Authority and Diplomacy from Dante to Shakespeare

William T. Rossiter, Jason Powell

A detailed examination of the relationship between the discourses and practices of authority and diplomacy in the late medieval and early modern periods, Authority and Diplomacy from Dante to Shakespeare interrogates the persistent duality of the roles of author and ambassador. The volume approaches its subject from a literary-historical perspective, drawing upon late medieval and early modern ideas and discourses of diplomacy and authority, and examining how they are manifested within different forms of writing: drama, poetry, diplomatic correspondence, peace treaties, and household accounts. Contributors focus on major literary figures from different cultures, including Dante, Petrarch, and Boccacio from Italy; and from England, Chaucer, Wyatt, Sidney, and Spenser. In addition, the book moves between and across literary-historical periods, tracing the development of concepts and...