Tracey A Sowerby
University of Oxford, History, Post-Doc
- History, Early Modern History, Diplomatic History, Tudor History, The English Reformation, Cultural History, and 25 moreMaterial Culture Studies, Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I, Edward VI, Mary I, Cultural Encounters, Early modern cross-cultural encounters, Early Modern Europe, Cultural Intermediaries, Transnational History, Renaissance Studies, Renaissance Art, International Relations, Material Culture, Reformation Studies, English Reformation, Early Modern England, Early Modern Britain, Early Modern Literature, Renaissance literature, Court history, Court Studies, Elites, Courts and Elites (History), and Queenship in Medieval and Early Modern Europeedit
In the sixteenth century, the Ottoman court in Constantinople emerged as the axial centre of early modern diplomacy in Eurasia. Diplomatic Cultures at the Ottoman Court, c.1500-1630 takes a unique approach to diplomatic relations by... more
In the sixteenth century, the Ottoman court in Constantinople emerged as the axial centre of early modern diplomacy in Eurasia. Diplomatic Cultures at the Ottoman Court, c.1500-1630 takes a unique approach to diplomatic relations by focusing on how diplomacy was conducted and diplomatic cultures forged at a single court: the Sublime Porte. It unites studies from the perspectives of European and non-European diplomats with analyses from the perspective of Ottoman officials involved in diplomatic practices. It focuses on a formative period for diplomatic procedure and Ottoman imperial culture by examining the introduction of resident embassies on the one hand, and on the other, changes in Ottoman policy and protocol that resulted from the territorial expansion and cultural transformations of the empire in the sixteenth century. The chapters in this volume approach the practices and processes of diplomacy at the Ottoman court with special attention to ceremonial protocol, diplomatic sociability, gift-giving, cultural exchange, information gathering, and the role of para-diplomatic actors. PDF gives the table of contents.
https://www.routledge.com/Diplomatic-Cultures-at-the-Ottoman-Court-c15001630/Sowerby-Markiewicz/p/book/9780367429324
https://www.routledge.com/Diplomatic-Cultures-at-the-Ottoman-Court-c15001630/Sowerby-Markiewicz/p/book/9780367429324
Research Interests: Ottoman History, Gift Exchange, Early modern Ottoman History, Ottoman-Habsburg relations, Ottoman-Venetian relations, and 7 moreOttoman-Safavid Relations, Ottoman-Polish Relations, Ottoman Diplomacy and Europe, Early modern diplomacy, Ambassadors, European Diplomacy and Ottoman Empire, and Diplomatic Ceremony
A collection of essays examining the relationship between English diplomacy and European literary cultures. Available open access of Project Muse until the end of June 2020:
https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/42176
https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/42176
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This interdisciplinary volume explores core emerging themes in the study of early modern literary-diplomatic relations, developing essential methods of analysis and theoretical approaches that will shape future research in the field.... more
This interdisciplinary volume explores core emerging themes in the study of early modern literary-diplomatic relations, developing essential methods of analysis and theoretical approaches that will shape future research in the field. Contributions focus on three intimately related areas: the impact of diplomatic protocol on literary production; the role of texts in diplomatic practice, particularly those that operated as 'textual ambassadors'; and the impact of changes in the literary sphere on diplomatic culture. The literary sphere held such a central place because it gave diplomats the tools to negotiate the pervasive ambiguities of diplomacy; simultaneously literary depictions of diplomacy and international law provided genre-shaped places for cultural reflection on the rapidly changing and expanding diplomatic sphere.
Translations exemplify the potential of literary texts both to provoke competition and to promote cultural convergence between political communities, revealing the existence of diplomatic third spaces in which ritual, symbolic, or written conventions and semantics converged despite particular oppositions and differences. The increasing public consumption of diplomatic material in Europe illuminates diplomatic and literary communities, and exposes the translocal, as well as the transnational, geographies of literary-diplomatic exchanges. Diplomatic texts possessed symbolic capital. They were produced, archived, and even redeployed in creative tension with the social and ceremonial worlds that produced them. Appreciating the generic conventions of specific types of diplomatic texts can radically reshape our interpretation of diplomatic encounters, just as exploring the afterlives of diplomatic records can transform our appreciation of the histories and literatures they inspired.
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/cultures-of-diplomacy-and-literary-writing-in-the-early-modern-world-9780198835691?q=Tracey%20sowerby&lang=en&cc=gb#
(pdf is of front matter only)
Translations exemplify the potential of literary texts both to provoke competition and to promote cultural convergence between political communities, revealing the existence of diplomatic third spaces in which ritual, symbolic, or written conventions and semantics converged despite particular oppositions and differences. The increasing public consumption of diplomatic material in Europe illuminates diplomatic and literary communities, and exposes the translocal, as well as the transnational, geographies of literary-diplomatic exchanges. Diplomatic texts possessed symbolic capital. They were produced, archived, and even redeployed in creative tension with the social and ceremonial worlds that produced them. Appreciating the generic conventions of specific types of diplomatic texts can radically reshape our interpretation of diplomatic encounters, just as exploring the afterlives of diplomatic records can transform our appreciation of the histories and literatures they inspired.
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/cultures-of-diplomacy-and-literary-writing-in-the-early-modern-world-9780198835691?q=Tracey%20sowerby&lang=en&cc=gb#
(pdf is of front matter only)
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Practices of Diplomacy in the Early Modern World offers a new contribution to the ongoing reassessment of early modern international relations and diplomatic history. Divided into three parts, it provides an examination of diplomatic... more
Practices of Diplomacy in the Early Modern World offers a new contribution to the ongoing reassessment of early modern international relations and diplomatic history. Divided into three parts, it provides an examination of diplomatic culture from the Renaissance into the eighteenth century and presents the development of diplomatic practices as more complex, multifarious and globally interconnected than the traditional state-focussed, national paradigm allows.
The volume addresses three central and intertwined themes within early modern diplomacy: who and what could claim diplomatic agency and in what circumstances; the social and cultural contexts in which diplomacy was practised; and the role of material culture in diplomatic exchange. Together the chapters provide a broad geographical and chronological presentation of the development of diplomatic practices and, through a strong focus on the processes and significance of cultural exchanges between polities, demonstrate how it was possible for diplomats to negotiate the cultural codes of the courts to which they were sent.
The volume addresses three central and intertwined themes within early modern diplomacy: who and what could claim diplomatic agency and in what circumstances; the social and cultural contexts in which diplomacy was practised; and the role of material culture in diplomatic exchange. Together the chapters provide a broad geographical and chronological presentation of the development of diplomatic practices and, through a strong focus on the processes and significance of cultural exchanges between polities, demonstrate how it was possible for diplomats to negotiate the cultural codes of the courts to which they were sent.
