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Dynasty and Diplomacy in the Court of Savoy

Dynasty and Diplomacy in the Court of Savoy

Dynasty and Diplomacy in the Court of Savoy

Political Culture and the Thirty Years' War
Toby Osborne, University of Durham
July 2007
Available
Paperback
9780521037914
£52.00
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Paperback
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    This book is a major study in English of the duchy of Savoy during the period of the Thirty Years War. Rather than examining Savoy purely in terms of its military or geo-strategic role, Dynasty and Diplomacy in the Court of Savoy comprises three interwoven strands: the dynastic ambitions of the ruling House of Savoy, the family interests of an elite clan in ducal service, and the unique role played by one member of that clan, Abate Alessandro Scaglia (1592–1641), who emerged as one of Europe's most widely known diplomats. Scaglia, the focus of the book, affords insights not only into Savoyard court politics and diplomacy, but more generally into a diplomatic culture of seventeenth-century Europe. With his image fixed by a remarkable series of Van Dyck portraits, Scaglia is emblematic of an international network of princes, diplomats, courtiers and artists, at the point of contact between dynasticism, high politics and the arts.

    • A major study in English on the role of Savoy during the Thirty Years War
    • Discusses the interaction between dynasticism and foreign policies, and the way in which this involved both ruling families and court families who served them
    • Analyses the relationship between the arts and politics during the seventeenth century in a court world that included Charles I, the Duke of Buckingham and Peter Paul Rubens

    Reviews & endorsements

    '… offers a penetrating and persuasive vision of early modern Europe.' Scotland on Sunday

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    Product details

    July 2007
    Paperback
    9780521037914
    320 pages
    227 × 150 × 18 mm
    0.479kg
    9 b/w illus. 2 maps
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • List of figures
    • Acknowledgements
    • List of abbreviations
    • Names and dates
    • Introduction
    • Part I. Dynastic Power: the House of Savoy and the Scaglia di Verrua:
    • 1. Dynastic power: Savoy and Europe
    • 2. Power and patronage: the Scaglia di Verrua in the service of Savoy
    • Part II. The Treaty of Monzón, 1624–7:
    • 3. Savoyard diplomacy: Alessandro Scaglia and the mission to Paris, 1624–6
    • 4. Pragmatic diplomacy: England, France and Spain
    • Part III. The War for Mantua and Monferrato, 1628–32:
    • 5. The war, 1628–31
    • 6. After the war, 1631–2
    • Part IV. Alessandro Scaglia: Exile and Savoy During the 1630s:
    • 7. Power and patronage: Alessandro Scaglia in exile
    • 8. The House of Savoy and the Scaglia di Verrua: dynastic instability and civil war, 1632–42
    • Conclusion
    • Appendix
    • Bibliography
    • Index.
      Author
    • Toby Osborne , University of Durham

      Dr Toby Osborne was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and prepared his DPhil thesis under the supervision of Professor Sir John Elliott. He has taught at Durham since 1995. This is his first book.