Information, Intelligence and Negotiation in the West European Diplomatic World, 1558-1588

This dissertation explores the Reformation world that helped to create and solidify many of our modern diplomatic institutions, including concepts concerning resident embassies, ambassadors’ duties, and internationally recognized diplomatic privileges. In the early sixteenth century, Western European governments took hesitant steps toward implementing Italian models of diplomatic discourse developed in the previous century. The advent of the Reformation halted this progression and ultimately caused the early Reformation monarchs to abandon this experiment. Their successors revived the practice the middle of the sixteenth century because of financial constraints; the medieval preference for war instead of diplomacy could no longer be indulged because the key states of Western Europe—England, France and Spain—all verged on bankruptcy and faced internal turmoil caused in large part by the Reformation. Thus, these states turned to diplomacy out of necessity, and adapted the new institutions to suit their needs. The resurgence of diplomacy in Europe after the ratification of the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559 demonstrated the vital importance of information to the nascent diplomatic system. The need to control all stages of the information cycle—its acquisition, dissemination and utilization—crossed national, religious, political, social and cultural lines. Without accurate and reliable information, governments could not succeed at international negotiations and protect national interests. The logistical limitations of the new practice virtually guaranteed that each nation developed strikingly similar methods of accomplishing their goals, regardless of their political structures or religious position. Ambassadors and governments collected information from their sources, dispatched it through networks of couriers, and utilized it to the best extent possible in their negotiations. This dissertation explores the logistics and processes used to accomplish these goals from a multi-national perspective. It argues that these governments engaged in vital and increasingly prominent forms of diplomatic discourse, and that they endured despite the polarizing impact of the Reformation.