This groundbreaking book is the first comprehensive study of Italian communication on the Revolt in the Low Countries. Nina Lamal provides a compelling account of the deep Italian involvement in this long conflict, also known as the Eighty Yearsâ War. Drawing upon a wide range of sources in manuscript and print, including newsletters, printed pamphlets, political treatises and historical narratives, Lamal investigates how news on the conflict was brought to the Italian peninsula, and how it influenced political debates as well as historical discourses. She unravels why it had such an impact in this complex political environment. In doing so, she also casts new light on the meaning of the Revolt itself.
Nina Lamal is a postdoctoral researcher at the Humanities Cluster at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. She specialises in the history of communication, printing, early modern politics and diplomacy, as well as the history of the Low Countries and Italy.
Acknowledgments List of Illustrations Abbreviations Notes on Conventions
Introduction
â1âEntangled Histories
â2âEarly Modern Communication
1 Italian News Networks
â1âA New Medium
â2âAntwerp in the Headlines
â3âFlorentine Correspondents
â4âThe Uses of Information in Medici Florence
2 âMuch to the Dislike of Italyâ: The First Political Debates (1577â1578)
â1âFrom Pacification to Rupture
â2âDi Castro and Reason of State
â3âUnderstanding the Low Countries
â4âDebating Practical Obstacles
â5âFear of French Involvement
3 Promoting Spanish-Habsburg Power through Print
â1âA Developing Market for News
â2âControlling the Narrative from Oral to Print
â3âSelective Narratives of Violence
â4âPromoting Habsburg Pacification and Policy
â5ââGreater than Alexander the Greatâ
4 Crafting Histories
â1âDefending Contemporary History
â2âCrafting a Pro-Habsburg Narrative
â3âUnderstanding the Present
â4âClaiming âItalian Virtueâ: The First Italian History
â5âThe Farnese Quest for a Suitable History Begins
5 âNothing more than a Fleaâ: Debating and Describing New States (1598â1609)
â1âDebating the Dynastic Solution
â2âThe Issue of Free Trade
â3âThe Roman Past: Untameable Subjects
â4âDebating the Truce
â5ââA New Power in the Worldâ: Describing a New State
6 The Rise of Confessional and Polemical News Pamphlets
â1âThe Emergence of a Narrative Framework
â2âMaking Spinola?
â3âGrowing Divisions
â4âPolemical Instruments
7 The Development of Italian Historical Narratives
â1âThe Authors and their Histories
â2âItalian Military Prowess
â3âDiverging Narratives
â4âDefending Farnese
Epilogue Bibliography Index
This monograph will appeal to historians of early modern Italy and the Revolt in the Low Countries, as well as anyone interested in the history of communication, media, political ideas and historical narratives. Keywords: Early modern Italy, Low Countries, Dutch Revolt, Habsburg monarchy, news, media, correspondence, avvisi, soldiers, diplomats, historiography, Revolt in the Low Countries, printing, ragion di stato, history writing.