Papal Nuncios in Prague as Part of the Imperial Court: The Significance of Integration, Sociability, and Credibility of Papal Diplomats at the Turn of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

Abstract Papal nuncios at the imperial court in Prague were diplomats who represented their ruler – the sovereign of the Papal States and the head of the Catholic Church. Yet they became a distinctive fixture of the imperial court in the places they served. In order for their integration into the structure of the court to be fluid, their personality traits and character had to fit the universally accepted models that applied to courtiers, namely those pertaining to social background, education, conduct, and disposition. At the same time, they had to possess a sufficient degree of sociability and a capacity to earn trust both in their relationship with the sovereign and with the courtiers. Among the primary instruments of this integration process were a wide variety of social activities, some of which were identical for the entire social group, and others unique to the papal nuncios alone.