Publishing Le Parfait Ambassadeur for Richelieu: the Translation of Vera’s El Enbaxador in Early Modern Europe
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/chdj.2023.023Keywords:
Political thought, History of ideas, Juan Antonio de Vera, 1st Count of La Roca, France, Translation, Education for ambassadors, Political treatisesAbstract
The central years of Richelieu’s government saw a notable increase in the number of political treatises published in Paris after the Journée des Dupes in 1630. Such treatises not only reflected the cardinal’s ideas on political practice but also served to justify them. El Enbaxador (1620) was the first treatise on the ambassadorial office ever written in Spanish, produced at the end of the reign of Felipe III by Juan Antonio de Vera, a nobleman, writer and future ambassador of the Spanish Monarchy. When published in French as Le Parfait Ambassadeur in 1635, it resonated with the political debate in Richelieu’s entourage. Significantly, the text was addressed to Abel Servien, secretary of state for war and main collaborator of the cardinal minister. The translation operation, which involved remarkable adaptations, reveals the compatibility between Vera’s treatise and the aforementioned political debate. The French translation of 1635 was also instrumental to the dissemination of El Enbaxador in early modern Europe, since the later editions in French and Italian, five in total, depend on it. Interestingly, the European fortunes of El Enbaxador can be explained by its readings as a treatise on political education, a handbook for ambassadors and an outstanding text of the Republic of Letters.
Downloads
References
Ballard, M., and D'Hulst, L. (1996) La Traduction en France à l'âge Classique. Lille: Presses Univ. Septentrion.
Barbierato, F. (2005a) "Giovanni Giacomo Hertz. Editoria e commercio librario a Venezia nel secondo '600." Bibliofilia: rivista di storia del libro e di bibliografia, 107 (2), pp. 143-170.
Barbierato, F. (2005b) "Giovani Giacomo Hertz. Editoria e commercio librario a Venezia nel secondo '600, II." Bibliofilia: rivista di storia del libro e di bibliografia, 107 (3), pp. 275-289.
Bazzoli, M. (2005) "Ragion di Stato e interesse degli stati. La trattatistica sull'ambasciatore dal XV al XVIII secolo." In: M. Bazzoli, Stagioni e teorie della società internazionale. Milano: Edizioni Universitarie di Lettere Economia Diritto, pp. 267-312.
Bély, L. (2001) "La polémique autour de L'Ambassadeur de Jean Hotman: culture et diplomatie au temps de la paix de Lyon." Cahiers d'histoire, 46-2. https://doi.org/10.4000/ch.233
Bély, L. (2007) L'art de la paix en Europe. Naissance de la diplomatie moderne (XVIe-XVIIe siècle). Paris: PUF. https://doi.org/10.3917/puf.bely.2007.01
Bély, L. (2013) "Les négociations franco-espagnoles pendant la guerre de succession d'Espagne." Cuadernos de Historia Moderna, XII, pp. 61-76. https://doi.org/10.5209/rev_CHMO.2013.43280
Bernard, J. (1709) Nouvelles de la République des Lettres. Amsterdam: Pierre Mortier.
Berridge, G. R., Keens-Soper, M., and Otte, T. G. (2001) Diplomatic Theory from Machiavelli to Kissinger. London: Palgrave, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230508309
Bertaud, M. (1979) "Le Conseiller du Prince, d'après les Mémoires de Richelieu et son Testament Politique." In: N. Hepp, and J. Hennequin, ed., Les valeurs chez les mémorialistes français du XVIIe siécle avant la Fronde. Paris: Klincsieck, pp. 111-129.
Béthune, P. (1632) Le Conseiller d'Estat ou Recueil des plus grandes considérations servans au maniment des Affaire publiques. Divisé en trois parties.
Béthune, P. (1633) Le Conseiller d'Estat ou Recueil général de la politique moderne. Paris: Estienne Richer.
Béthune, P. (1646) Il Consigliero di Stato. M. Ziccata, trans. Venice: Paolo Baglioni.
Béthune, P. (2012) Philippe de Béthune (1565-1649) : Le Conseiller d'Estat ou Recueil général de la politique moderne. F. Monnier, ed. Paris: Ed. Económica.
