The Ambassadors: From Ancient Greece to the Nation State

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Jonathan Wright. The Ambassadors: From Ancient Greece to the Nation State

The Ambassadors. From Ancient Greece to the Nation State. Jonathan Wright

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I ‘Glorious Hermes, Herald of the Deathless Gods’ i. The World of Greek Diplomacy

ii. The Trial of Timarchus

CHAPTER II Greeks and Indika. i. Alexander

ii. Megasthenes

CHAPTER III A Sanskrit Machiavelli. i. Debating Diplomacy

ii. The Arthasastra

CHAPTER IV The Son of Heaven. i. The Boxers

ii. Chang Ch’ien

CHAPTER V Charlemagne’s Elephant. i. Gift-Giving

ii. Aachen

CHAPTER VI Byzantium. i. Attila

ii. Liudprand

CHAPTER VII The Crown of Thorns

CHAPTER VIII A Rooftop in Naples: Europe and the Mongols. i. The Road to Karakorum

ii. Rabban Sauma

CHAPTER IX The New Diplomacy. i. Tamerlane

ii. Italy

CHAPTER X Reformation. i. An Age of Discovery

ii. The Field of the Cloth of Gold

iii. The View from Venice

CHAPTER XI Schisms. i. Chapels

ii. Immunities

iii. Don Alvaro de la Quadra

CHAPTER XII ‘An Iliad of Miseries’: Europe and the Ottomans. i. The Abode of War

ii. Harbourne, Busbecq and the Turks

CHAPTER XIII Wotton versus Sherley. i. Continuums?

ii. Ambassador Errant: Anthony Sherley

iii. Henry Wotton

iv. 1648 and All That

CHAPTER XIV The Physics of Diplomacy. i. Jus Gentium

ii. Vattel

iii. A Tsar and a Scientist

NOTES. INTRODUCTION: pp. 1–12

I: ‘GLORIOUS HERMES’, pp. 15–30

II. GREEKS AND INDICA, pp. 31–39

III. A SANSKRIT MACHIAVELLI, pp. 40–51

IV. THE SON OF HEAVEN, pp. 52–62

V. CHARLEMAGNE’S ELEPHANT, pp. 65–80

VI. BYZANTIUM, pp. 81–103

VII. THE CROWN OF THORNS, pp. 107–118

VIII. A ROOFTOP IN NAPLES, pp. 119–141

IX. THE NEW DIPLOMACY, pp. 142–163

X. REFORMATION, pp. 167–190

XI. SCHISMS, pp. 191–208

XII. ‘AN ILIAD OF MISERIES’, pp. 209–224

XIII. WOTTON VERSUS SHERLEY, pp. 227–268

XIV. THE PHYSICS OF DIPLOMACY, pp. 269–299

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

By the same author

Copyright

About the Publisher

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In memory of my father, William Noel Wright

Title Page

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Embassy brought gifts but then, even in the guise of gifts, it also brought threats and insults. When rumours spread that an Ottoman sultan lacked the wherewithal to complete the erection of a new mosque, the shah of Persia mischievously sent him chests of rubies and emeralds. This was not done out of generosity, but to sneer at the sultan’s predicament. The sultan, fully understanding that an insult was intended, ordered the gems to be ground up and added to the mortar being used to build the mosque.

Embassy would forge marriages and alliances but it sometimes left humiliated victims in its wake. In 1160 the Byzantine emperor Manuel was looking for new wife, and envoys were sent out to peruse the likely candidates. One of them, Melisend, the sister of Raymond III, count of Tripoli, had grown excited at the prospect of so prestigious a match. In truth, she had been kept in reserve in case a more suitable alliance with the ruler of Antioch failed to materialize. The ambassadors who had recently seen ‘the girl and admired her beauty’ suddenly changed tack and abandoned negotiations when news arrived that the Antioch marriage had been confirmed.

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