From the #HRE we turn to another quite special actor: #earlymodern#Switzerland. We are very happy to have found none other than Sarah Rindlisbacher Thomi from the university of Bern as an author.
Rindlisbacher wrote her PhD on “Ambassadors of Protestantism. Foreign policy activities of Zurich's town clergy in the 17th century” (in German). So who could be better suited to tell us about the characteristics of Swiss #emdiplomacy?! (2/5)
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.
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)
Did you miss us? We’re back again introducing our next author Güneş Işıksel to you!
Işıksel is Associate professor at Istanbul Medeniyet University. He is an expert in Ottoman #emdiplomacy and published not only in Turkish but also in French and English. (2/7)
His monograph focusses on #emdiplomacy under Selim I. So who could be better than Işıksel for writing the #handbook article on the development of Ottoman #diplomacy?! (3/7)
Işıksel explains that Ottoman #emdiplomacy had to be in line with the precepts of the Hanafite school of Islamic law. However, these principles were regularly re-interpreted and adapted. Traditional European historiography sees the main shift in Ottoman #diplomacy in the 19th c. with the establishment of permanent embacys. However, Işıksel argues that this Eurocentric view ignores the many other diplomatic contacts and thus propose a different periodisation. (5/7)
According to Cario-Invernizzi the fact the Iberian kingsdoms were the first European realms to connect with the rest of the world on a grand scale, gave their diplomatic policies a unique character.
Diplomatic relations with Africa and Asia required constant negotiations, and even required tributes to be paid to guarantee the security of Europe’s presence in the area.
Distance was a significant factor in Iberian #diplomacy. Therefore, agents were sometimes sent to cover shorter distances. Moreover, diplomatic encounters in Eurasia did not take place between entire societies but rather between segments of societies or subcultures.
This fact suggests the existence of a cross-sectional diplomatic language between European and Asian societies. (4/n)
The most important group of #ambassadors to Madrid were the French ambassador, the Imperial ambassador to the Empire, the nuncio, and the Venetian ambassador.
Madrid did not have a diplomatic district. Diplomatic #envoys did enjoy immunity in the #embassy, with the king himself offering them lodgings for rent upon their arrival. Nevertheless, the ambassadors complained of the difficulties in gaining an audience with the ruler.
Following the union of the Portuguese and Spanish crowns in 1580, a global dimension of Spanish #diplomacy was developed which enhanced the reputation of the Spanish kings. (5/n)
According to Cario-Ivernizzi Spanish historiography continues to suffer from a lack of discourse surrounding its cultural history in general and with literary studies in particular, this is also reflected in new diplomatic #history.
However, historians specialised in Spanish #diplomacy continue to take steps forward in the field, not only with regard to the exchange of gifts but also gradually incorporating the analytical category of gender.
The career paths of Spanish & Portguese #emdiplomats have gained more attention in research only recently.
By placing more of a focus on integrating the activities of both official ambassadors and informal agents into diplomatic studies in the future, we will be able to obtain a more complete understanding of Spanish and European diplomacy in the #earlymodern era. (6/6)
OG from the #archives! Two letters from 1890 by #Serbian consul Luka Marinković in Priština (#Kosovo Vilayet, #Ottoman Empire at the time) about the closure of Serbian schools in the province.
He argues that #French#diplomacy continuously changed over the centuries, which can be seen as a sign of modernisation.
While #emdiplomacy was originally regarded as part of a more general service to the king, it slowly developed into a more specialised field of activity. From this the need to a much more profecient education of #emdiplomats arose. (3/6)
However, these changes were not introduced against, but within the existing system, often by those in charge. Therefore, elements of a more professionalised system co-existed with patronage relations. Waquet argues that we should speak of “a gradual internal transformation rather than of a permanent conflict between old and new”. (4/6)