In the seventeenth century, riots, rebellions, and revolts flared around Europe. Concerned about their internal stability, many states responded by closely observing the violent upheavals that plagued their neighbours. Rebellion and Diplomacy in Early Modern Europe investigates how in this struggle for intelligence about internal discord, diplomats emerged as key information brokers and interpreters of Europe's tumultuous political landscape. The contributions in this volume uncover how diplomatic actors interacted with rulers, opposition leaders, informers, media entrepreneurs, and different audiences in their efforts to understand, communicate, and draw lessons from the insurrections in their time. Rebellion and Diplomacy also examines how diplomats actively tried to shape the course of internal conflicts by managing the spread news, supporting political factions at their court of residence, and even instigating violence. Covering different European regions from the Iberian Peninsula to Scandinavia and from the British Isles to the Carpathian Basin, the book will appeal to all students and researchers interested in early modern diplomacy, politics, and news cultures.

The Arab spring, protest movements in the EU, Russia, Turkey or elsewhere, are often labeled as twitter-revolutions. A crucial role is attributed to the new media, coverage of events abroad and ensuing mutual reactions. With the dissemination of print, revolts in early-modern times faced the challenge of a similar media-revolution. This influenced the very face of the events that could become full-fledged propaganda wars once the insurgents had won access to the printing press. But it also had an impact on revolt-narratives. Governments severely persecuted dissident views in such delicate issues as revolts. Observers abroad had no such divided loyalties and were freer to reflect upon the events. Therefore, the book focuses mainly on representations of revolts across borders.