Diplomatic practices and political disputes in the correspondence between king john III and his ambassadors in Rome (1521-1557)

Abstract

This paper aims to present some results of an ongoing investigation into the diplomatic singularities between Portugal and the Roman Curia during the reign of King John III, from 1521 to 1557. During this period, the Portuguese government sought to perfect its administrative apparatus by creating new organs and instituting political members. In this context, from the correspondence between the ambassadors and King D. João III, available in the Portuguese Diplomatic Corps, the interest in this research is to circumscribe the actions of the political actors during the negotiations with the Roman Curia. The ambassadors D. Miguel da Silva and D. Martinho of Portugal sought to secure future places in the Roman consistory. Besides them, Braz Neto, Henrique de Meneses, Pedro de Souza de Tavora, Pedro de Mascarenhas, Cristovao de Souza, Baltasar de Faria and Afonso de Lencastre were involved in various conflicts with the king for a work position. We believe that these disputes of interests were one of the guiding threads of the relations between Portugal and Rome, but also of the internal relations of the kingdom, especially between king and nobility, since the choice for certain positions was a great longing of the court nobles.