Nicolas Perrenot de Granvelle and the making of a first councillor : a commission letter (1551) and the correspondence with Antoine Perrenot (1546-1547)

During Nicolas Perrenot de Granvelle’s temporary absence from the imperial court in early 1547, his eldest son Antoine Perrenot, the bishop of Arras, assumed his duties as first councillor (premier conseiller). In this capacity, for the first time, Antoine Perrenot managed state affairs without his father and advised emperor Charles V, conducting negotiations with the Low Countries, Spanish secretaries, Italian ministers, German princes, and foreign ambassadors, while also replying to dispatches from imperial diplomats across Europe. First, a commission letter is presented here to elucidate the responsibilities of the first councillor. Although issued by the emperor in 1551 after Granvelle’s passing to officially designate Antoine as his successor, the document reflects the situation that had already been in place for several months in early 1547. Then, to demonstrate how Granvelle prepared his son for succession and equipped him to handle court intricacies, 24 letters exchanged between them (November 1546 – May 1547) are published. These letters shed light on practical governance and secret diplomatic strategies employed during this period.