Translation in Early Modern Diplomacy

This book highlights the crucial contributions of translators in shaping early modern diplomacy, offering a unique lens through which to understand the growing complexity of international relations and communication in this era.

The early modern period was a transformative time for European diplomacy, marked by the rise of resident diplomacy, the advent of peace congresses, and significant shifts in linguistic practices. As Latin, German, and Italian waned as major diplomatic languages, French emerged as the dominant pan-European medium of diplomatic communication. These changes had profound implications for translation in diplomacy, shaping its role, function, and institutionalisation. New translation departments were established, and the need for trained translators became critical, leading to the foundation of schools and the development of specialised practices. By adopting a transnational perspective, the book offers a fresh, insightful exploration of the evolution of translation and its impact on the expanding network of diplomatic contacts and correspondence.

Bringing a panoramic and multidisciplinary approach to the history of translation, this book is intended for scholars and students of the early modern period, translation studies, the history of diplomacy, the history of languages and historical sociolinguistics, and European cultural history more generally.

The Introduction of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) International license.

Chapter 4 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) International license.

Vladislav Rjéoutski is a Gerda Henkel Fellow, formerly a research fellow at the German Historical Institute in Paris/Max Weber Network Eastern Europe, and principal investigator in a DFG-funded research project on languages in eighteenth-century Russian diplomacy in a European context. He co-authored The French Language in Russia (2018) and co-edited Languages of Diplomacy in the Early Modern World (2026).

Guido Braun is Full Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Upper Alsace (Mulhouse) and Director of the Centre for Research on Economies, Societies, Arts, and Technologies (CRESAT). He co-edited Languages and Diplomacy, 15th to 21st Centuries (2025).

Indravati Félicité is Full Professor and Chair of Early Modern History at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. Her authored and edited works include Le Saint-Empire face au monde. Contestations et redéfinitions de l’impérialité XVe-XIXe (2024) and Regard critique sur les souverainetés, Moyen Âge – XXIe siècle (forthcoming).

Sophie Holm is a research fellow at the Max Weber Network Eastern Europe in Helsinki. She has authored a chapter on languages and diplomatic culture in Early Modern European Diplomacy: A Handbook (2024). She worked within a DFG-funded research project on languages in eighteenth-century Russian diplomacy in a European context.