The mask of dissimulation: Eustace Chapuys and early modern diplomatic technique, 1536--1545.

摘要

Eustace Chapuys acted as ambassador for the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the court of England's King Henry VIII from 1529 to 1545. Chapuys spent his sixteen-year embassy performing a variety of tasks, but is primarily known as the author of a rich collection of diplomatic dispatches recounting political life in England leading up to and following Henry VIII's break from the Roman Church, the "Henrician Reformation." In this thesis, we investigate the techniques that Chapuys employed in the performance of his political role and in the writing of his dispatches. This study illuminates the practice of early modern international relations by applying modern political and linguistic analytical tools to the sixteenth century in order to shed new light on early modern practice.; This thesis focuses on the second half of Eustace Chapuys's embassy in England, particularly the years between 1536 and 1545 for three reasons. First, many historians have focused on diplomatic history of Henrician England up to 1536 because of the "Divorce Crisis," Henry's ultimately failed attempt to gain a Papal annulment of his marriage to Katherine of Aragon. The "Divorce Crisis" gave birth to what would grow into the Anglican Church, leaving a distracting layer of religious arguments and interpretations before getting to the ambassador and his texts. Second, we can more easily shift discussions away from the high drama of the Henrician Reformation in favor of the activities of an early modern diplomat performing duties continued by his successors: negotiating military alliances, gathering intelligence, and smoothing trade relations. This concentration on the previously obscured and poorly-understood activities of Eustace Chapuys will, in turn, allow historians to construct more nuanced interpretations of the period of the Henrician Reformation and the Divorce Crisis. Third, the Imperial diplomatic system in England and Chapuys's diplomatic habits had become well-established after seven years serving in London: his actions and words as an experienced ambassador will shed greater light on a more practiced form of interaction and representation.