Taking a fresh look at the history of diplomacy, this book looks at the fight for hegemony between France and Austria after the Peace of Westphalia 1648, showing how their clashes dragged the Scandinavian kingdoms into European top-level politics and forced them to take part in the play, constantly negotiating risks and profits. Historians Peter Lindström and Svante Norrhem discuss how the Great Powers were binding allies to their side, and how the Scandinavian countries and their political elites responded. Many of the diplomatic strategies were solidified through family alliances, patronage, and economic politics, something quite different from what is expected from today's diplomatic neutralities.
Gender and Political Culture in Early Modern Europe investigates the gendered nature of political culture across early modern Europe by exploring the relationship between gender, power, and political authority and influence. This collection offers a rethinking of what constituted ‘politics’ and a reconsideration of how men and women operated as part of political culture. It demonstrates how underlying structures could enable or constrain political action, and how political power and influence could be exercised through social and cultural practices. The book is divided into four parts - diplomacy, gifts and the politics of exchange; socio-economic structures; gendered politics at court; and voting and political representations – each of which looks at a series of interrelated themes exploring the ways in which political culture is inflected by questions of gender. In addition to examples drawn from across Europe, including Austria, the Dutch Republic, the Italian States and Scandinavia, the volume also takes a transnational comparative approach, crossing national borders, while the concluding chapter, by Merry Wiesner-Hanks, offers a global perspective on the field and encourages comparative analysis both chronologically and geographically. As the first collection to draw together early modern gender and political culture, this book is the perfect starting point for students exploring this fascinating topic.
Drawing together the latest research in the field, The Routledge History of the Renaissance treats the Renaissance not as a static concept, but as one of ongoing change within an international framework. It takes as its unifying theme the idea of exchange and interchange through the movement of goods, ideas, disease and people, across social, religious, political and physical boundaries. Covering a broad range of temporal periods and geographic regions, the chapters discuss topics such as the material cultures of Renaissance societies; the increased popularity of shopping as a pastime in fourteenth-century Italy; military entrepreneurs and their networks across Europe; the emergence and development of the Ottoman empire from the early fourteenth to the late sixteenth century; and women and humanism in Renaissance Europe. The volume is interdisciplinary in nature, combining historical methodology with techniques from the fields of anthropology, sociology, psychology and literary criticism. It allows for juxtapositions of approaches that are usually segregated into traditional subfields, such as intellectual, political, gender, military and economic history. Capturing dynamic new approaches to the study of this fascinating period and illustrated throughout with images, figures and tables, this comprehensive volume is a valuable resource for all students and scholars of the Renaissance.
This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. This book examines early modern politics, diplomacy and finance by looking at the transfer of money and other resources between sovereigns in return for military or political service, often known as the payment of ‘subsidies’. Focusing on payments made by the French crown, the contributors explore how subsidies provided opportunities for princes, statesmen, generals and merchant-bankers to pursue their political goals. By highlighting the ways in which the payment and acceptance of subsidies shaped concepts of honour and reputation, the book shows how material interests and questions of identity coalesced. The construction of states and the political debates within polities are seen to have been influenced by the movement of money and resources across borders. Consequently, the interaction between financial and mercantile hubs and networks was vital to state formation in early modern Europe.
Vashti Beaufils, beautiful French émigrée, inherited her cousin Marmaduke’s mansion—but she’d never even met Marmaduke. Discoveries rapidly followed: her notorious cousin Valérie had impersonated her when she had an affair with Marmaduke, and the mansion was being used as a gambling establishment. And Lord Stirling though Vashti was up to no good! Regency Romance by Maggie MacKeever; originally published by Fawcett Coventry
A global account of military strategy, which examines the practices, rather than the theories, of the most significant military figures of the past 400 years Strategy has existed as long as there has been organised conflict. In this new account, Jeremy Black explores the ever-changing relationship between purpose, force, implementation, and effectiveness in military strategy and its dramatic impact on the development of the global power system. Taking a “total” view of strategy, Black looks at leading powers—notably the United States, China, Britain, and Russia—in the wider context of their competition and their domestic and international strengths. Ranging from France’s ancien régime and Britain’s empire building to present-day conflicts in the Middle East, Black devotes particular attention to the strategic practice and decisions of the Kangxi Emperor, Clausewitz, Napoleon, and Hitler.
In this introductory guide, Knud Jespersen traces the process of disintegration and reduction that helped to form the modern Danish state, and the historical roots of Denmark's international position. Beginning with the Reformation in the sixteenth century, Jespersen explains how the Denmark of today was shaped by wars, territorial losses, domestic upheavals, new methods of production, and changes in thought. Focusing on the interplay between history, politics and economics, this illuminating text offers an insider's view of Danish identity formation over the last centuries. This engaging textbook is an ideal resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students taking courses on Danish, Scandinavian or Nordic History. Concise and accessible, it will also appeal to anyone interested in gaining a clear understanding of the development of Denmark.
Four hundred years ago, France persuaded Sweden to fight on its side against Germany in the war between Protestant and Catholic states. Rather than some lofty purpose, what convinced Sweden was money. Under the 1631 agreement, Sweden received French subsidies to the tune of 400,000 riksdaler a year for five years. This was only the first in a long line of subsidy agreements between the countries. Sweden enjoyed French largesse for no fewer than 166 years. In this wide-ranging international study, Svante Norrhem traces the patterns of cooperation between the two countries. With his unique command of the archival material, he discusses the reasons for the agreements and the mutual dependency that resulted.
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. This exciting collection brings together new and established scholars of diplomacy from different academic traditions. It will be essential reading for all students of diplomatic history.
The seventeenth-century French diplomat François de Callières once wrote that "an ambassador resembles in some way an actor exposed on the stage to the eyes of the public in order to play great roles." The comparison of the diplomat to an actor became commonplace as the practice of diplomacy took hold in early modern Europe. More than an abstract metaphor, it reflected the rich culture of spectacular entertainment that was a backdrop to emissaries' day-to-day lives. Royal courts routinely honored visiting diplomats or celebrated treaty negotiations by staging grandiose performances incorporating dance, music, theater, poetry, and pageantry. These entertainments—allegorical ballets, masquerade balls, chivalric tournaments, operas, and comedies—often addressed pertinent themes such as war, peace, and international unity in their subject matter. In both practice and content, the extravagant exhibitions were fully intertwined with the culture of diplomacy. But exactly what kind of diplomatic work did these spectacles perform? Ellen R. Welch contends that the theatrical and performing arts had a profound influence on the development of modern diplomatic practices in early modern Europe. Using France as a case study, Welch explores the interconnected histories of international relations and the theatrical and performing arts. Her book argues that theater served not merely as a decorative accompaniment to negotiations, but rather underpinned the practices of embodied representation, performance, and spectatorship that constituted the culture of diplomacy in this period. Through its examination of the early modern precursors to today's cultural diplomacy initiatives, her book investigates the various ways in which performance structures international politics still.
