Diplomacy as Performative Politics in Early Modern Courts: A Global Approach

Through an analysis of diplomacy as performative politics, this cluster explores how varied concepts of power were performed during such political interactions in early modern courts. This study brings together seven groundbreaking pieces that examine the dynamics between diplomatic acts and interactions, their actors, and corresponding ceremonies. Doing so reveals how diplomatic agents used cultural constructs to communicate political messages. In adding to the field of Royal Studies, this work illustrates a deepened understanding of how diplomacy functioned as a theater for performances of power between a royal court and its opposing diplomatic realm in the early modern world.