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Sir Richard Morison (c.1513-1556) is best known as Henry VIII's most prolific propagandist. Yet he was also an accomplished scholar, politician, theologian and diplomat who was linked to the leading political and religious figures of his... more
Sir Richard Morison (c.1513-1556) is best known as Henry VIII's most prolific propagandist. Yet he was also an accomplished scholar, politician, theologian and diplomat who was linked to the leading political and religious figures of his day. Despite his prominence, Morison has never received a full historical treatment.
Based on extensive archival research, Renaissance and Reform in Tudor England provides a well-rounded picture of Morison that contributes significantly to the broader questions of intellectual, cultural, religious, and political history. Tracey Sowerby contextualizes Morison within each of his careers: he is considered as a propagandist, politician, reformer, diplomat and Marian exile. Morison emerges as a more influential and original figure than previously thought.
Based on extensive archival research, Renaissance and Reform in Tudor England provides a well-rounded picture of Morison that contributes significantly to the broader questions of intellectual, cultural, religious, and political history. Tracey Sowerby contextualizes Morison within each of his careers: he is considered as a propagandist, politician, reformer, diplomat and Marian exile. Morison emerges as a more influential and original figure than previously thought.
This chapter addresses the impact of Ottoman diplomatic conventions on the diplomatic community in Constantinople. In particular, it focusses on ceremonial conventions outside the palace and the ways in which ambassadors adapted to a... more
This chapter addresses the impact of Ottoman diplomatic conventions on the diplomatic community in Constantinople. In particular, it focusses on ceremonial conventions outside the palace and the ways in which ambassadors adapted to a political culture where diplomats had few opportunities to attend court, let alone participate in entertainments or audiences. Ottoman protocol determined the physical location of embassies, which in turn influenced the dynamics of inter ambassadorial sociability. The clustering of most European residences Galata/Pera, combined with different ceremonial customs for European and non-European ambassadors also shaped the development of the diplomatic community. While interactions between European ambassadors was sufficiently common that it was used to vie for precedence, ambassadors from further afield showed little interest in engaging with other diplomats, instead preferring to socialise with Ottoman courtiers and religious scholars. This chapter outlines the growth of a European diplomatic community before ending with a comparative exploration of the experiences of sociability and ceremony at court of an English resident, a Moroccan special ambassador, and an intra-imperial Sharifian envoy.
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Recent scholarship has acknowledged the importance of sub-ambassadorial actors in the maintenance of diplomatic relations. Embassy secretaries were a crucial part of any mission, yet their selection and functions, particularly in the... more
Recent scholarship has acknowledged the importance of sub-ambassadorial actors in the maintenance of diplomatic relations. Embassy secretaries were a crucial part of any mission, yet their selection and functions, particularly in the earlier sixteenth century, remain little studies. Indeed it is not always even possible to identify who filled this role for a particular mission. This essay examines the recruitment, training and subsequent careers of Tudor diplomatic secretaries such as Nicholas Alexander and William Honning and the relationship between embassy secretaries, patronage networks, and the Tudor secretariat.
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Roger Ascham’s activities during his time as secretary to Sir Richard Morison, Edward VI’s ambassador to the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V between 1550 and 1553, reveals much about mid-Tudor diplomatic training and careers. Few Tudor... more
Roger Ascham’s activities during his time as secretary to Sir Richard Morison, Edward VI’s ambassador to the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V between 1550 and 1553, reveals much about mid-Tudor diplomatic training and careers. Few Tudor embassy secretaries have left as voluminous an archive of their mission as Ascham, making him a particularly rich case study through which to explore mid-Tudor diplomatic careers at the sub-ambassadorial level.
Ascham’s appointment as embassy secretary was envisaged as an opportunity for him to learn the ropes of diplomatic service and to position himself for a future posting as an ambassador in his own right. Diplomatic training at this point was provided ‘on the job’; there was no academy for ambassadors, nor was there any clear career progression for diplomats, who relied on personal recommendations and patronage links for their appointments. A good university education might prepare a potential diplomat for the bureaucratic demands of the post, but diplomacy was a socio-political activity with a heavily ceremonial aspect. Only immersion in court culture could provide training in the demands of the latter. Consequently, this chapter analyses Ascham’s recruitment, the practical opportunities he was given to learn the ropes, the networks he was able to cultivate, the relationship between his scholarship and his role in the embassy, and his exposure to the symbolic and ritualistic aspects of diplomatic service. It considers his Report of the Affaires and State of Germany, which is usually read as a piece of travel writing, as a testimony to Ascham’s diplomatic education.
Ascham’s appointment as embassy secretary was envisaged as an opportunity for him to learn the ropes of diplomatic service and to position himself for a future posting as an ambassador in his own right. Diplomatic training at this point was provided ‘on the job’; there was no academy for ambassadors, nor was there any clear career progression for diplomats, who relied on personal recommendations and patronage links for their appointments. A good university education might prepare a potential diplomat for the bureaucratic demands of the post, but diplomacy was a socio-political activity with a heavily ceremonial aspect. Only immersion in court culture could provide training in the demands of the latter. Consequently, this chapter analyses Ascham’s recruitment, the practical opportunities he was given to learn the ropes, the networks he was able to cultivate, the relationship between his scholarship and his role in the embassy, and his exposure to the symbolic and ritualistic aspects of diplomatic service. It considers his Report of the Affaires and State of Germany, which is usually read as a piece of travel writing, as a testimony to Ascham’s diplomatic education.
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This introduction to the special issue on English Diplomatic Relations and Literary Cultures in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries situates its essays within the emergent field of literary-diplomatic studies. It discusses the state... more
This introduction to the special issue on English Diplomatic Relations and Literary Cultures in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries situates its essays within the emergent field of literary-diplomatic studies. It discusses the state of current knowledge, providing the first chronological overview of the developing relationship between diplomacy and literary culture across two centuries of English history. Among the subjects addressed are the new literary milieux accessed by resident ambassadors; the use of the press to diplomatic ends; new diplomatic genres such as handbooks and letter-books; diplomacy and controversy on the public stage; literary wit in Restoration diplomacy; and the widening audiences for diplomatic literatures at the end of the seventeenth century. It draws out the findings of this special issue on the development of political publics in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, outlining a complex and multidirectional relationship between the government and public sphere; the role of self-interest in motivating engagement with publics; and the role of imitation in entering public debate.
