| Summary: | The Congress of Vienna imposed a new order and balance among Nations to stop previous
conflicts and rebalance the powers. In the Portuguese case, and despite the distance, the future
King João VI made all the efforts, using the ambassadors, to belong to the group of the most
important ones. To be able of that it was not enough to be officially represented at the tables of
the Congress; it was also indispensable to prepare a context through parallel actions, in order to
maintain the consideration by the other countries.
The life of Pedro Vito de Meneses Coutinho, 8th Count of Cantanhede and 6th Marquis of Marialva,
ambassador of the Prince Regent since 1807, allows the perception and the importance of this set
of actions that were conducted in Europe. His biography shows that then, as today, the success
of an international event did not involve only the formal representation.
In history of diplomacy and international relations, the study of specific cases of individuals,
negotiating difficulties, protocols and codes used is essential for better sociological, social, cultural
and political characterization of the contexts that we want to work.
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