The Relationships between the Apostolic Nuncios and Sigismund III
Abstract
The aim of this article is to analyze the activities of the apostolic nuncios in building relationships with King Sigismund III. The author describes the practices of ten successive nuncios during this ruler’s reign, pointing out similarities and differences in the predispositions of successive diplomats and the social and political circumstances of their actions. The author concludes that the nuncios employed various practices in their relations with the king. Some were not interested in establishing a close relationship, others focused on intense but formal and official contacts, and only two – Claudio Rangoni and Giovanni Battista Lancellotti – established an emotional bond. The author argues that Sigismund III, deprived of the opportunity to have a permanent ambassador to the Papal States, treated the nuncios as potential representatives of his interests in Rome during their later careers, a process that yielded positive results in the cases of Cosimo de Torres and Antonio Santa Croce.
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