ABSTRACT
The early modern period was a time of burgeoning diplomatic activity on the European continent, characterised by the spread of resident diplomacy and the appearance of multilateral peace congresses. These processes involved many changes in the use of languages in diplomatic interactions. Translation was central to this transformation and can be considered a melting pot of practices, a means of bridging divergent conceptions of order in transcultural contexts, and an important element that linked individuals, institutions, and cultures. This volume adopts a transnational and interdisciplinary viewpoint and discusses translation in early modern diplomacy within the broad context of the development of translation practices and the evolution of diplomacy during the period. Through a reflection on common topics in these chapters, the introduction emphasises the extent to which diplomatic translation was a multifaceted phenomenon, characterised by a lack of uniformity during a period with no standardised organisation of foreign affairs departments. Factors such as social and ethnic origins, cultural and linguistic expertise, the organisation of translation services, the spatiality of diplomatic translation, and training or a lack thereof had a significant and lasting impact on early modern translation as a cultural, social, political, and linguistic phenomenon, both within diplomacy and beyond.
