ABSTRACT
The Reformation introduced new phenomena into the functioning of diplomacy in Europe. Religious conflicts, which had until then only existed on the fringes of the continent, and in certain periods in relation to smaller territories that resisted the authority of the pope within Christianity, became a part of everyday reality in foreign policy and required, as a rule, constant attention in order to keep the system of relations between rulers functioning. In a Catholic environment, the nuncios enjoyed a high reputation, which made their task of promoting the interests of Catholicism relatively easy. The Calvinism of Sweden’s Scottish envoy was perhaps less of an asset in England in the first half of the seventeenth century. The fact that the decision-makers of imperial foreign policy changed their initial attitude and started to exclude Jesuits from the service of embassy chaplains points again towards power politics gaining the upper hand on confessional interests.
