Introduction: Cross-Confessional Diplomacy and Diplomatic Intermediaries in the Early Modern Mediterranean

Abstract

Journal of early modern history 19 (2015) AbstractThis special issue, an exercise in integrated Mediterranean history through the lens of diplomacy, demonstrates that diplomatic genres and practices associated with a European political and cultural tradition, on the one hand, or an Islamic tradition, on the other, were not produced in isolation but attained meaning through the process of mediation and negotiation among intermediaries of different confessional and social backgrounds. Building on the "new diplomatic history," the essays focus on non-elite (e.g. Christian slaves, renegades, Jewish doctors, Moriscos) and less commonly studied (mid-and high-ranking Muslim officials) intermediaries in Mediterranean crossconfessional diplomacy. The issue argues that the early modern period witnessed a relative balance of power among Muslim-and Christian-ruled polities: negotiations entailed not only principles of reciprocity, parity, and commensurability, but these were actually enforceable in practice. This challenges the notion of European diplomatic supremacy, prompting scholars to fundamentally rethink the narrative about the origins of early modern diplomacy.

Madrid as an urban nexus for seventeenth-century diplomacy

“…Daniela Frigo has used the title of the "new diplomatic history" to refer to the renovation of diplomatic studies and it has since gained currency in international academic circles (Frigo, 2000). For some historians this title has since become somewhat redundant (Watkins, 2008), but it has prompted reflection on the emergence of a promising interdisciplinary space for studies offering a deeper insight into the complexity of early modern diplomacy, while also engaging with the question of gender (Sluga and James, 2016) and other issues that merit greater scrutiny, such as cross-confessional diplomacy (Van Gelder and Krstić, 2015). The latter two key lines of enquiry are also addressed in the articles presented here, and in particular those by Franganillo and González Cuerva.…”

Fernando el Católico ante la sublime puerta: presagio y conquista del imperio otomano en el Memorial de Pedro Navarro (1506-1507)

“…Setton, 1992. dadera», mientras el sultán ofrecía a los Reyes Católicos una «paz y perpetua amistad como si fueran de una mesma creencia» (Rodríguez Villa, 1908: 425-426). Se anudaban así las utopías de los dos grandes poderes que se consolidaban a ambos extremos del Mare nostrum, formando un continuum ideológico-profético que anhelaba la restauración de la unidad religiosa y la superación de las diferencias mediante la conversión (Gelder y Krstić, 2005;García-Arenal, 2003).…”

Şah I. Abbas’ın Bir Akdeniz Politikası Var mıydı?

“…Simancas Arşivleri, Safevi İranı ile İspanya monarşisi arasındaki ittifaklara ve antlaşmalara dair her türlü rapor, mektup ve haberi içeriyor. Bu arşivde, Avrupalı seyyahların, temsilcilerin ve "beklenmedik diplomatik arabuluculuk stratejilerini" ortaya çıkaran zamanlarda İsfahan'da bulunmuş rahiplerin anlatılarından oluşan İspanyolca ve Portekizce diplomatik materyaller 40 mevcuttur ve bu materyaller Safeviler hakkında; önemli kısmı Osmanlılara karşı bir ittifak yapılmasına, Hürmüz'deki durum ve İran'daki Hıristiyan azınlıkların vaziyetlerine vb. konulara odaklanan değerli bilgiler vermektedir.…”