ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the possibilities for diplomats in mid-seventeenth-century Europe to engage in confessional public diplomacy beyond their own confessional sphere. It does so by examining two concrete initiatives Bernardino de Rebolledo, Spain’s envoys to Copenhagen, undertook to defend Catholicism: first the support for the controversial conversion of Queen Christina of Sweden to Catholicism, second the reaction to the Danish edict forbidding the practice of non-Lutheran confessions on Danish soil. This analysis demonstrates the Spanish envoys’ understanding of how public opinion worked and how it could be influenced. Moreover, it shows how this occurred in the absence of clear instructions from their superiors in Madrid, demonstrating the autonomy and agency of early modern diplomats in conceiving public diplomacy actions.

摘要

本文重点讨论 17 世纪中叶欧洲的外交官在他们自己的忏悔领域之外从事忏悔公共外交的可能性。它通过审查西班牙驻哥本哈根特使 Bernardino de Rebolledo 为捍卫天主教而采取的两项具体举措来做到这一点：首先是支持有争议的瑞典女王克里斯蒂娜皈依天主教，其次是对丹麦法令禁止非天主教徒的反应。丹麦土地上的路德宗忏悔。这一分析表明西班牙特使对公众舆论如何运作以及如何影响公众舆论的理解。此外，它还展示了在没有马德里上级明确指示的情况下如何发生这种情况，展示了早期现代外交官在构思公共外交行动时的自主性和能动性。