Marshal Schomberg in Portugal, 1660-68
The last Huguenot to become a Marshal of France, Schomberg died in exile, fighting for William of Orange at the Battle of the Boyne. By C.R. Boxer.
As all students of Portuguese history know, that country’s international and strategic position in January 1660 was more critical than at any time since she had regained her independence from the Crown of Castile in December 1640. She was still at war with Spain and with the United provinces, while France had ostentatiously abandoned her when Cardinal Mazarin had concluded the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659.
No foreign power had yet sent a resident Ambassador to Lisbon. The Papacy, under Spanish pressure, still refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Braganza dynasty, or to nominate bishops to the vacant sees of this most devoutly Roman Catholic country.
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