CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2021
| Author | Golovina, Mariia |
|---|---|
| Title | Knowledge and Reciprocal Diplomacy: Alberto Vimina's Embassy to Moscow (1655) and Ivan Chemodanov's Embassy to Venice (1656) |
| Summary | This thesis explores Muscovite-Venetian diplomatic encounters in the middle of the seventeenth century. It focuses on the Venetian mission of Alberto Vimina to Moscow (1655) and the Muscovite embassy of Ivan Chemodanov to Venice (1656-1657) that took place after decades of silence in diplomatic relations. The present research straddles the fine lines between intellectual history and the new diplomatic history. It examines and at the same time disentangles the state of knowledge about Muscovy in both seventeenth-century Italian notions of Russia and contemporary diplomatic practice. On the one hand, the thesis analyzes the images of Muscovy that circulated in proto-ethnographic writing in the Italian language, treating these texts as both reflections and tools of placing Muscovy in the hierarchies of the early modern political order. It further investigates the basis and strategies of ‘otherization’ and the implications of this process for diplomatic interaction. On the other hand, the study reveals the complex process of Venetian-Muscovite negotiations in the virtual absence of practical knowledge about one another. It tackles the role of imperial/republican ideologies, ceremonial means, and the functions of various intermediary agents in diplomatic self-representation. The thesis, thus, sheds light on the operative mechanisms of diplomatic communication and knowledge production in a broader early modern political context. |
| Supervisor | Hennings, Jan |
| Department | History MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2021/golovina_mariia.pdf |
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