The Structure of the Florentine Diplomacy in the 15th Century: Personal and Institutional Aspects
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52575/2687-0967-2026-53-2-303-314Keywords:
Florence, diplomacy, political institutions, Quattrocento, Albizzi, Medici, ambassador, embassyAbstract
The article explores the development of the 15th-century Florentine practices in organizing international dialogue through the concept of the transition from the individuals’ responsibility to practical involvement of diplomatic institutions. The sources used by the author include works by famous Florentine diplomats (Niccolo Machiavelli, Francesco Guicciardini, Francesco Vettori), as well as some Tuscan diplomatic documents of the Quattrocento era (missions of the House of Albizzi, correspondence of the House of Medici), and the writings of Florentine humanists (Filippo di Cino Rinuccini, Poggio Bracciolini). The novelty of the research lies in attempting to study institutions of diplomacy in Quattrocento Florence in comparison with the mechanisms for organizing and implementing international communication in other city-states of Renaissance Italy, which allows establishing their uniqueness inside Florentine political system itself or compliance with the usual political structures of the Apennines’ states during the period under consideration. The research findings make it possible to determine the degree of interrelationship between individuals and institutions in the development of the 15th-century Florentine diplomacy.
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Galasso G. 1996. L'Italia del Quattrocento, Italia della «bilancia». Annali dell’Istituto Italiano per gli studi storici. XIII: 401–470.
Gamberini A. 2012. The Language of Politics and the Process of State-Building: Approaches and Interpretations. In: The Italian Renaissance State. A. Gamberini, I. Lazzarini (eds.). Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 406–424.
Guasti C. (ed., 3 vol.). 1867–1873. Commissioni di Rinaldo degli Albizzi per il Comune di Firenze. Firenze, M. Cellini e C., Vol.1: 617 p.
Lazzarini I. 2015. Communication and Conflict: Italian Diplomacy in the Early Renaissance, 1350–1520. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 337 p.
Lazzarini I. 2016. Records, Politics and Diplomacy: Secretaries and Chanceries in Renaissance Italy (1350 – c. 1520). In: Secretaries and Statecraft in the Early Modern World. P.M. Dover (ed.). Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press: 16–36.
Lazzarini I. 2012. Renaissance Diplomacy. In: The Italian Renaissance State. A. Gamberini, I. Lazzarini (eds.). Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 425–443.
Leira H., de Carvalho B. 2021. The Intercity Origins of Diplomacy: Consuls, Empires, and the Sea. Diplomatica. 3: 147–156.
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Najemy J. 2006. A History of Florence 1200–1575. Oxford, Blackwell Publishing, 529 p.
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Niccolini E. (ed.). 1972. Francesco Vettori. Vita di Piero Vettori l’Antico. In: Francesco Vettori. Scritti storici e politici. Bari, Laterza: 249–257.
Pieri P. 1952. Il Rinascimento e la crisi militare italiana. Torino, Einaudi, 703 p.
Rivière J.-M. 2005. L’espace politique républicain à Florence de 1494 à 1527: réforme des institutions et constitution d’une élite de gouvernement. PhD dissertation. Paris, Université Paris, 466 p.
Robertson I. 2002. Tyranny under the Mantle of St Peter: Pope Paul II and Bologna. Turnhout, Brepols, 260 p.
Ross J. (ed. & transl.). 1910. Lives of the Early Medici as Told in their Correspondence. London, Chatto & Windus, 420 p.
Rubinstein N. 1968. Florentine Constitutionalism and Medici Ascendancy in the Fifteenth Century. In: Florentine Studies. Politics and Society in Renaissance Florence. N. Rubinstein (ed.). London, Faber and Faber: 442–462.
Wodzicki L. 2023. The Transculturality of Virtue in the Early Modern Mediterranean: A Case Study in Florentine – Ottoman Relations. Cromohs (Cyber Review of Modern Historiography). 26: 132–157.
Zorzi A. 1988. L’amministrazione della giustizia penale nell Repubblica Fiorentina. Aspetti e problemi. Firenze, L.S.Olschki, 125 p.
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