@histodons @historikerinnen @earlymodern

Of course #emdiplomats and #emdiplomacysSources played an important part in these discussions. Firstly, they often acted as cultural brokers, as they collected and obtained special objects, delicacies and other luxury goods for their rulers. For our #handbook Elisabeth Natour talked about the relationship between art and diplomacy and the role of #emdiplomats as cultural brokers. (2/)

https://hcommons.social/@emdiplomacy/111997262704877738

@FAU @womenknowhistory @histodons @earlymodern

Félicité picks up on the fascinating example of trading companies: Although no sovereign powers from a European perspective, they acted quite independently in Asia for example and in fact helped the European monarchies establishing diplomatic contacts. She argues that “these institutions both co-produced diplomacy and were produced by diplomacy.” Thus, focussing on the sending institutions of #emdiplomacy deepens our understanding of early modern European political culture and state formation in general. (5/5)

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In a first step, Félicité looks into contemporary theory on the right of legation that was closely linked to debates on sovereignty, thereby discussing authors such as Jean Bodin and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz. While in theory the right of legation was linked to sovereign power, there were a lot of actors who did not have full sovereignty according to theory, but who clearly acted diplomatically. (3/5)

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For the #handbook Félicité asks the fundamental question: Who was allowed to sent out #emdiplomats? She explains that the actor-centred approach of #NDH has led to the neglect of the institutional side of diplomacy in favor of diplomatic actors. But in order to understand #emdiplomacy we also must pay attention to the “sending institutions”. (2/5)

#NewDiplomaticHistory #diplomacy #earlymodern #history
@histodons @earlymodern

Although we somehow consider ourselves being experts in the field of #NewDiplomaticHistory, we faced great difficulties in finding information on #black #emdiplomacy.

One reason for this is that #GlobalHistory, however, focuses strongly on the Americas and Asia. Research on Africa and #earlyModern African #diplomacy is very limited though it has existed since the #MiddleAges at least.

Another reason for the underrepresentation of #earlyModern African history in #NewDiplomaticHistory is the lack of sources. As many African regions had other traditions than written sources, it is difficult to access African #emdiplomacy. This is also why existing research heavily focuses on a few exampels and regions when it comes to #black #emdiplomacy, mostly Ethiopa, Kongo and the North of the continent. (2/2)

#NewDiplomaticHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #history #histodons

@earlymodern @histodons @historikerinnen

For Cape Verde's officials to be able to confirm the high status that the Prussians themselves assigned to the Prussian enterprise, they had to embody what they considered the highest form of authority: that of the Enlightened, Christian, male and white European who was the polar opposite of the illiterate, savage, black African. In the Prussians' vision, this binary could not be destabilized: to recognize hybridity or alterity in the local elites, to question their status as “Europeans,” would be to question the legitimacy they could confer on the Prussians, which was of existential importance for them, as Gottmann argues.

This example of the encounter between representatives of the Prussian East India Company and local Cabo Verde authorities highlights the challenges of intercultural #emdiplomacy and the difficulties to deal with hybridity. (7/7)

#BlackHistoryMonth #NewDiplomaticHistory #GlobalHistory #earlymodern

@historikerinnen @earlymodern @histodons @womenknowhistory

However, on closer observation their identity as metropolitan Europeans was fragile. The dinner that was opened and concluded with a handwashing ceremony unfamiliar to the Prussians illustrates this. Undercooked bread, the dishes a mixture of European and African cuisine and the digestif was the most exotic of all: a decidedly un-European coconut to drink.

The dinner was not presided over by the local governor’s wife. Instead, said lady stayed in the courtyard kitchen, dressed like the locals and clearly comfortable in the company of her daughters and their black servants and slaves, all working together, laughing, joking, and cooking.

Indeed, just like the local children, the youngest of the governor’s twelve sons and daughters toddled around the house after dinner, coming up to cuddle the guests entirely naked. (6/7)

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Gottmann argues that “Demonstrative performances of diplomatic rites reinforced the local elite’s social preeminence. At a vast distance from the metropolis that conferred their status, in an uncertain and oftentimes violent local climate marked by constant fear of uprisings against a weak ruling structure without significant coercive powers, such symbolic reinforcement of social stratification was one of the few means the local leaders had to reinforce their vulnerable position.”

As part of the ongoing symbolic exchanges and performance of hospitality rites, the local governor arranged a formal dinner for the senior staff of the Prussian ship to display his social status: Real silverware and several sumptuous courses were accompanied by freshly-cooked white bread, made from white Portuguese flour, a rarity on these islands. (5/7)

#emdiplomacy #NewDiplomaticHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #earlymodern #history #histodons

@historikerinnen @earlymodern @histodons @womenknowhistory

In her article "Mixed Company in the Contact Zone: the “Glocal” Diplomatic Efforts of a Prussian East Indiaman in 1750s Cape Verde" Felicia Gottmann uses the case of the #Prussian East Indian company to analyse the diplomatic strategies marginalized and hybrid players could adopt to project themselves onto the #earlymodern global stage and locally counterbalance the hegemonic Northern European Atlantic powers: (4/7)

https://brill.com/view/journals/jemh/23/5/article-p423_2.xml

#emdiplomacy #NewDiplomaticHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #history #histodons #GlobalHistory

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