by Toby Osborne
While historians of 1688 have written of the Glorious Revolution as an Anglo-Dutch moment, contextualised in a global context, what of its more specifically Anglo-Italian dimension, established largely by James II’s second marriage, in 1673, to Mary of Modena, and the short-lived resumption of diplomatic ties with the papacy after 1685? To date, there have been few studies that have given this theme much attention, and Mary of Modena’s influence at the Stuart court has accordingly been underplayed. This slim volume seeks to address this gap and in doing so adds a further dimension to our understanding of the culture and politics of late Stuart England in its international setting, and indeed of the importance of the Stuart court to the powers of Italy at the time.
In effect, the volume comprises three rather loosely connected essays, with a prefatory essay by Christopher Storrs, whose work on Victor Amadeus II, duke of Savoy, alongside that of the late Robert Oresko, represents one valuable contribution to this field. Cont’s stated aim in his introduction is to present a multidisciplinary approach to Anglo-Italian relations, drawing on diplomatic, religious, social, cultural and literary history, supported by a broad range of source material. The essays here are grounded principally on good range of political and diplomatic papers in the archives of Modena, with work also from other north Italian archives in Florence, Venice and Turin, along with material from London’s National Archives; perhaps a bit surprisingly, since the second chapter examines Anglo-papal relations, there is not much work here from the rich Vatican archives. It is a pity also that there is no bibliography at the end of the book to help the reader.
Given the extensive use of Modenese archival material across the book, the first essay understandably focuses on Maria Beatrice d’Este—Mary of Modena—the last of a remarkable succession of European Catholic consorts who married recognised Stuart kings. Cont explores her role in London as the gravitational centre of an Anglo-Italian cosmopolitan group of courtiers, bringing a north Italian dimension to her household and more generally to court musical and artistic endeavours. Her political role was nevertheless complicated by various factors, notably the connections between the Este family and France, and the birth in June 1688 of a son, James Stuart, the future ‘Old Pretender’. Mary’s place in London furthermore exposed some of the cleavages and differences among English Catholics themselves. Refreshingly, Cont does not present a story solely from the perspective of London; attention is given also to the importance of the royal Stuarts to the ducal Este from their viewpoint in Modena, and of how, through dynastic connections, and also through diplomatic exchanges, the Este sought to strengthen their international standing as a sovereign family.
The second chapter turns attention to relations between James II and the apal court. For the first time since Mary Tudor in the mid-sixteenth century, James’s accession saw the resumption of formal diplomatic relations between England and the papacy, as this essay explores. Not that England had been far from Rome’s notice. Cont rightly draws attention, in particular, to the long-standing interest of the Barberini family of Pope Urban VIII in the Stuarts, a connection that continued though the Este, since the Barberini had married into that family. However, Cont’s argument, based principally on material from The National Archives, alongside supporting diplomatic material from north Italian archives, is that the path towards diplomatic relations was rockier than we might assume. Thus, there were difficulties over which cardinal might in effect act as England’s national protector, paralleled by underlying tensions about whether James would pursue a ‘Gallican’ approach to church authority. Nor did the Earl of Castlemaine’s ‘embassy of obedience’ pass off smoothly, though he at least made an impression in papal Rome with the material magnificence of his mission.
The third and final essay, on ‘diplomacy before the Revolution’, places the Stuart regime in the broader context of Italian inter-state relations, focusing in part on the incessant contests among Italian powers for ceremonial precedence, along with other issues such as England’s mercantile interests in the Mediterranean. The topic of ceremonial rivalry itself is not entirely novel, but the value for us is that it serves to underscore how lively and contentious Italian politics were in the later seventeenth century. While the Italian peninsula has perhaps too often been relegated as a sideshow of European politics in the period, aside from the roles played by Savoy in Europe’s various conflicts from the 1690s, Cont reminds us that ceremonial rivalries—themselves sometimes dismissed by historians as frivolous—were in fact profoundly important and politically sensitive at the time, and here, he underlines the importance of the Stuarts as diplomatic actors in these Italian dramas of sovereignty and status.
In the round, the three essays that effectively comprise this volume, while not tightly connected, offer us welcome insights into that Anglo-Italian moment. The book’s value lies not only in constructing a series of diplomatic, dynastic and cultural connections from the perspective of London, but equally from the Italian point of view. This reader, at least, was left enjoying and appreciating the book, and also wanting more.
(Pubblicato il 7 dicembre 2021 © «The English Historical Review» – https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/ceab345)