Bonifacio, B. (1646) Musarum pars prima. Ioannem Iacobum Hertium.
Brusoni, G. (1654) Vita di Ferrante Pallavicino. Venetia: Turrini.
Burke, P., and Po-Chia Hsia, R. (2010) La traducción cultural en la Europa Moderna. Madrid: Akal.
Carnino, C. (2021) "La traduzione italiana del Conseiller d'Estat tra politica e diplomazia nella Venezia di metà Seicento," Mediterranea-ricerche storiche, n 51, Anno XVIII, pp. 13-40
Church, W. F. (1972) Richelieu and Reason of State. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Cinti, B. (1966) Letteratura e politica in Juan Antonio de Vera ambasciatore spagnolo a Venezia, 1632-1642. Venezia: Libreria Universitaria Editrice.
Cioranescu, A. (1977) Bibliografía francoespañola (1600-1715). Anejo XXXVI del Boletín de la RAE. Madrid: Real Academia Española.
Cioranescu, A. (1983) Le masque et le visage. Du baroque espagnole au classicisme français. Genève: Droz.
Corbett, T. G. (1975) "The cult of Lipsius: a leading source of early modern Spanish statecraft." Journal of the History of Ideas, 36 (1), pp. 139-152. https://doi.org/10.2307/2709016
Davies, G. A. (1965) "The influence of Justus Lipsius on Juan de Vera and Figueroa's Embaxador (1620)." Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, 42 (3), pp. 160-173. https://doi.org/10.3828/bhs.42.3.160
De Bom, E., Janssens, M., Van Houdt, T., and Papy, J., ed. (2010) Unmasking the Realities of Power: Justus Lipsius and the Dynamics of Political Writing in Early Modern Europe. Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004191280.i-348 PMid:20685164
De Franceschi, S. (2014). "La négociation à l'épreuve des mœurs, de la moralité et des caractères. Jalons pour une étude de la science morale des diplomates à l'époque moderne." Histoire, économie & société, 33e année (2), pp. 17-33. https://doi.org/10.3917/hes.142.0017
De Vivo, F. (2007) Information and Communication in Venice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199227068.001.0001
Duccini, H. (2011) Guerre et paix dans la France du Grand Siècle. Abel Servien: diplomate et serviteur de l'État (1593-1659). Seyssel: Champ Vallon.
Elliott, J. H. (1986) The Count-Duke of Olivares: The Statesman in an Age of Decline. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Elliott, J. H. (1991) [1984] Richelieu and Olivares. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fernández Albaladejo, P. (2009a) "Entre la Razón Católica y la Razón de Estado: Senderos de la Raison Politique en la Monarquía Española." Transitions: Journal of Franco-Iberian studies, 5, pp. 97-116.
Fernández Albaladejo, P. (2009b) Historia de España. Vol. IV. La crisis de la Monarquía. Barcelona: Critica.
Fernández-Daza Álvarez, C. (1995) El primer conde de la Roca. Mérida: Editora Regional de Extremadura.
Fernández-Daza Álvarez, C. (2005) "La imprenta clandestina de un embajador español en Venecia: Juan Antonio de Vera y Figueroa (1583-1658)." In: Actas XI Jornadas Bibliográficas Bartolomé Gallardo. Badajoz: Unión de Bibliófilos Extremeños, pp. 109-125.
Feros, A. (2002) El Duque de Lerma. Realeza y privanza en la España de Felipe III. Madrid: Marcial Pons.
Feros, A., and Gelabert, J. (2005) [2004] España en tiempos del Quijote. Madrid: Santillana.
Fumaroli, M. (1985) "Le cardinal de Richelieu fondateur de l'Académie Française." In: Richelieu et le monde de l'esprit. Paris: Imprimerie nationale, pp. 217-235.
Fumaroli, M. (2011) "La prosa del Estado: Charles Pascal, teórico del estilo real. Retórica y política en la corte de Francia en tiempos de Enrique III y Enrique IV." In: M. Fumaroli, La diplomacia de ingenio. De Montaigne a La Fontaine. Barcelona: Acantilado, pp. 105-181.
