ABSTRACT
Lord Cavendish met Fulgenzio Micanzio in Venice in 1615 towards the end of a year-long trip that he (and/or Hobbes) may later have recounted to Bacon. Micanzio was born in 1570 near Brescia, close to the Venetian republic’s border with Spanish Milan; having entered the Servite order, he moved to the capital in 1590, where he became the disciple of Paolo Sarpi. Intimacy was perhaps possible because geographical distance alleviated social difference. While junior in age, Cavendish was by far superior in status – Micanzio was closer to Hobbes both by origin and profession; moreover, when the correspondence began, he lacked an established position. Venice offered Micanzio and his correspondents a unique vantage point over developments in Europe and the Mediterranean. Micanzio obtained news through his work as Sarpi’s assistant and later as official counsellor: he had indirect then direct access to government information, including dispatches from governors in overseas territories as well as ambassadors and consuls abroad.