Free access on Project muse through June 2020: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/753526
Free access on Project muse through June 2020: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/753526
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Francis Thynne's Perfect Ambassadour, written in 1578, is the earliest surviving English treatise on the role of the ambassador. Thynne's conception of appropriate diplomatic activity was influenced by historical precedent. Thynne drew... more
Francis Thynne's Perfect Ambassadour, written in 1578, is the earliest surviving English treatise on the role of the ambassador. Thynne's conception of appropriate diplomatic activity was influenced by historical precedent. Thynne drew directly on ancient Greek and Roman authors; he also included information about classical and medieval diplomacy derived indirectly from more recent publications, such as Theodore Zwinger's Theatrum Vitae Humanae. After briefly outlining the content of the treatise, this article assesses the significance of Thynne's method and explains what it tells us about the mediation of diplomatic knowledge before comparing it to other early modern diplomatic treatises and Elizabethan ambassadors' understanding of their activities.
Free access on Project muse through June 2020: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/753528
Free access on Project muse through June 2020: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/753528
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Free access on Project muse through June 2020: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/753525
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The Introduction outlines the inter-penetration of literary and diplomatic cultures within European and some non-European diplomatic practices, emphasizing the wide-ranging and sophisticated ways in which early modern diplomats utilized... more
The Introduction outlines the inter-penetration of literary and diplomatic cultures within European and some non-European diplomatic practices, emphasizing the wide-ranging and sophisticated ways in which early modern diplomats utilized literary motifs. It introduces readers to existing research within the emerging field of diplo-literary studies and those areas of the ‘new diplomatic history’ which are most pertinent to the core thematic focus of the collection. While situating contributions within this literature, it also outlines the collective methodological and theoretical import of the volume. Paying particular attention to literary representations of diplomacy, diplomacy, and translation, the diplomatic dissemination of texts, and the texts used in diplomatic practice, it draws out a series of findings for the field.
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Royal letters were an integral part of early modern diplomatic communication, intended to shape inter-princely relationships through their content and their material form. The exchange of letters was a communicative mechanism on multiple,... more
Royal letters were an integral part of early modern diplomatic communication, intended to shape inter-princely relationships through their content and their material form. The exchange of letters was a communicative mechanism on multiple, not simply textual, levels. Utilizing an interdisciplinary methodology and focusing on letters sent to and from English monarchs in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, this chapter demonstrates the dynamic interactions between material text and the diplomatic conventions—ceremonial, material, visual, spatial—in which they need to be understood. Knowledge of the ceremonial context into which letters were sent shaped the considerations of how they looked and how they travelled. Although the predominant form of inter-princely letter exchanged within Europe was different from the predominant form of letters between European and non-European rulers, several of the same factors were at play. Rather than indicating a lack of cultural understanding between English diplomats and non-European princes, the epistolary practice of Elizabeth I and James VI/I suggests that many of the semiotics of power at extra-European courts were adeptly recognized by English diplomats.
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Over the last two decades, the study of early modern diplomatic history has changed considerably. Once diplomatic historians took a bureaucratic state-centric focus to the topic and typically produced studies of foreign policy. Now they... more
Over the last two decades, the study of early modern diplomatic history has changed considerably. Once diplomatic historians took a bureaucratic state-centric focus to the topic and typically produced studies of foreign policy. Now they are more likely to focus on the processes by which international relations were maintained, prioritising the study of individual diplomats and monarchs, personal and information networks, and princely courts. Scholars have reinterpreted the chronology and geography of the introduction of resident ambassadors in Europe and have broadened their field of analysis to include diplomatic gifts, diplomatic ceremonial, diplomatic hospitality, and other aspects of diplomatic culture. This article provides an overview of the state of the art.
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News provided ambassadors with political currency. On the one hand they traded it with other diplomats and foreign courtiers for political credit, on the other possessing more recent and more reliable information than other politicians... more
News provided ambassadors with political currency. On the one hand they traded it with other diplomats and foreign courtiers for political credit, on the other possessing more recent and more reliable information than other politicians gave them a strategic advantage. Yet ambassadors were faced with several operational problems: they had to sift through large quantities of rumour, gossip and misinformation and attempt to assess the reliability of the news they were offered, while the communications networks on which they relied were often disrupted by bad weather or warfare. Elizabethan diplomats procured news at foreign courts from courtiers, posts, and merchants, and used agents, clients, patrons and friends to ensure a steady flow of reliable information from home. Moreover, Elizabethan ambassadors regularly updated one another, creating a network that complemented and reinforced each individual diplomat’s networks. They also played an important role counselling their governments on the more public dissemination of news at home.
I haven't uploaded the paper, but the book is available open access from the publisher's website.
I haven't uploaded the paper, but the book is available open access from the publisher's website.
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Historians have long appreciated the importance of portrait exchanges during early modern royal marriage negotiations, but the widespread use of state portraits in ordinary diplomatic practice has been overlooked. Just as letters between... more
Historians have long appreciated the importance of portrait exchanges during early modern royal marriage negotiations, but the widespread use of state portraits in ordinary diplomatic practice has been overlooked. Just as letters between princes played an important role in inter-monarchical communication and diplomatic strategies so too did portraits. Using theories of gift giving, ritual, and friendship, this essay analyses diplomatic exchanges involving portraits between Elizabeth I and James VI/I on the one hand and the European and non-European rulers with whom they enjoyed diplomatic contact on the other. The portraits they displayed in the gallery at Whitehall indicated the state of current and past alliances, while gifts and personal interactions created a nuanced diplomatic vocabulary. Henry IV utilised Elizabeth’s portraits to profess his unending devotion even as their military interests diverged, while the Mughal Emperor Jahangir displayed James’s portrait to create political intimacy despite the physical distance between them. Analysing diplomatic portraiture also offers new insights into Elizabeth and James’s international construction of their image, projection of their magnificence outside their own courts, how they engaged in international cultural competition, and the strategies they used to create amicable relations with rulers of different religious persuasions. Reactions to their portraits reveal the degree of success they achieved and the extent to which such portrait tropes were understood and even manipulated by their allies. By examining a crucial, but neglected mode of international cultural exchange in what scholars are increasingly recognising as a global Renaissance, this essay sheds new light on early modern diplomatic practice.
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This essay explores the ways in which Tudor monarchs utilised the spatial and material elements of their palaces to create a complex and nuanced diplomatic vocabulary. Different areas within the palace were invested with specific... more
This essay explores the ways in which Tudor monarchs utilised the spatial and material elements of their palaces to create a complex and nuanced diplomatic vocabulary. Different areas within the palace were invested with specific ceremonial meanings as the symbolic use of space within Tudor palaces was used to express authority and domestic and international political hierarchies. While the significance of a space was predominantly determined by its function, this could be modified by its decoration, as the display of paintings or tapestries was used to bolster legitimacy, express ideas of monarchy and signal former and current alliances. By exploiting the ceremonial significance of palatial spaces, particularly the distinctions between the ostensibly public and private areas and varying the sites of diplomatic rituals, monarchs created political intimacies or distances between themselves and foreign ambassadors and, by extension, the rulers they represented. A diplomatic audience in the monarch’s bedroom or alone in a private area of the royal gardens was held to be of great significance regardless of any tangible political benefits. Equally, monarchs’ and diplomats’ interactions with the visual culture of the court offered a convenient means to articulate the subtleties within diplomatic relationships in a less formal and more intimate manner that was conveniently less accountable than purely verbal or written modes of communication.
