ABSTRACT
In a pamphlet, published in 1615, the Kingdom of France was presented as though it were a patient suffering from some violent frenzy. During the period from the death of Henri IV to the Franco-Spanish marriage, several great nobles demanded increased responsibilities and better positions at court. Charles de Bourbon comte de Soissons, son of the first prince de Conde and cousin of the dead monarch, returned to Paris on 17 May. This was the prince whom Marie de Medicis and her ministers feared the most at this time. Having abandoned the anti-Spanish strategy of her husband, Marie de Medicis with her ministers shattered the support of protestant potentates. Two months later, the Spanish ambassador Don Indigo de Cardenas formally requested the hand of the king's sister for his sovereign's son. Although this policy delighted the most zealous Catholics, those who called themselves 'bons Francais' were worried about this alliance with a hereditary enemy.
