Chapter Four
chapter four PRINCE ECKEMBERGH COMES TO DINNER, OR: POWER THROUGH CULINARY CEREMONY Introduction It is not often a historian finds the kind of sources that enable him to reconstruct past behaviour and, thus, to enter past man’s mind. In papal Rome, with its emphasis on stylised acts and (e-)motions, the sit- uation is slightly better. ‘Baroque behaviour’ as codified in prescrip- tions and descriptions of ceremony and ritual, can in fact be ‘read’ and interpreted. As ceremony was the lifeblood of the papal capital,1 Ihave searched for a suitable case to analyse it in action, and have been lucky todiscoverone.The1637–1638 mission of the Imperial ambassador Johann Prince Eckembergh—or Von Eggenberg—to Pope Urban has produced a relatively large amount of texts which allow for what his- torians of literature call ‘close reading’,2 because they are what anthro- pologists have termed ‘thick descriptions’. Multi-layered as they are, these texts yield fascinating information both on desired and on actual behaviour, thus illuminating an important aspect of culture in papal Rome. Preparations On the night of November 30, 1638, thousands of Romans flocked to the palace of the Spanish ambassador on the Piazza di Spagna. The austere but elegant front was ablaze with candles and torches; guards in ceremonial livery were standing at the huge vaulted entrance. The 1 For a very general, but important introduction: W. Roosen, ‘Early Modern Diplo- matic Ceremonial: A Systems Approach’, in: Journal of Modern History, 52/3 (1980), 452– 476. 2 This, alas, was not given by: A. Benedetti, ‘La fastosa ambascieria di Gio.
[Show full text]