Diplomacy in Renaissance Rome

Catherine Fletcher is Lecturer in Public History at the University of Sheffield. Her first book, Our Man in Rome: Henry VIII and his Italian Ambassador, was published in 2012. Catherine graduated with a first-class degree in Politics and Communication Studies from the University of Liverpool and worked for the BBC Political Unit before studying for a PhD in History at Royal Holloway, University of London. She held fellowships at the Institute of Historical Research, the British School at Rome and the European University Institute before taking up her current post in 2012. She has published widely on aspects of early modern political culture and diplomacy. Catherine is a regular media contributor and has been a guest on two editions of BBC Radio 4's 'In Our Time' among other programmes. She has been a historical adviser to the new TV production of Wolf Hall and blogs at History Matters.

'This study of the rise of the resident foreign ambassador at the papal court is a welcome synthesis of current scholarship combined with Catherine Fletcher's original work on the topic to date.' Jennifer Mara Desilva, Renaissance and Reformation

• Introduction; 1. Rome and the rise of resident diplomacy; 2. Conceptualising the resident ambassador; 3. The ritual world of the curia; 4. The personnel of diplomacy; 5. Information and communication; 6. Locating diplomacy in the city of Rome; 7. 'Those who give are not all generous': the world of gifts; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.