MODERN HISTORY 2

The course addresses 2th year students of the LT10 Study Course -LINGUE, CIVILTA' E SCIENZE DEL LINGUAGGIO, Political / International Curriculum; students must have passed an exam of Modern History 1 or of Contemporary History 1.

At the end of the course, students will have to demonstrate that:

 they know the most important phases of historiographical reflection on Court diplomacy in Modern Europe
 thy're able to reconstruct a coherent historical plan of the evolution of diplomatic practices from the Sixteenth to the end of the Eighteenth century
 they're able to consistently use the sources analyzed during the course
 they're able to reflect on the case studies, possibly suggesting further research incomes.

To attend the course, a first exam in History is mandatory (Modern History 1 or Contemporary History 1); the course can be attentends by students following all curricula of the CdS Lingue, Civiltà e Scienze del Linguaggio.

A FAMILY AFFAIR: DIPLOMATIC PRACTICES AND INFORMAL DIPLOMACY IN MODERN EUROPE COURTS

The course aims to analyse the history of Diplomacy in modern Europe, no longer limited to the traditional history of International Relations, but above all attentive to diplomatic practices and the complex interpersonal networks on which they were grounded. In fact, despite the growing professionalization of ambassadors during the Sixteenth century, the diplomacy in the Ancient Regime was not practiced between institutional entities, but within a court society, on whose characteristics recent historiography has helped to shed light. Ambassadors constantly used different networs and multiple information channels for their negotiations: in a dynastic power, such as the courts of modern age, the focus point are the families' strategies and patronage networks, in which women had a key role. After a general introduction on "court society", which will examine in particular the two great dynastic centers of Vienna and Versailles, we will pass on to the history of diplomatic practices in modern Europe, focusing on the most recent hostoriography; finally, some case studies will be introduced and particular attention will be given to female figures, within the so-called "informal" diplomacy practices, based on a network of informal agents and true spies, scattered in European courts.

Bibliography

For attending students:

- personal notes taken during the course and slide which will be made available before each lesson
- furtther suggestions of lecture will be given within the course

For not attending students:

D. Frigo, Politics and Diplomacy in Early Modern Italy: the structure of diplomatic practice, 1450-1800, Cambridge, C.U.P., 2011

For all students, a book selected from list A and one selected from list B.

List A


 F. Leferme-Falguières, Les Courtisans. Une société de spectacle sous l’Ancien Régime, Paris, Fayard, 2000

 J. Duindam, Vienna e Versailles, 1550-1780: le corti di due grandi dinastie rivali, Roma, Donzelli, 2004

 P. Merlin, Nelle stanze del re: vita e politica nelle corti europee tra XV e XVIII secolo, Roma, Salerno Editrice, 2010

List B

 L. Bély, Les Secrets de Louis XIV. Mystères d’État et pouvoir absolu, Paris, Tallandier, 2015

 G. Alonge, Ambasciatori. Diplomazia e politica nella Venezia del Rinascimento, Roma, Donzelli, 2019

 C. Casanova, Regine per caso. Donne al governo in età moderna, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2014

 A. Pennini, “Con la massima diligentia possibile”: diplomazia e politica estera sabauda nel primo Seicento, Roma, Carocci, 2015

An oral test, about 25 minutes long and focusing on the topics of the course: the first question will concern, in general, diplomacy in the courts of modern Europe; the second question will focus on one of the case studies covered by the course; the third and last question will address the bibliography (A and B) selected by the student. Particulary attention will be given to the smoothness of the exposition and to the ability to collocate specific case studies within a more general context.
During the oral text, students must demonstrate:

 to be able to drawn a coherent picture of the evolution of diplomatic practices in Western Europe between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries
 to be able to identify the main themes highlighted by the most recent historiography on the courts of the modern age and their diplomatic practices
 to be able to consistely lecture the sources analyzed during the course
 to be able to independently reflect on the selected case studies and lectures

Frontal lessons, with slides and sources text which will be made available before each lesson.

Italian

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development