Tasso and the Diplomatic Persona

The chapter casts light on Torquato Tasso’s Messaggiero (The Messenger) (1582), focusing on its political subject as discussed through an imaginary dialogue: the figure of the ambassador, the framework of his office, and its relation to power. Tasso’s dialogue features the nature of the ambassador as a figure incarnating his own ‘self’, while simultaneously representing his prince and acting on his own behalf in the specific political context of the ‘international’. Tasso rejects the concept of the ambassador as a mere executor of policy, which is a striking departure from the previous general conception of the ambassador. The paradoxical conclusion that emerges is that the messenger as ambassador is not a simple messenger. An analysis of Tasso’s text and its context is the chapter’s epicentre. However, the chapter concerns the possible links between certain ideas and discourses regarding the ambassador’s persona, the growth of diplomatic thought, and the rise of diplomacy as a feature in the rise of the ‘international’.