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Portraits of rulers, medals, and other images of politicians were widely used within early modern diplomatic practice. Historians have long appreciated the role of portrait exchange in early modern royal marriage negotiations. Far less... more
Portraits of rulers, medals, and other images of politicians were widely used within early modern diplomatic practice. Historians have long appreciated the role of portrait exchange in early modern royal marriage negotiations. Far less appreciated are the prevalence of portrait exchanges between European monarchs outside of marriage negotiations and the diplomatic uses made of these, and other, royal portraits. Diplomatic art operated within a ceremonial and symbolic system where even small distinctions were imbued with considerable significance and where reciprocity, honour, prestige, magnificence, friendship, and concepts of gift-giving were crucial components in constructing its diplomatic meaning. Rulers’ images played an important role in diplomatic strategy; their display advertised current and past political alliances and suggested the direction of future policy, while portrait gifts and personal interactions with portraits during diplomatic audiences created political intimacies, established confidences, and helped to maintain relations in strained circumstances.
This essay examines Henry VIII's use of polemical works to assert his authority internationally, arguing that this was achieved both through the content of these works and through the mechanisms and strategies by which they were... more
This essay examines Henry VIII's use of polemical works to assert his authority internationally, arguing that this was achieved both through the content of these works and through the mechanisms and strategies by which they were disseminated abroad.
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This essay provides a detailed analysis of the pageants that Nicholas Udall (and others) wrote for the coronation of Henry's controversial second wife, Anne Boleyn, focussing in particular on the dynastic and religious rhetoric of the... more
This essay provides a detailed analysis of the pageants that Nicholas Udall (and others) wrote for the coronation of Henry's controversial second wife, Anne Boleyn, focussing in particular on the dynastic and religious rhetoric of the coronation performances.
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This chapter explores works printed in 1535, contextualising their content and reception against Henry VIII's recently introduced Royal Supremacy, 1534 Treason Law and the 1534 Act for Printers and Binders of Books. It discusses print... more
This chapter explores works printed in 1535, contextualising their content and reception against Henry VIII's recently introduced Royal Supremacy, 1534 Treason Law and the 1534 Act for Printers and Binders of Books. It discusses print produced by the government to persuade the commons of the king's policies and the discussions that surrounded them, as well as works concerned with religious controversies.
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In December 1540 one of Henry VIII’s clerical diplomats defected to the papacy. As contemporaries believed that a king could be judged by the ambassadors he sent to represent him abroad, Pate’s defection caused the English king... more
In December 1540 one of Henry VIII’s clerical diplomats defected to the papacy. As contemporaries believed that a king could be judged by the ambassadors he sent to represent him abroad, Pate’s defection caused the English king considerable embarrassment. His acceptance of the bishopric of Worcester from the pope in July 1541 made Pate a figure of symbolic importance to opponents of Henry VIII’s Royal Supremacy. This article examines Pate’s diplomatic career, paying particular attention to how Pate negotiated the competing claims of the pope and Henry VIII on his loyalty. Although Pate was expected to represent Henry’s church policy, his experiences in embassy also provided opportunities for conservatism, as Henry sought to maintain amicable relations with the emperor and deny charges of heresy. Pate’s case raises important questions about the religious sympathies of those chosen by Henry to represent him abroad and had important consequences for the practice of diplomacy in the early English Reformation. Pate also offers important insights into the motivations of Henrician Catholic exiles, their views of the Henrician church, and their political opposition to it.
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In 1570, Thomas Wilson translated Demosthenes' Olynthiacs and Philippics during a period of considerable tension in Anglo-Spanish relations. What appears at first sight to be a work of classical humanism was simultaneously a hard-hitting... more
In 1570, Thomas Wilson translated Demosthenes' Olynthiacs and Philippics during a period of considerable tension in Anglo-Spanish relations. What appears at first sight to be a work of classical humanism was simultaneously a hard-hitting piece of anti-Spanish propaganda and a critique of Elizabethan foreign policy. By controlling the typography of the translation and adding polemical marginalia and other peripheral material, Wilson masterfully directed his readers' interpretation of the text. He unequivocally advocated military intervention in the Netherlands as the consequences of inaction would be dire: England would lose its current bulwark against Spain's military might, just as Athens had lost Olynthus. Wilson deliberately appealed to the intellectual background of those Tudor statesmen who formed the 'Cambridge Connection' in the Elizabethan government. Moreover, he articulated his message without compromising the integrity of Demosthenes' text or his own humanist credentials. By subtly reconfiguring the role of Demosthenes from orator to statesman, Wilson gave his orations greater political authority. Wilson's Demosthenes also marked an important moment in English intellectual history: it clearly politicises classical translation.
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In the first two decades of Henry VIII's reign, his government deliberately promoted the publication of polemics on the continent. These were principally designed to celebrate his military victories and foreign policy. During the crucial... more
In the first two decades of Henry VIII's reign, his government deliberately promoted the publication of polemics on the continent. These were principally designed to celebrate his military victories and foreign policy. During the crucial years of the Divorce and Royal Supremacy, this policy was extended. Precisely those Henrician polemics which justified the Divorce and laid the foundations of the Supremacy became source books for English diplomats. Tracts such as Stephen Gardiner's De vera obedientia were concurrently sent to English diplomats at foreign courts, presented to foreign courtiers and sometimes published by continental printers. Thus uniformity in English rhetoric at home and abroad was ensured at the very time when the theory of the Henrician church was being developed and faced its strongest criticisms. In practical terms the use of polemical works as diplomatic handbooks also made sense, providing ready-made justifications and potentially saving precious time when composing diplomatic instructions. Throughout the 1530s and 1540s there was also a strong concern that official tracts be sufficiently robust to stand up to public scrutiny. The men involved in the propaganda campaigns recognised too that the importance of a work of government polemic lay not just in its arguments, but also (and often more importantly) in the use to which it was put. The sophistication of both the polemical campaigns and Henrician diplomacy was, therefore, greater than has previously been appreciated.
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This conference will explore the theme of errors and mishaps in diplomacy from c.1500 to c.1800. Panels look at issues such as (mis)translation(s), errors of protocol and preparation, and deliberate error as strategy to shed light on... more
This conference will explore the theme of errors and mishaps in diplomacy from c.1500 to c.1800. Panels look at issues such as (mis)translation(s), errors of protocol and preparation, and deliberate error as strategy to shed light on diplomatic processes and culture.
