Nonetheless, Switzerland was because of its geopolitical position of great interest for these foreign powers. Thus, they sent their diplomats who then struggled to understand the dynamics of Swiss politics that differed quite a bit from European monarchies. (4/5)
Today is International Day of Women in Diplomacy! #emdiplomacy was by no means an all male affaire. Women played a central role not only in mainting contacts to the queen's court and other female actors. They could also directly take part in negotiations, as the example of the Ladies' Peace of Cambrai (1529) shows. Here Margaret of Austria and Louise of Savoy negotiated for the Emperor and the king of France respectively.
If you want to know more, have a look at the #handbook article by Carolyn James who talks about female diplomatic actors.
I find it strange that royal marriages are often seen as the CONCLUSION of a treaty/diplomatic process. Surely marrying one's daughter or sister to another king or prince is the BEGINNING of having a close ally permanently placed at the heart of a foreign court - with direct, privy access.
That's true. In general, a treaty might be the conclusion of the negotiations leading up to it, but it's never the end. It's often the beginning of an alliance or a relation on the basis of peace instead of war. In case of marriage treaties it's even closer.
Goetze then turns her attention to #emdiplomacy by individual Imperial estates. Exemplary she focusses on Brandenburg, Saxony and Hesse-Kassel. In general, she again regrets a lack of research. Although there are some studies focusing for example on the relations between Hesse-Kassel and Sweden, such studies are always limited on a particular period and case.
There’s a definite lack on studies who try to give a more concise overview and put the diplomatic activities of the different Imperial estates into context. (6/7)
Summing up, Goetze concludes that the complexity of #emdiplomacy is reflected in the complexity of the #HRE and calls for more a more inclusive approach meaning more exchange between different research tradition, combining constitutional history, court studies and dynastic history and #NewDiplomaticHistory. (7/7)
As it's International Day of Women in Diplomacy we want to repost our thread on female historians working on #emdiplomacy. Here you find lots of recommendations for your #emdiplomacy reading list.
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