On September 26, 1815, the Russian tsar Alexander I, the Austrian emperor Francis I, and the Prussian king Frederick William III, meeting in Paris, signed a document whose content deviated from that of traditional international agreements [3]. Couched more in the style of an edifying tract than a prosaic treaty (Treaty), the Holy Alliance proclaimed a radical change of policy: the mandates of Christian charity were to be incorporated into international relations in such a way that the …