“She Grows Careless”: The Infanta Catalina and Spanish Etiquette at the Court of Savoy *

When the infanta Catalina Micaela, younger daughter of Philip II of Spain, married Carlo Emanuele I, Duke of Savoy, in 1585, she went to Turin and never returned to Spain. Despite cultural differences between a royal Spanish court and a ducal Savoyard court, Catalina quickly grew accustomed to life in Turin and to married life with Carlo. No doubt their common aspirations and their strong mutual affection helped Catalina adapt culturally to a new court. Nevertheless, her arrival at the court in Turin brought an initial clash between rigid Spanish court etiquette and a much less formal etiquette at the Savoyard court. In the end, Spanish etiquette won out in Catalina's household in Turin, but not without challenges. In 1586, Briceno wrote Zuniga, informing him of difficulties at Catalina and Carlo's court. Zuniga had been instrumental in preparing Catalina's household for Turin and in seeing to the written version of the etiquettes which she took with her.