Registration is open until midnight on 8 November. There is no conference fee. See file for details of how to register.
Registration is open until midnight on 8 November. There is no conference fee. See file for details of how to register.
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Registration required by 17.00 on 28 June 2021.
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" Gifts make slaves as whips make dogs. " Dangerous, violent, and self-destructive gift-giving remains an alluring challenge for historians and anthropologists almost a hundred years after Marcel Mauss's landmark essay on the gift.... more
" Gifts make slaves as whips make dogs. " Dangerous, violent, and self-destructive gift-giving remains an alluring challenge for historians and anthropologists almost a hundred years after Marcel Mauss's landmark essay on the gift. Globally, the notion of toxic and fateful gift has haunted mythologies, folklores, and literatures for millennia. Yet even in everyday practice—to say nothing of more brittle spheres such as politics or religion—it is not always easy to draw a line between voluntary giving and coercion, between generosity and excess, between benevolence and insult, and between gratitude and bribery. No matter how much modern consumerist ideology pursues and tries to exploit the idea of a " pure " gift that is gratuitous, wholesome, and pleasing, the ambiguity of gift-giving is deeply embedded in human culture: the dark side of the gift is the shadow of the perfect gift. Drawing together anthropologists, historians, literary scholars and theologians, this workshop pursues the controversial and dazzling subject of dangerous gifts and pernicious transactions from antiquity to the digital age. We ask what is the politics of dangerous gift-giving? When do gifts do the donor more harm than good? In what circumstances are religious gifts ambivalent? When do they become treacherous? And are digital gifts more dangerous than beneficial?
Attendance is free, but registration is required. For further information and to register please see https://ias.ceu.edu/
PROGRAM
19 May
12.30 Registration, snacks, coffee and tea
13.00-13.20 Welcome and Introductions: Nadia Al-Bagdadi, Tudor Sala, Tracey Sowerby, Alexandra Urakova
13.20-14.45 Divine Gifts and Religious Offerings: Perfect, Imperfect, Corruptive (Moderator: Nadia Al-Bagdadi)
György Geréby (Department of Medieval Studies, CEU) “Every Good Endowment and Every Perfect Gift is from Above”: James 1:17 in Patristic Exegesis.
Davide Torsello (Business School, CEU) How History Converted Religious Offerings into Bribes: the Japanese Case.
14.45-15.15 Coffee and tea
15.15-16.30 Eucharistic Gifts and the Poison of Life (Moderator: Volker Menze)
István Perczel (Department of Medieval Studies, CEU) An Anarchist Ecclesiology? Saint Symeon the New Theologian on the Eucharistic Gifts and Unworthy Priests.
Tudor Sala (Institute for Advanced Study, CEU) When the Gift of Divine Life Kills: The Poisonous Eucharist in the Early Church.
16.30-17.00 Coffee and tea
17.00-18.30 Keynote Talk
Russell Belk (School of Business, York University) Little Nothings: Intangible, Ephemeral, Digital Gifts.
18.30 Wine and snacks
20 May
10.00-12.00 The Dark Side of Modern Gift Economies (Moderator: Tolga U. Esmer)
Alexandra Urakova (A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences) Gifts of Death and Boons of Life: A Gift of Death Motif in American Literature (1850s-1900s)
Sándor Hites (Institute for Literary Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences) Nationalism as Gift Economy: The Unintended Consequences of 19th century Hungarian Aristocratic Donations.
Ellen Litwicki (Department of History, State University of New York at Fredonia) Pernicious Transactions in the Workplace: the Society for the Prevention of Useless Giving.
12.00-13.30 Lunch
13.30-15.30 The Politics of Gift Exchange: Legitimacy, Status, and Subversion (Moderator: Jan Hennings)
Erica Benner (Institute for Advanced Study, CEU) Machiavelli's Prince: A Gift to the Prince or a Gift to the People?
Neguin Yavari (Institute for Advanced Study CEU) Ominous Gifts and a Job Interview in Umayyad Damascus.
Tracey Sowerby (Institute for Advanced Study, CEU) Relics and Other Religious Items as Dangerous Diplomatic Gifts at the Turn of the Seventeenth Century.
15.30-16.00 Coffee and tea
16.00-17.00 Roundtable Discussion (Moderator: Alexandra Urakova)
Russell Belk, Tolga U. Esmer, Jan Hennings, Sándor Hites, Ellen Litwicki, Tudor Sala, Tracey Sowerby.
17.00 Wine and snacks
Attendance is free, but registration is required. For further information and to register please see https://ias.ceu.edu/
PROGRAM
19 May
12.30 Registration, snacks, coffee and tea
13.00-13.20 Welcome and Introductions: Nadia Al-Bagdadi, Tudor Sala, Tracey Sowerby, Alexandra Urakova
13.20-14.45 Divine Gifts and Religious Offerings: Perfect, Imperfect, Corruptive (Moderator: Nadia Al-Bagdadi)
György Geréby (Department of Medieval Studies, CEU) “Every Good Endowment and Every Perfect Gift is from Above”: James 1:17 in Patristic Exegesis.
Davide Torsello (Business School, CEU) How History Converted Religious Offerings into Bribes: the Japanese Case.
14.45-15.15 Coffee and tea
15.15-16.30 Eucharistic Gifts and the Poison of Life (Moderator: Volker Menze)
István Perczel (Department of Medieval Studies, CEU) An Anarchist Ecclesiology? Saint Symeon the New Theologian on the Eucharistic Gifts and Unworthy Priests.
Tudor Sala (Institute for Advanced Study, CEU) When the Gift of Divine Life Kills: The Poisonous Eucharist in the Early Church.
16.30-17.00 Coffee and tea
17.00-18.30 Keynote Talk
Russell Belk (School of Business, York University) Little Nothings: Intangible, Ephemeral, Digital Gifts.
18.30 Wine and snacks
20 May
10.00-12.00 The Dark Side of Modern Gift Economies (Moderator: Tolga U. Esmer)
Alexandra Urakova (A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences) Gifts of Death and Boons of Life: A Gift of Death Motif in American Literature (1850s-1900s)
Sándor Hites (Institute for Literary Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences) Nationalism as Gift Economy: The Unintended Consequences of 19th century Hungarian Aristocratic Donations.
Ellen Litwicki (Department of History, State University of New York at Fredonia) Pernicious Transactions in the Workplace: the Society for the Prevention of Useless Giving.
12.00-13.30 Lunch
13.30-15.30 The Politics of Gift Exchange: Legitimacy, Status, and Subversion (Moderator: Jan Hennings)
Erica Benner (Institute for Advanced Study, CEU) Machiavelli's Prince: A Gift to the Prince or a Gift to the People?
