„Čest a reputace tohoto státu“
„The honour and reputation of this state“

Dutch Republic in the forum of the „court public“ in the mid-17th century

Summary/Abstract: The contribution analyses the performance of the Dutch Republic in the system of European„court public“ in the mid-17th century and the drafting of ceremonial-diplomaticpolicy by the States General as participating actors. It states that the Republic, in contrastto domestic political rhetoric, neither broke new ground nor behaved ideologically fromthe inside to the outside, as it aligned itself to the rules of monarchic society and strivedfor integration. It analyses two cases when the States General sent abroad a „negative“signal that by all appearances broke the rules of diplomatic communication. It shows thatthis did not happen by accident, because of a lacking in competence or for ideological reasons.On the contrary – in the first case (the absence of a marriage gift for the Elector ofBrandenburg) it was the intentional usage of the means of court communication in orderto send out a clear signal to a foreign partner and his local followers by the province ofHolland. In the second case (the ban on accepting diplomatic gifts) it is possible to interpretthis alleged ceremonial faux-pas as a „by-product“ of a domestic development - itsnegative consequences for the image of the Republic abroad were well perceived, howevertaken into consideration.

• Details
• Contents