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Rebellion and diplomacy in early modern Europe (general summary)

Together with international colleagues, the former research group “Revolts as communicative events (based at Konstanz University from 2013 to 2018) has created two edited volumes on different aspects of early modern uprisings and their cross-border perceptions.

In our second book project, entitled “Rebellion and Diplomacy in early modern Europe”, we consider the role of early modern diplomats in revolts and revolutions. Differentiating regional cultures of diplomatic agency and diplomatic reporting in early modern Europe, we hope to show that arcane and public communication in times of crisis were not necessarily neatly separated. Diplomats did not only act as careful observers but actively shaped the course of events as spies, news publishers, historians and determined politicians.

Malte Griesse, Lucien Bély, Nils Eric Villstrand and Miriam Rönnqvist discuss transitions from neutral reporting to active foreign policy in France and Scandinavia.

Schering Rosenhane, portrait published in "Hommes Illustres" by Anselmus van Hulle, after 1647, (c) public domain, Wikimedia

Schering Rosenhane, portrait published in “Hommes Illustres” by Anselmus van Hulle, after 1647, (c) public domain, Wikimedia

In their capacity as ‘partisans’ and loyal servants to their masters, ambassadors and residents countered prevailing public opinion and ‘fama’ with their own propaganda. Some directly interfered in the production and dissemination of early modern distance media.

Yet such public engagement was not necessarily encouraged by their own governments. In some cases, diplomats published their writings independently and exposed themselves to criticism at home and abroad. Schering Rosenhane, Swedish ambassador to Paris, chose a wide range of literary genres to influence aristocrats in both countries and even wrote famous memoirs.


Stéphane Haffemayer presents German refugee and diplomat Samuel Hartlib as a creative media entrepreneur and agitator who became engrossed in parliamentary politics of the English Civil War. His contribution reveals that despite their political bias, early modern diplomats tried not to let themselves be influenced by questionable informers and manipulatory reports but formed and communicated their own opinions. They may have seen themselves as the elite of a rising informational age and claimed truthfulness despite their national duties.

Printed sources as well as widespread rumours were received with general suspicion whereas intercepted letters were considered to be more reliable. The prominent cases of forged letters, however, show that there was no indubitable proof. Furthermore, many diplomats anticipated that their own reports would eventually fall into the enemies’ hands. And in such cases, early modern diplomatic activity was always prone to conspiracy and espionage.


Another central theme is how well-connected diplomats reacted to plotting at foreign courts and how they became more or less incidentally involved in uprisings.

Jason Peacey and Enrique Corredera Nilsson describe the complex early modern demarcations between public and arcane information and incidents of ambassadorial self-censorship in the face of crisis. As Philip IV’s envoy to Copenhagen, Bernardino de Rebolledo was confronted with a scandal of sex and violence at the Danish court and had to decide very carefully what aspects of the affair should be reported to governments at home.

Such complex interrelations of national defence, domestic peace-keeping and foreign diplomacy are likewise demonstrated by the example of seventeenth-century British intelligence records. Peacey’s article recounts that exiled dissenting communities in the Low Countries were suspected of conspiracy and closely observed by the London government, who ensured that their efforts would not remain entirely secret but sufficiently intimidated English Presbyterians abroad.  All in all, royal diplomats played a decisive role in conceptualizing unlawful opposition as they perpetuated the common denunciation of political and religious dissenters as ‘fanaticks’.

Bernardino de Rebolledo, portrait published in «Retratos de Españoles ilustres», Real Imprenta de Madrid, 1791

Bernardino de Rebolledo, portrait published in «Retratos de Españoles ilustres», Real Imprenta de Madrid, 1791


Moreover, diplomatic reports of the early modern period could broaden local uprisings to events of international relevance and what impact the religious division of Europe in the post-Reformation age had on foreign policy.

Daniel Szechi highlights the importance of religious allegiance in French reports on the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715. He also points out that Catholic solidarity and political partisanship for the exiled Stuart family did not blind French envoy d’Iberville to the failures of the British Jacobites. Successful diplomats all across Europe sought to establish long-standing networks of oral communication and personal bonds of trust, which frequently bridged religious, ethnic and social boundaries.

masaniello, by Pieter de Jode, after 1674, (c) Public domain, wikimedia

Masaniello of Naples, by Pieter de Jode, after 1674, (c) public domain, Wikimedia

Cross-border interpretations of revolts will also be at the centre of Monika Barget‘s and Francesco Benigno‘s chapters. Barget gives insight into early Hanoverian perceptions of the Glorious Revolution while Benigno tackles Italian media responses to Masaniello’s revolt in Naples. The European diplomacy network preserved and spread knowledge of defeated insurgents’ motives against all odds. Although censorship was strictly enforced until at least the late 17th century, early modern authorities could hardly ever prevent the publication and circulation of foreign diplomatic accounts.

All contributions address the legitimation of rule and resistance, understanding early modern diplomacy as an essential contribution to political theory. The book is currently in production with Routledge and is scheduled to appear in May 2023.

Siege of Smolensk 1609, (c) Public domain, wikimedia

Siege of Smolensk, 1609, (c) public domain, Wikimedia

Please revisit our blog to be informed of our upcoming publications. If you have any questions or suggestions, do not hesitate to contact us.

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OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Monika Barget (June 24, 2015). Rebellion and diplomacy in early modern Europe (general summary). Revolts as Communication. Retrieved November 5, 2024 from https://doi.org/10.58079/towi


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    […] (England) and a specialist in Jacobite studies. In his contribution to our collective volume “Rebellion and Diplomacy in Early Modern Europe”, he will consider French perceptions of British Jacobite networking in […]

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