Neguin Yavari (Institute for Advanced Study CEU) Ominous Gifts and a Job Interview in Umayyad Damascus.
Tracey Sowerby (Institute for Advanced Study, CEU) Relics and Other Religious Items as Dangerous Diplomatic Gifts at the Turn of the Seventeenth Century.
15.30-16.00 Coffee and tea
16.00-17.00 Roundtable Discussion (Moderator: Alexandra Urakova)
Russell Belk, Tolga U. Esmer, Jan Hennings, Sándor Hites, Ellen Litwicki, Tudor Sala, Tracey Sowerby.
17.00 Wine and snacks
Research Interests:
Building upon the two conferences from 2015 and 2016, this workshop brought together early career scholars working on diplomacy at the Habsburg, French and English courts in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. This workshop was... more
Building upon the two conferences from 2015 and 2016, this workshop brought together early career scholars working on diplomacy at the Habsburg, French and English courts in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
This workshop was possible thanks to funding from the British Academy.
This workshop was possible thanks to funding from the British Academy.
Research Interests:
Diplomatic studies increasingly focus on the cultural and social aspects of diplomatic practice and stress the agency of individuals within international relations. Despite this, many scholars often still investigate within the parameters... more
Diplomatic studies increasingly focus on the cultural and social aspects of diplomatic practice and stress the agency of individuals within international relations. Despite this, many scholars often still investigate within the parameters of national diplomatic corps or explore one end of a bilateral relationship. In contrast, this conference focused on the cohorts of diplomats sent by different polities to the English, French and Ottoman courts in order to explore the ways in which diplomacy fostered cultural exchange (defined broadly) at early modern courts in this crucial period for the development of the type and scope of diplomatic activity with which early modern rulers engaged. It asked how did diplomats learn the rules of diplomatic practice from one another and their host court? To what extent did their host court learn about how to conduct longer-term diplomacy from them? How did diplomats’ enacting of their own cultural norms influence the foreign political culture in which they operated? What impact did this and the diplomatic exchange of ideas, material goods, and books have on diplomatic culture? What forms of sociability were open to ambassadors and their households? To what extent did distinct diplomatic cultures develop at early modern courts?
This event aimed to bring scholars working on such questions from different disciplinary angles (including, but not limited to History, History of Art, Literary Studies) into productive dialogue with one another. Papers dealt with:
• The ways by which diplomats learned the rules of diplomacy and of particular courts through practice or the ways in which diplomatic practice was forged through trial and error
• The role of diplomatic ritual and ceremonial in cultural exchange
• The sociability of diplomats at court and its consequences
• The cultural agency of individual diplomats and members of their households
• The role of diplomacy in cultural production at court
• The role of diplomatic processes and personnel in the transnational circulation of material goods and ideas and/or the forging of cultural norms at the host court
This event aimed to bring scholars working on such questions from different disciplinary angles (including, but not limited to History, History of Art, Literary Studies) into productive dialogue with one another. Papers dealt with:
• The ways by which diplomats learned the rules of diplomacy and of particular courts through practice or the ways in which diplomatic practice was forged through trial and error
• The role of diplomatic ritual and ceremonial in cultural exchange
• The sociability of diplomats at court and its consequences
• The cultural agency of individual diplomats and members of their households
• The role of diplomacy in cultural production at court
• The role of diplomatic processes and personnel in the transnational circulation of material goods and ideas and/or the forging of cultural norms at the host court
Research Interests:
Diplomatic studies increasingly focus on the cultural and social aspects of diplomatic practice and stress the agency of individuals within international relations. Despite this, many scholars often still investigate within the parameters... more
Diplomatic studies increasingly focus on the cultural and social aspects of diplomatic practice and stress the agency of individuals within international relations. Despite this, many scholars often still investigate within the parameters of national diplomatic corps or explore one end of a bilateral relationship. In contrast, this conference focused on the cohorts of diplomats sent by different polities to the Habsburgs and Popes in order to explore the ways in which diplomacy fostered cultural exchange (defined broadly) at early modern courts in this crucial period for the development of the type and scope of diplomatic activity with which early modern rulers engaged. It asked how did diplomats learn the rules of diplomatic practice from one another and their host court? To what extent did their host court learn about how to conduct longer-term diplomacy from them? How did diplomats’ enacting of their own cultural norms influence the foreign political culture in which they operated? What impact did this and the diplomatic exchange of ideas, material goods, and books have on diplomatic culture? To what extent did distinct diplomatic cultures develop at early modern courts?
This event brought early career scholars working on such questions from different disciplinary angles (including, but not limited to History, History of Art, Modern Languages, English) into productive dialogue with one another. The conference also featured a lunchtime workshop with specialists from the museum sector about working with museums for public engagement and teaching.
This event brought early career scholars working on such questions from different disciplinary angles (including, but not limited to History, History of Art, Modern Languages, English) into productive dialogue with one another. The conference also featured a lunchtime workshop with specialists from the museum sector about working with museums for public engagement and teaching.
Research Interests:
At this one day workshop a number of members of the Textual Ambassadors network met to discuss drafts of the essays they are writing on English/British diplomacy and literary writing from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. We aim to... more
At this one day workshop a number of members of the Textual Ambassadors network met to discuss drafts of the essays they are writing on English/British diplomacy and literary writing from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. We aim to publish these as a special issue of a journal.
This workshop was funded by a research grant from Keble College.
This workshop was funded by a research grant from Keble College.
Research Interests:
At this one day workshop a number of network members met to discuss the essays they are contributing to an edited volume that Tracey and Jo are editing. This volume reflects on methodological and theoretical issues surrounding the... more
At this one day workshop a number of network members met to discuss the essays they are contributing to an edited volume that Tracey and Jo are editing. This volume reflects on methodological and theoretical issues surrounding the relationship between literary and diplomatic cultures in Europe and beyond.
The workshop was funded by the AHRC and supported by TORCH.
The workshop was funded by the AHRC and supported by TORCH.
Research Interests:
This interdisciplinary workshop examined the relationship between gender and politics in medieval Europe and China and featured papers by Professor John Watkins, Dr Anna Caughey, and Dr Bernard Gowers.