Fumaroli, M. (2013) La República de las Letras. J. R. Monreal, trans. Barcelona: Acantilado.
Galilei, G. (1966) Le opere. Volume XVII. Carteggio 1637-1638. Nuova ristampa della Edizione Nazionale sotto l'alto Patronato del Presidente della Repubblica Italiana Antonio Segni. Firenze: Barbèra. Available at: https://www.liberliber.it/mediateca/libri/g/galilei/le_opere_volume_xvii_carteggio_1637_1638/pdf/le_ope_p.pdf [Accessed 10/May/2021].
García García, B. J., Herrero Sánchez, M., and Hugon, A. (2012) El arte de la prudencia. La Tregua de los Doce Años en la Europa de los pacificadores. Madrid: Fundación Carlos de Amberes.
García García, B. J., and Maffi, D., eds. (2020) El Piamonte en Guerra (1613-1659). Madrid: Doce Calles y Fundación Carlos de Amberes.
Gil Pujol, J. (2000) "La razón de estado en la España de la Contrarreforma. Usos y razones de la política." In: S. Rus, ed., La razón de estado en la España Moderna. Valencia: Real Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País, pp. 37-58.
Gutiérrez, C. (2016) "The diplomacy of letters of the Count of La Roca in Venice (1632-1642)." In: D. Carrió-Invernizzi, ed., Embajadores culturales. Transferencias y lealtades de la diplomacia española de la Edad Moderna. Madrid: UNED, pp. 187-204.
Hajná, M. (2020) "Umberto Giovanni Czernin di Chudenicz, ambasciatore imperiale a Venezia, nell' iconografía e nella letteratura diplomatica del XVII secolo," Bollettino dell'Istituto Storico Ceco di Roma,12, pp. 77-107.
Herrera y Tordesillas, A. (1593) Diez libros de la razón de estado. Madrid: Luis Sánchez.
Herrera y Tordesillas, A. (1615) Los cinco primeros libros de los Annales de Cornelio Tácito. Madrid: Juan de la Cuesta.
Hotman, J. (1603) L'Ambassadeur. [No editor or place of edition].
Hrabar, V. E. (1905) De legatis et legationibus tractatus varii. Dorpati Livonorum.
Iñurritegui, J. M., and Martín Marcos, D. (2020) "Literatura política portuguesa do século XVII: António Moniz de Carvalho e a soberania do interesse." Ler História, 77, pp. 61-81. https://doi.org/10.4000/lerhistoria.7322
Jouhaud, C. (1994) "Power and Literature: The terms of the Exchange 1624-42." In: R. Burt, The Administration of Aesthetics: Censorship, Political Criticism, and the Public Sphere. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 34-82.
Jouhaud, C. (2000) Les Pouvoirs de la littérature. Histoire d'un paradoxe. Paris: Gallimard.
Kagan, R. L. (2009) Clio and the Crown: The Politics of History in Medieval and Early Modern Spain. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Keohane, N. O. (1980) Philosophy and the State in France: The Renaissance to the Enlightenment. Princeton: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400886319
Kugeler, H. (2006) Le Parfait Ambassadeur. The Theory and Practice of Diplomacy in the Century following the Peace of Westphalia. DPhil, University of Oxford. Available at: https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:be69b6b3-d886-4cc0-8ae3-884da096e267 [Accessed 27/May/2021].
Lasconjarias, G. (1999) "Ascension sociale et logique du prestige : Abel Servien (1593-1659), Marquis de Sablé et de Boisdauphin, Plénipotentiaire aux Traités de Westphalie, Surintendant des finances." Revue Historique et Archéologique du Maine, 3rd series, 19, pp. 191-298.
Lipsius, J. (1604) Los seis libros de las políticas. B. de Mendoza, trans. Madrid: Imprenta Real.
Lipsius, J. (1616) El Libro de la Constancia. J. B. de Mesa, trans. Sevilla: Matías Clavijo.
Lleó Cañal, V. (1979) Nueva Roma: mitología y humanismo en el renacimiento sevillano Sevilla: Diputación Provincial.
