Politische Kommunikation in der frühen Neuzeit : am Beispiel der diplomatischen Beziehungen zwischen der Republik Venedig und Maximilian I. (1495 - 1508) / von Maria Christina Lutter

• VerfasserIn: Lutter, Christina 1970-
• Place / Publishing House: 1996
• Year of Publication: 1996
• Language: German
• Physical Description: 392 Bl.

eng: Within the shaping of the early modem state, political communication was clearly increasing as one of its instruments. It is the central issue of this study to examine the aims, practices, and discursive strategies of early modern diplomacy, based on the assumption that its structural conditions at the end of the 15th century can be especially well illustrated by contrasting two political entities with totally different institutional features and their relationships: because of its geopolitical location and its trade relations, Venice already had a long tradition of diplomatic communication as well as a highly differentiated constitution, whereas late medieval Germany was characterized by dynastic and geographic discontinuities, the typical 'bi-centralism' between the king and the empire, and a political structure based on personal ties rather than on organized institutions. Thus mostly the Venetian archives provide an impressive quantity of documents, dealt with in the first part of the study. Two subsequent parts examine early modern conditions of political communication, its institutional and financial organization, diplomatic reporting, post and courier service. The forms of representation and diplomatic discourse are subject of the fourth part: interests and arguments, ideology and stereotypes, the importance of tradition and ceremonial. The last part treats the criteria for the choice of diplomatic envoys and their social significance. It is the central thesis that, regarding 'modern' stately interests and institutional development the Venetian diplomatic practice was much more effective than Maximilian diplomacy. Still, both communication 'systems' were following the same traditional political common sense. The aims of diplomatic discourse changed very slowly, medieval ideals and pragmatic interests remained inseparable.