Research Interests:
The conference builds upon the recent ‘cultural turn’ in diplomatic studies that has seen more innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to a subject that was once viewed in heavily bureaucratic and constitutional terms. Scholars are... more
The conference builds upon the recent ‘cultural turn’ in diplomatic studies that has seen more innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to a subject that was once viewed in heavily bureaucratic and constitutional terms. Scholars are increasingly appreciating the importance of ritual and other forms of symbolic communication in diplomatic practices and the role of diplomatic processes in cultural exchanges. Diplomats were important political brokers whose actions could have profound implications for international relations, but they played an equally important role in the transfer and adaptation of cultural ideas and artefacts through their activities as cultural agents, authors and brokers. The profound impact of diplomacy on culture in this period is, moreover, seen in the increasing prominence of representations of diplomacy in literature and a range of other media. The aim of this conference is to further our understanding of early modern diplomatic practices, of the dynamics of diplomatic exchanges both within and without Europe, and how diplomatic ideas and practices interacted with other cultural and political processes.
The keynote lecture ‘Diplomacy as a Social Practice: Recent Research Perspectives’ was delivered by Professor Christian Windler (Bern). The conference featured two panel discussions: one on the impact of the ‘diplomatic moment’ and another on future directions in diplomatic studies. Papers and panels addressed aspects of diplomatic culture in Europe and the wider world including gender, gifts, material culture, the dissemination of information, archival practices, international law, cross cultural exchanges and translation, as well as the impact of diplomacy on literary writing and representations of diplomacy. The paper abstracts are available at: http://www.textualambassadors.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/abstracts1.pdf
The keynote lecture ‘Diplomacy as a Social Practice: Recent Research Perspectives’ was delivered by Professor Christian Windler (Bern). The conference featured two panel discussions: one on the impact of the ‘diplomatic moment’ and another on future directions in diplomatic studies. Papers and panels addressed aspects of diplomatic culture in Europe and the wider world including gender, gifts, material culture, the dissemination of information, archival practices, international law, cross cultural exchanges and translation, as well as the impact of diplomacy on literary writing and representations of diplomacy. The paper abstracts are available at: http://www.textualambassadors.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/abstracts1.pdf
Research Interests:
This mini colloquium at Keble College featured papers by experts on illuminated manuscripts and a broader discussion of the uses of such beautiful sources. Several items from the College’s unique collection of illuminated medieval... more
This mini colloquium at Keble College featured papers by experts on illuminated manuscripts and a broader discussion of the uses of such beautiful sources. Several items from the College’s unique collection of illuminated medieval religious texts were on display, including Keble MS17, a thirteenth century psalter which was the subject of Dr Walworth's paper.
Programme:
Julia Walworth: Texts in Images in a C13th psalter: Looking at Keble MS 17
Helen Swift: Picturing Narrative Voice in Manuscripts of Late Medieval French Poetry
Lynda Dennison: The stylistic Sources, Dating, Location and Production of the Wycliffite Bible Decoration in England in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries
Programme:
Julia Walworth: Texts in Images in a C13th psalter: Looking at Keble MS 17
Helen Swift: Picturing Narrative Voice in Manuscripts of Late Medieval French Poetry
Lynda Dennison: The stylistic Sources, Dating, Location and Production of the Wycliffite Bible Decoration in England in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries
Research Interests:
The aim of this two-day workshop was to develop and assess methods of analysis and theoretical approaches for future research on the intersections of literature and diplomacy. A report on our findings and workshop programme are... more
The aim of this two-day workshop was to develop and assess methods of analysis and theoretical approaches for future research on the intersections of literature and diplomacy. A report on our findings and workshop programme are available here:
http://www.textualambassadors.org/?p=166
The workshop focused on how best to approach research in the three related areas under investigation by this network: the impact of changes in the literary sphere on diplomatic culture; the role of texts in diplomacy and diplomatic practice, particularly those that operated as ‘textual ambassadors’; and the impact of changes in diplomatic practice on literary production. Building on research priorities identified at workshop one and online, it used discussion around early modern examples to ask:
◾What aspects of this field require new analytical methods or fuller understanding?
◾What are the benefits and shortcomings of existing analytical and theoretical models and how might these be developed in profitable directions?
◾How can we effectively utilise applicable methodological or theoretical paradigms from other research fields?
◾What can our new methodological and theoretical models add to our understanding of the relationship between literature and diplomacy?
◾How should we further refine the innovative, interdisciplinary theoretical and methodological approaches that we are trialling?
◾What does each discipline bring to the field that is unique, and how can these contributions be combined to offer new insights not possible from just one of these disciplinary perspectives?
◾What more do we need? How might we begin to construct entirely new models for thinking about literature and diplomacy?
The format of the workshop was designed to support innovative thought and the informal and experimental exchange of ideas surrounding the questions set out above. The heart of the workshop comprised a combination of short (10-minute) stimulus papers given by participants and roundtable discussions of short extracts from early modern texts presented by participants. The papers were thought-pieces trialling approaches to early modern literature and diplomacy rather than expositions of completed research and were also followed by extensive discussion.
This workshop ultimately sought to bring greater definition to this growing field of enquiry and formed the basis for the papers presented at the network’s final conference and the essay collection emerging from the network.
This workshop was funded by the AHRC.
http://www.textualambassadors.org/?p=166
The workshop focused on how best to approach research in the three related areas under investigation by this network: the impact of changes in the literary sphere on diplomatic culture; the role of texts in diplomacy and diplomatic practice, particularly those that operated as ‘textual ambassadors’; and the impact of changes in diplomatic practice on literary production. Building on research priorities identified at workshop one and online, it used discussion around early modern examples to ask:
◾What aspects of this field require new analytical methods or fuller understanding?
◾What are the benefits and shortcomings of existing analytical and theoretical models and how might these be developed in profitable directions?
◾How can we effectively utilise applicable methodological or theoretical paradigms from other research fields?
◾What can our new methodological and theoretical models add to our understanding of the relationship between literature and diplomacy?
◾How should we further refine the innovative, interdisciplinary theoretical and methodological approaches that we are trialling?
◾What does each discipline bring to the field that is unique, and how can these contributions be combined to offer new insights not possible from just one of these disciplinary perspectives?
◾What more do we need? How might we begin to construct entirely new models for thinking about literature and diplomacy?
The format of the workshop was designed to support innovative thought and the informal and experimental exchange of ideas surrounding the questions set out above. The heart of the workshop comprised a combination of short (10-minute) stimulus papers given by participants and roundtable discussions of short extracts from early modern texts presented by participants. The papers were thought-pieces trialling approaches to early modern literature and diplomacy rather than expositions of completed research and were also followed by extensive discussion.
This workshop ultimately sought to bring greater definition to this growing field of enquiry and formed the basis for the papers presented at the network’s final conference and the essay collection emerging from the network.
This workshop was funded by the AHRC.