López-Cordón, M. V. (2015) "Juan Antonio de Vera y Zúñiga (1583-1658). Modello di ambasciatori o specchio di trattatisti?" In: S. Andretta, S. Péquignot, and J.-C. Waquet, ed., De l'ambassadeur: Les écrits relatifs à l'ambassadeur et à l'art de négocier du Moyen Âge au début du XIXe siècle. Rome : Publications de l'École française de Rome, 2015.
Martin, H. J. (1969) Livre, pouvoirs et société à Paris au XVIIe siècle, 1598-1701. Librairie Droz.
Mattingly, G. (1964) [1955] Renaissance Diplomacy. Baltimore: Penguin Books.
Melzi, G. (1859) Dizionario di opere anonime e pseudonime. V. 3. Milano: Luigi di Giacomo Pirola.
Merlin-Kajman, H. (1994) Public et littérature en France au XVIIe siècle. Paris: Les Belles Lettres.
Merluzzi, M. (2015) "Juan de Vera e l'Italia. Dall'ispirazione letteraria alla pratica diplomática." In: S. Andretta, S. Péquignot and J.-C. Wacquet, ed., De l'ambassadeur: Les écrits relatifs à l'ambassadeur et à l'art de négocier du Moyen Âge au début du xixe siècle. Roma: Publications de l'École française de Rome. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.efr.2918
Michaud, L.-G. (1842) Biographie universelle, ancienne et moderne, Tome 70. Paris: Chez L.-G. Michaud.
Momigliano, A. (1947) "The First Political Commentary on Tacitus." The Journal of Roman Studies 37, Parts 1 and 2, pp. 91-101. https://doi.org/10.2307/298459
Montero, J. (2012) "Olivares y los ingenios andaluces. Sobre el mecenazgo literario del conde-duque." Andalucía en la historia, (36), pp. 16-19.
Oestreich, G. (1982) Neostoicism and the Early Modern State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511562716 PMCid:PMC2561390
Pasquale, C. (1596) De optimo genere elocutionis. Rouen: Raphaël du Peti-Val.
Pasquale, C. (1598) Legatus opus Caroli Paschalii Regij Consiliarij, et in Normania Senatu Aduocati generalis distinctum in capita septem et septuaginta. Rothomagi: Raphaelem Parvivallium.
Pasquali, C. (2014) L'Ambassadeur. D. Gaurier, trans. Limoges: Presses universitaires de Limoges.
Pieters, C. (1858) Annales de l'imprimerie des Elsevier. Gand: C. Annoot-Braeckman.
Pineda, V. (2015) "La elocuencia del embajador: don Juan Antonio de Vera y Zúñiga y las Orationi militari de Remigio Nannini." Studia Aurea, 9, pp. 483-530. doi: https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/studiaaurea.144 https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/studiaaurea.144
Preto, P. (2010) I servizi segreti di Venezia. Spionaggio e controspionaggio ai tempi della Serenissima. Milano: Il Saggiatore.
Reinhardt, N. (2016) Voices of Conscience: Royal Confessors and Political Counsel in Seventeenth-Century Spain and France. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198703686.001.0001
Richelieu, A. (1947) Testament Politique. L. André, ed. Paris: Robert Laffont.
Rohan, H. (1638) Le parfait capitaine, autrement l'abregé des guerres de Gaule des commentaires de Cesar. Avec quelques remarques sur icelles; suivy d'un Recueil de l'ordre de guerre des Anciens: ensemble d'un Traicté particulier de la guerre. Reveu par l'autheur, & augmenté d'un traicté: De l'interest des Princes, & Estats de la Chrestienté. Paris: Augustin Courbé.
Rohan, H. (1639) De l'Interest des princes et estats de la chrestienté. A Monsieur le Cardinal de Richelieu, Dernière edition, jouxte la copie imprimée à Paris. [Leiden: Balthasar and Abraham Elsevier].
Schaub, J.-F. (2004) La Francia española: las raíces hispanas del absolutismo francés. Madrid: Marcial Pons Historia.
