Diplomatic documents – letters, dispatches, and final ambassadorial reports – have long been among the richest sources for studying political culture and communication in early modern Europe. Produced at the intersection between information, negotiation, and representation, these texts illuminate both the mechanisms of statecraft and the wider processes through which knowledge about events, persons, and policies was produced, transmitted, and received across linguistic, confessional, and political frontiers. From the late fifteenth to the eighteenth century, diplomatic networks became crucial conduits for the exchange of political intelligence and news, linking courts and chancelleries to transnational communities of readers and informants.
Recent scholarship inspired by the so-called New Diplomatic History has emphasized the cultural, social, and informational dimensions of diplomacy, viewing it not merely as an instrument for policymaking but as a dynamic system of communication. Building on these perspectives, issue 16 invites contributions that reconsider diplomacy as a medium for the circulation of political information where practices of intelligence, record-keeping, and reportage intersected with broader systems of communication: manuscript newsletters (avvisi), printed gazettes, chronicles, and histories. Attention will also be given to the porosity of boundaries between diplomatic, political, and historiographical writing, exploring how documents such as the Relazioni degli ambasciatori veneti (Reports of the Venetian Ambassadors) functioned simultaneously as official reports and as sources for later historical narratives.
Themes and Perspectives
Contributors are encouraged to engage with the approaches of the New Diplomatic History (exemplified for instance by John Watkins, Daniela Frigo, Maartje van Gelder, Christian Windler, etc.), which conceives diplomacy as a cultural and communicative practice embedded in social, material, and informational contexts. Possible topics include:
- The interaction between diplomatic reporting and other genres of early modern news (avvisi, gazettes, chronicles, or historical works).
- The role of ambassadors, residents, and secretaries as mediators and interpreters of political knowledge.
- The compilation and circulation of final ambassadorial reports as instruments of political memory.
- The use of diplomatic archives and materials in early modern historiography, including historical works based largely on manuscript sources.
- Comparative analyses of European diplomatic networks (Venetian, Spanish, French, English, Imperial, Papal, and others).
- The circulation of information across confessional, linguistic, and geographical borders.
- The material infrastructures – scribal, postal, and print – that shaped the transmission of political news.
- Digital or interdisciplinary approaches to diplomatic and news sources.
- Literary and linguistic aspects of diplomatic communication and news.
Submission Information
Manuscripts (maximum 10,000 words, including notes and bibliography) should be submitted in English and prepared according to the Journal of Early Modern Studies Style Sheet Each submission should include:
- Title, author’s name, institutional affiliation, and email address
- Abstract (100–200 words)
- 4–5 keywords in alphabetical order
All articles will undergo double-blind peer review according to the journal’s evaluation form. Contributions by non-native speakers of English must be revised by a native speaker before final submission.
Timeline
- Submission deadline: 31 January 2026
- Notification of acceptance: 30 April 2026
- Final manuscripts due: 15 September 2026
- Publication: March 2027
Contact
Please send proposals and manuscripts to b.dooley@ucc.ie, villani@umd.edu and jems@comparate.unifi.it with the subject line JEMS Special Issue – Diplomacy and Information Circulation.
For questions regarding the issue, please contact:
Brendan Dooley (University College Cork) – b.dooley@ucc.ie
Stefano Villani (University of Maryland) – villani@umd.edu
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