ambassador handed the Queen Mother the personal letter of the Tsar, in which he reported the armistice between Russia and Poland, he urged Christian countries to unite to fight against Turkey and advocated the improvement of bilateral trade relations. On March 16, Potemkin received the affirmative response of the Regent and the Royal Council in favor of the Russian claims and, in April, the ambassador obtained the consent of the Spanish Court to the desire of the Russian merchants to trade in Spain.

On May 18, the Queen hand delivered the letter with her answers to the Tsar (in which the title of the Russian emperor was incorrectly written, which resulted in a small diplomatic incident that was fixed to the race) and, after the exchange of real portraits and other presents, on June 7 they left Madrid for their country.

On June 25, in Irún, the Russians lived a last unexpected anecdote, when a customs officer, taking the delegation by merchants, demanded the delivery of money to let them pass the border. «Ruinous dog (…), we are sent from our great prince, his majesty the tsar, before the great sovereign of yours, his majesty the king, for his great state affairs, friendship and fraternal love,» they replied.

Potemkin was still to head a second mission to Spain in the summer of 1681, during the reign of Tsar Theodore III. It was during this second embassy when he was portrayed in Madrid by the painter of the Court, José Carreño de Miranda. The portrait is exhibited in the Prado Museum.