Prudence and Experience: Ambassadors and Political Culture in Early Modern Italy

Diplomacy did not exist in the sense of an abstract institution until the end of 18 century. But as concret activity and as particular type of political knowledge, diplomacy assumes a growing importance in the modern age. What was central to relations among states was not a sphere of formalized actions (“diplomacy”) but a “role,” or an “office: that of ambassador. This contribution try to sketch out the features, the activities and the political learning of modern ambassadors, both in the leaterature about the ambassador’s institutio, and in the political practice of Early Modern Italy. Instead of writing about diplomacy as a specific sector of statecraft, early modern authors focused on the ambassador’s moral profile and duties. Until the late seventeenth century, writings about ambassadorship were primarily works on political ethics and education in a “role.”