“i ministri […] sono tutti hormai disautorizati, ne communicano si può dir più co ʼl padrone”: Social Interaction, Communication Structures and Languages at the Prague Imperial Court from the Perspective of the Nuncios and the Roman Curia around 1600
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Guido Braun
Abstract
This chapter addresses the research desideratum of early modern courts as spaces of social interaction and condensed communication by examining courtly communication spaces, structures and languages from the perspective, and in the social environment of, the nunciature at the imperial court in Prague, focusing on the role of communication – or its absence – in the construction of social spaces. The analysis of the communication languages and structures of the nuncios at the imperial court around 1600 produces a tableau in which the purely linguistic communication appears to be less problematic than in other communication spaces in which the nuncios were active in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In contrast, however, there was a complex social space of communication that proved to be very dynamic and unstable with regard to contact with court officials as well as access to the ruler. Nevertheless, the communication space of the imperial court offered the nuncios not only challenges but also multiple political, ecclesiastical, and cultural opportunities, which they were able to utilize decisively, then from Vienna, in the period of the Thirty Years’ War that followed the period under investigation.
Abstract
This chapter addresses the research desideratum of early modern courts as spaces of social interaction and condensed communication by examining courtly communication spaces, structures and languages from the perspective, and in the social environment of, the nunciature at the imperial court in Prague, focusing on the role of communication – or its absence – in the construction of social spaces. The analysis of the communication languages and structures of the nuncios at the imperial court around 1600 produces a tableau in which the purely linguistic communication appears to be less problematic than in other communication spaces in which the nuncios were active in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In contrast, however, there was a complex social space of communication that proved to be very dynamic and unstable with regard to contact with court officials as well as access to the ruler. Nevertheless, the communication space of the imperial court offered the nuncios not only challenges but also multiple political, ecclesiastical, and cultural opportunities, which they were able to utilize decisively, then from Vienna, in the period of the Thirty Years’ War that followed the period under investigation.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
- Protagonists, Issues, and Spaces: Papal Policy at the Beginning of Rudolf IIʼs Reign (1576–1584) 29
- “i ministri […] sono tutti hormai disautorizati, ne communicano si può dir più co ʼl padrone”: Social Interaction, Communication Structures and Languages at the Prague Imperial Court from the Perspective of the Nuncios and the Roman Curia around 1600 57
- Negotiation Spaces of Apostolic Nuncios in Prague at the Turn of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: A Topographic Reconstruction 77
- Hungarians and the Prague Nunciature 99
- Public or Private: The Display of Art in Rudolf II’s Imperial Residence at Prague Castle 119
- Diplomats and the Recreational Spaces of the Habsburgs in Prague: What Was There to See? 145
- Clients, Agents, and Intelligence Operatives of the Bavarian Dukes at the Court of Rudolf II 173
- Saxon Diplomats at the Court of Rudolf II (1609) 195
- An Empress and an Ambassador: The Settlement of Spanish Agents at the Court of Prague (1577–1581) 215
- One Emperor, One Shah, Too Many Ambassadors: Safavid Envoys in Prague (1600–1612) 233
- The Traces of English Diplomacy in Rudolfine Prague 259
- About the Authors
- Index
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
- Protagonists, Issues, and Spaces: Papal Policy at the Beginning of Rudolf IIʼs Reign (1576–1584) 29
- “i ministri […] sono tutti hormai disautorizati, ne communicano si può dir più co ʼl padrone”: Social Interaction, Communication Structures and Languages at the Prague Imperial Court from the Perspective of the Nuncios and the Roman Curia around 1600 57
- Negotiation Spaces of Apostolic Nuncios in Prague at the Turn of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: A Topographic Reconstruction 77
- Hungarians and the Prague Nunciature 99
- Public or Private: The Display of Art in Rudolf II’s Imperial Residence at Prague Castle 119
- Diplomats and the Recreational Spaces of the Habsburgs in Prague: What Was There to See? 145
- Clients, Agents, and Intelligence Operatives of the Bavarian Dukes at the Court of Rudolf II 173
- Saxon Diplomats at the Court of Rudolf II (1609) 195
- An Empress and an Ambassador: The Settlement of Spanish Agents at the Court of Prague (1577–1581) 215
- One Emperor, One Shah, Too Many Ambassadors: Safavid Envoys in Prague (1600–1612) 233
- The Traces of English Diplomacy in Rudolfine Prague 259
- About the Authors
- Index
