Staging Sovereignty: Ephemeral Architecture and the Entry of Maria Teresa Rafaela into France, 1745

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the architectural dimensions of the remise, a courtly ceremony that marked the moment when a royal bride departed her homeland to be given into her new husband’s possession. Staged in frontier zones, this ritual was often facilitated by ephemeral structures such as bridges and pavilions that, as part of their ritual function, marked out firm boundaries where none existed before. This study focuses on the remise staged in 1745 on a disputed island, the Isle of Pheasants, for the marriage of Princess Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain to the French dauphin Louis-Ferdinand. Using state papers, contracts, and ceremonial texts, the article reconstructs the ephemeral spaces in which the handover was transacted. In doing so, this study reveals both the architectural stage management of the Franco-Spanish relationship and, more broadly, the spatial and ritual practices that undergirded early modern European diplomacy.