Mazarchuk D. V.

Regional specialization of English diplomats -in late 15th and the first half of the 16th century P.  52 –61.

UDC 327(420)«14/15»

DOI 10.37724/RSU.2024.82.1.006

 

Abstract. The purpose of the article is to analyze appointments of English ambassadors to certain regions and how the choices were connected with the candidates’ service experience. The period under discussion covers the late 15th and the first half of the 16th centuries. The subject is the regional specialization of diplomats, which is

understood as the correlation between their place of service and the diplomatic tasks carried out in the region. The relevance of the issue posed is due to the need to determine the degree of professionalization of British diplomacy in the context of general trends in the development of Western European diplomacy during the Italian Wars.

Based on the analysis of data from the prosopography of English diplomats of the period under discussion, we conclude that regional specialization of diplomats was observed in two social categories: nobility and clergy. For both categories, there is a high degree of correlation between civil service in the Scottish border areas (marсhes) and appointment of ambassador to the Scottish court. For diplomats of noble birth, there is also a correlation between service in the Pale of Calais and a diplomatic appointment to France. For diplomats of other social groups, no regional specialization is evident.

It is concluded that the identified patterns associated with the regional specialization of English ambassadors at the end of the 15th — first half of the 16th centuries reflect a tendency towards professionalization of English diplomacy. The factor of professionalization was a conscious strategy of the state authorities to appoint ambassadors according to certain criteria. One of these criteria was experience of service in a region close to the new place of the diplomatic mission.

 

Keywords: English diplomatic service, England, history of diplomacy, Italian wars, early modern times, regional specialization of diplomats, Tudor England, Tudors.

 

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