This paper focuses on the cultural and political importance of papal nuncios' final reports (relazioni finali) as one of the basic sources of knowledge about the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Roman Curia. The final report was a document, in essence a summary, which a diplomat was required to complete at the end of his mission (or immediately after). During the creation of the office of permanent nuncio to the major European courts, the preparation and delivery of the final report often took place orally. Gradually, the relazione evolved into a written version. Throughout the sixteenth century, when knowledge about Poland-Lithuania in Rome was rather poor, the relazioni finali consisted of colourful descriptions of the geography, the history, and the social and political relations of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. During the seventeenth century, this document became more political in character. It related directly to the activities of the papal diplomats, rituals and ceremonials, and any particular problems regarding the missions, rather than extensive descriptions of relatively banal curiosities. Throughout the seventeenth century in particular, when a permanent papal diplomatic presence had just been established in Poland-Lithuania, the final reports were an important contribution to future missions. Newly-appointed nuncios therefore willingly used the extremely important information contained therein. The practice of writing relazioni finali made it easier for the Holy See to consolidate its diplomatic influence and presence in Central and Eastern Europe in the early modern period. It also fostered papal interest in the social and political features of the enormous 'noble' republic.
The paper presents the historiographical considerations about if and why one could insert the early modern State of the Church into the concept of a “small state” and, at the same time, what were the reasons for the great diplomatic success of Rome during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The activity of papal diplomacy is shown as primarily focused on affirming the dualistic authority of the early modern Holy See (both as of a secular territorial state and a universal monarchy of religious character). The analysis also concerns the papal attitude of “active neutrality” as a political and diplomatic strategy focused on achieving the papacy’s “international” position. The profile of the paper is historiographical, as it takes from the legacies of Polish, French, German, English and Italian historical science. The enquiry aims to systematise and synthesise the former judgments of historians regarding the nature of the Papal State’s statehood in the context of the pope’s exercise of universal ecclesiastical authority.The permanent apostolic nunciatures, operating since the end of the fifteenth century, have become the core of early modern European diplomacy, guaranteeing Rome its political expansion after the Avignon crisis, despite the economic and military weakness of its territorial basis: the State of the Church. In this sense, the Papal State ceased to be a “small state” and became a universalistic entity of both political and ecclesiastical character. The Roman Curia no longer only played a passive role in “international” relations; on the contrary, thanks to the new system of permanent diplomatic representations at Catholic courts, it had the opportunity to undertake its own political initiative, act as a mediator and arbitrator, as well as strengthen the control over the religious life of European states.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.