Viennese embassy communications from 1670 to 1720

Compiled by G. von Antal and J.C.H. de Pater

Successive Dutch envoys to the imperial court in Vienna, among whom the most important were Coenraad van Heemskerck, Jacob Hop, Adolf Hendrik van Rechteren-Almelo and father and son Hamel Bruynincx, kept their superiors in The Hague scrupulously informed about their negotiations. The position of the emperor as an ally to the Republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands in the struggle against France, the revolt in Hungary, the imperial claims upon the Spanish throne, and relations with the Ottoman Porte are only a few of the issues that came up regularly. Most of the letters are addressed to the greffier of the States General, but a few are written to two consecutive Grand Pensionaries of Holland, Gaspar Fagel and Anthonie Heinsius, and to Stadholder William III.