Schneider, R. A. (2019) Dignified Retreat: Writers and Intellectuals in the Age of Richelieu. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198826323.001.0001
Setton, K. M. (1991) Venice, Austria, & the Turks in the 17th Century. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society.
Silhon, J. (1631) Le Ministre d'Estat. Paris: Toussainct du Bray.
Silhon, J. (1639) Il Ministro di Stato. M. Ziccata, trans. Venetia: Marco Ginammi.
Silhon, J. (1643) Le Ministre d'Estat, second partie. Paris: P. Rocolet.
Silhon, J. (1644) Il Ministro di Stato, parte seconda. Venetia: Marco Ginammi.
Soll, J. (2014) "The Reception of The Prince, 1513-1700, or Why We Understand Machiavelli the Way We Do." Social Research, 81/1, pp. 31-60. https://doi.org/10.1353/sor.2014.0006
Sowerby, T. A., and Craigwood, J. (2019) Cultures of Diplomacy and Literary Writing in the Early Modern World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198835691.001.0001
Thuau, E. (2000) [1966] Raison d'Etat et pensé politique à l'époque de Richelieu. Paris: Albin Michel.
Ulvioni, P. (1975) "Stampa e censura a Venezia nel Seicento." Archivio Veneto, Quinta serie, Vol 104, pp. 45-93.
Ulvioni, P. (1977) "Stampatori e librai a Venezia nel Seicento." Archivio Veneto, Quinta serie, Vol 109, pp. 93-124.
Vera y Zúñiga, J. A. (1620) El Enbaxador. Sevilla: Francisco de Lyra.
Vera y Zúñiga, J. A. (1635) Le Parfait Ambassadeur. Paris: Antoine de Sommaville.
Vera y Zúñiga, J. A. (1649) Il Perfetto Ambasciatore. Venetia: Wiffeldich.
Vera y Zúñiga, J. A. (1654) Idea del Perfetto Ambasciadore. Venetia: Gio. Giorgio Hertz.
Vera y Zúñiga, J. A. (1662) Histoire de l'Empereur Charles Quint. Paris: François Muguet.
Vera y Zúñiga, J. A. (1673) L'Histoire du Ministere du Comte-Duc. Cologne: Chez Pierre van Egmondt.
Vera y Zúñiga, J. A. (1674) Dialoghi historici e politici contenenti le vere massime de la politica e l'idea d'un perfetto ambasciatore. Venetia: Giovanni Giacomo Hertz.
Vera y Zúñiga, J.A. (1709), Le Parfait Ambassadeur. Leiden: Theodore Haak.
Vian Herrero, A. (2020a) "El embajador de Juan Antonio Vera y Figueroa (1620) y su difusión editorial española." Hipogrifo, 8.2, pp. 817-829. https://doi.org/10.13035/H.2020.08.02.48
Vian Herrero, A. (2020b) "Acercamiento a la difusión impresa europea de El Embajador de Juan Antonio Vera y Figueroa (1620)." In: A. Martínez Pereira, M. D. Martos Pérez, E. Borrego Gutiérrez and I. Osuna Rodríguez, ed., Actas del XI Congreso de la Asociación Internacional Siglo de Oro (Madrid, 10-14 julio 2017). Madrid: UNED, pp. 761-767. Available at: https://aiso-asociacion.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Actas_AISO_Congreso_XI.pdf [Accessed 10/May/2021].
Villani, G. P. [Aprosio, A.] (1689) La visiera alzata. Parma: Gli Eredi del Vigna.
Zdenek H. (2020) "Umberto Giovanni Czernin e la sua ambasceria a Venezia," Bollettino dell'Istituto Storico Ceco di Roma, 12, pp. 45-76.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
© CSIC. Manuscripts published in both the printed and online versions of this Journal are the property of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, and quoting this source is a requirement for any partial or full reproduction.All contents of this electronic edition, except where otherwise noted, are distributed under a “Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International” (CC BY 4.0) License. You may read here the basic information and the legal text of the license. The indication of the CC BY 4.0 License must be expressly stated in this way when necessary.
Self-archiving in repositories, personal webpages or similar, of any version other than the published by the Editor, is not allowed.
Funding data
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
Grant numbers PID2020-115565GB-C22
