The Politics of Diplomacy: The Palatinate and Anglo-Imperial Relations in the Thirty Years' War

This dissertation examines the diplomatic relations between the King of England and the Holy Roman Emperor in the 1630s. Negotiations between the two rulers revolved around the settlement of the Palatinate question, one of the most vexing issues of the Thirty Years' War. This study focuses specifically on the missions of the three diplomats most intimately involved in Anglo-Imperial negotiations of the later 1630s: the English diplomats John Taylor and Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Arundel, and the Imperial envoy Clement Radolt. Through a detailed analysis of their negotiations, this dissertation shows that English foreign policy in these years, though it produced no tangible results, had the potential to succeed. Although historians have traditionally downplayed England's influence on Continental powers, the evidence shows that Charles I's favor was highly valued at the Habsburg courts and that he had more foreign policy options in the later 1630s than has been commonly assumed. Unlike previous work, this study investigates the European as well as the British context of early Stuart foreign policy. It therefore draws not only upon sources from British archives, such as the Public Record Office, British Library, Bodleian Library, and Arundel Castle Archives, but also upon the abundant material concerning Britain in Continental repositories, including the Haus-, Hof- and Staatsarchiv, Finanz- and Hofkammerarchiv, Allgemeines Verwaltungsarchiv, and Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv in Austria.Part one of this dissertation sets the European political, military, and diplomatic backdrop for the Anglo-Imperial negotiations that took place in the later 1630s. Part two surveys the background, religious leanings, education, and political and diplomatic careers of the three diplomats. Part three gives a detailed description of the course of the negotiations and the various personalities and events affecting them. Finally, the concluding chapter evaluates English foreign policy toward the Emperor; the expectations, interests, and willingness to compromise of the powers involved as evidenced in the negotiations; and the reasons for their ultimate failure.