Back to search

Dietary book of memories, referring to the acts practiced by Mr. D. Pablo Ignacio de Dalmases y de Ros as ambassador sent by the Catalan Courts to England, during the time of the War of Succession

Date
1713
Archive
Municipal Archive of Barcelona
Document type
Textual
Reference code
CAT-AHCB-AHCB4-236-A339
Link to the online document
Description

Pau Ignasi Dalmases was the ambassador sent by the Catalan Courts to England, in what is known as the Dalmases Embassy. Dalmases had already acted as an envoy of the Council of Hundred on previous occasions, and in 1713, in the midst of the War of Succession, he was chosen by the Catalan institutions to try to agree a diplomatic exit in the case of the Catalans. He was sent in March of that year to London to speak with Queen Anne and soon after he left for Utrecht, where the peace congress was being held. He later returned to England, where on June 28, 1713 he was received by Queen Anne, who begged her to do everything possible for Catalonia to preserve its liberties and laws once the war was over. With his tenacity, he succeeded in getting twenty-four lords to question the queen in the House of Lords on April 3, 1714, in what has become known as the “case of the Catalans” debate.
The present diary is a reflection of his stay in England between May 25 and July 7, 1713.