Title: Italian Renaissance diplomacy :
Authors: Lazzarini, Isabella,; Azzolini, Monica,; Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies,
Date: 2017
Publisher: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies,
Physical description: x, 300 pages, 6 unnumbered pages of plates : colour illustrations, colour map ; 23 cm.
Language: English
LC classification: D
Abstract: "Diplomacy has never been a politically neutral research field. The most recent research is moving away from diplomacy as an institutional tool and is increasingly viewing it as a social and cultural practice that enabled Europeans and non-Europeans alike to engage with each other in formal and informal, state and non-state contexts, through the elaboration of common languages, shared practices of communication, and political cultures. Since the nineteenth century, Renaissance Italy has been on the front line of diplomatic research. Italian polities have provided excellent case studies for the theory associating the beginnings of permanent diplomacy and the emergence of resident ambassadors with the process of state-building.^ Diplomacy during the period from about 1350 to about 1520 increasingly experimented with new ways of answering urgent political needs--to represent, negotiate, participate, and keep informed--by developing a broad range of innovative solutions that had to be integrated and absorbed within the traditional jurisdictional framework of medieval diplomacy. During the fifteenth century, diplomatic sources multiplied at an unprecedented rate, mostly due to the remarkable volume of dispatches exchanged between governments and envoys sent abroad for increasingly prolonged missions. The present book draws on these rich diplomatic sources, which are mostly unavailable to English readers. Most of the chapters present a selection of dispatches, either in their final version or in draft form; occasionally, instructions, letters of appointment, and final reports are added.^ The published and unpublished sources presented in English translation by the contributors to this volume cover a broad chronological and geographic arc. The aim is to illustrate the richness of diplomatic documents both for the study of diplomacy itself as well as for other less obvious areas such as gender and sexuality, crime and justice, art and leisure, and medicine. The potential for further study is practically infinite. The modest aim of this volume is to enrich classroom discussion and to bring diplomatic documents into focus for scholars and students interested in the Italian Renaissance more generally."--
Contents: The preparatory work : from choice to instructions / Isabella Lazzarini -- Diplomatic oratory / Brian J. Maxson -- The conduct of the embassy / Isabella Lazzarini -- The final report / Isabella Lazzarini -- Diplomacy and war / John E. Law -- Diplomacy and the papacy / Monica Azzolini and Isabella Lazzarini -- Factions / Christine Shaw -- Women and men / Serena Ferente -- Ritual / Monica Azzolini -- Crime and punishment / Trevor Dean -- The wider world : foreigners, travels, and geography / Elizabeth Horodowich -- Art and the material culture of diplomacy / Timothy McCall and Sean Roberts -- Medicine and astrology / Monica Azzolini -- Games and leisure activities / Alessandro Arcangeli.
Notes: "Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Durham University".
Subject headings (LCSH): Diplomacy--History--15th century--Sources.; Italy--Foreign relations--1268-1492--Sources.; Italy--Foreign relations--1492-1559--Sources.; Renaissance--Italy--Sources.