ABSTRACT

This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The authors' argument has been concerned with one kind of early modern reading of theCourtier-an allegorical reading-and not with an empirical study of the reception of Castiglione's book, it is nevertheless appropriate to consider the question of reception here in at least a cursory fashion. Thus no conclusion can be drawn, one way or the other, from Jean de La Taille's silence about Castiglione's veiled policy. To commit something about Castiglione's veiled policy to writing would have been folly in either part of Europe, given the ease with which heterodox political opinions were interpreted as indications of treasonable intent. Unannounced search and seizure of an individual's papers and books was typically the first action taken by the authorities against anyone who was under suspicion. In many cases the material collected in the raids weighed heavily in any subsequent prosecution.