Research Interests:
A programme, summary and overview of the field as it stood in 2013 is available here: http://www.textualambassadors.org/?p=169 The aim of this two-day workshop was to identify productive avenues for future research on the... more
A programme, summary and overview of the field as it stood in 2013 is available here: http://www.textualambassadors.org/?p=169
The aim of this two-day workshop was to identify productive avenues for future research on the interrelationship between literature and diplomacy in the early modern world. It brought together experts in history, literary studies, and cultural studies to address the intersections of literature and diplomacy.
Recent research within both historical and literary disciplines has highlighted an urgent need for deeper investigation into the interlocking literary and diplomatic cultures of the global Renaissance. Historians and international relations scholars have called for new approaches to diplomatic studies, but such historical reassessments have left the role of literature relatively underexplored. Meanwhile Timothy Hampton’s Fictions of Embassy (2009) has compellingly demonstrated a powerful relationship between developments in Renaissance diplomacy and the composition, structures, concerns, tropes and even genres of European literatures.
At this workshop network members introduced their research via short papers and reflect on productive future directions for further study in this important emerging field. Papers and discussions at the workshop asked:
◾What archival and other resources have untapped potential?
◾What kinds of textual exchanges are understudied?
◾What current assumptions require further critical reflection?
◾What are the key gaps in our thinking about this field?
◾What can each discipline contribute to our understanding of the relationship between literary and diplomatic cultures?
◾How might developments in literary studies help us reassess early modern diplomacy?
◾How might recent insights into early modern diplomatic practice inform analyses of early modern literary texts?
◾Which aspects of the field most urgently require new analytical methods and more developed theoretical approaches?
The ultimate aim of this workshop was to identify strategic questions and research priorities for future work in this important emerging area. We also aimed to identify innovative approaches that could be further discussed and developed at workshop two.
The Textual Ambassadors Workshop One Summary draws out themes that emerged in the course of our discussions and gives a taste of the individual papers. Tracey’s introductory survey of the state of the field outlines the various trends in historical and literary studies that make the network timely. You can also see Joad Raymond’s presentation on news and diplomacy here.
This workshop was sponsored by the AHRC and the Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities.
The aim of this two-day workshop was to identify productive avenues for future research on the interrelationship between literature and diplomacy in the early modern world. It brought together experts in history, literary studies, and cultural studies to address the intersections of literature and diplomacy.
Recent research within both historical and literary disciplines has highlighted an urgent need for deeper investigation into the interlocking literary and diplomatic cultures of the global Renaissance. Historians and international relations scholars have called for new approaches to diplomatic studies, but such historical reassessments have left the role of literature relatively underexplored. Meanwhile Timothy Hampton’s Fictions of Embassy (2009) has compellingly demonstrated a powerful relationship between developments in Renaissance diplomacy and the composition, structures, concerns, tropes and even genres of European literatures.
At this workshop network members introduced their research via short papers and reflect on productive future directions for further study in this important emerging field. Papers and discussions at the workshop asked:
◾What archival and other resources have untapped potential?
◾What kinds of textual exchanges are understudied?
◾What current assumptions require further critical reflection?
◾What are the key gaps in our thinking about this field?
◾What can each discipline contribute to our understanding of the relationship between literary and diplomatic cultures?
◾How might developments in literary studies help us reassess early modern diplomacy?
◾How might recent insights into early modern diplomatic practice inform analyses of early modern literary texts?
◾Which aspects of the field most urgently require new analytical methods and more developed theoretical approaches?
The ultimate aim of this workshop was to identify strategic questions and research priorities for future work in this important emerging area. We also aimed to identify innovative approaches that could be further discussed and developed at workshop two.
The Textual Ambassadors Workshop One Summary draws out themes that emerged in the course of our discussions and gives a taste of the individual papers. Tracey’s introductory survey of the state of the field outlines the various trends in historical and literary studies that make the network timely. You can also see Joad Raymond’s presentation on news and diplomacy here.
This workshop was sponsored by the AHRC and the Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities.
Research Interests:
This one day colloquium explored the cultural implications of the production, dissemination and use of texts, whether manuscript or printed. Focussing on early modern England, France and Italy, papers discussed the relationship between... more
This one day colloquium explored the cultural implications of the
production, dissemination and use of texts, whether manuscript or
printed. Focussing on early modern England, France and Italy, papers
discussed the relationship between image and text; cultures of
production, including concerns behind publishing such as censorship,
self-fashioning and marketing; how texts moved within and across
borders and how early modern readers engaged with the texts they
encountered.
production, dissemination and use of texts, whether manuscript or
printed. Focussing on early modern England, France and Italy, papers
discussed the relationship between image and text; cultures of
production, including concerns behind publishing such as censorship,
self-fashioning and marketing; how texts moved within and across
borders and how early modern readers engaged with the texts they
encountered.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
English Historical Review, cxxxi (2016), 1506-1507
SHARP News, 24.2, 27-8
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
English Historical Review, cxxix, 193-4
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Sixteenth Century Journal, 43.3, 782-3
Research Interests:
English Historical Review, 127, 1501-3
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Review of English Studies, 57, 812-4
https://academic.oup.com/res/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/res/hgl133
https://academic.oup.com/res/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/res/hgl133
Research Interests:
Notes & Queries, 56.2, 280-1
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This conference considers the role of error in diplomacy from c.1500-c.1800. Errors could be costly, as several ambassadors found, and they could be caused by misunderstanding or incompetence. Yet they also often provoked discussions... more
This conference considers the role of error in diplomacy from c.1500-c.1800. Errors could be costly, as several ambassadors found, and they could be caused by misunderstanding or incompetence. Yet they also often provoked discussions which the smooth running of diplomatic business did not and therefore often offer important insights into attitudes towards diplomatic practice. At the same time, seeming errors might also be a deliberate strategy. We invite proposals for individual papers or panels from scholars at any stage of career working in any discipline on any part of the world, by 6 August 2021.
The conference will be held on Zoom on two consecutive afternoons. The schedule will be in GMT.
The conference will be held on Zoom on two consecutive afternoons. The schedule will be in GMT.
Research Interests:
In this essay, we call for a new approach to representative assemblies of early modern Europe and beyond. While there are vast national historiographies on their legal constitutional structure, little effort has been made to reconstruct... more
In this essay, we call for a new approach to representative assemblies of early modern Europe and beyond. While there are vast national historiographies on their legal constitutional structure, little effort has been made to reconstruct the cultural and transnational dimension of such bodies, a phenomenon we describe as ‘parliamentary culture’. We argue that there is much to be gained from an investigation of the culture surrounding these bodies- how they influenced and shaped political behaviour and were shaped by it, and how they were embedded into the thought of their time and period- and from seeing them as part of a set of common European traditions of political negotiation and consent. We suggest an interdisciplinary and collaborative agenda for that investigation that might lead beyond Europe too, into some of its colonies, where Europeans also encountered other traditions of negotiated discussion and agreement.