[The Consuls of the English Nation in Leghorn between 1665 and 1673: Joseph Kent, Thomas Clutterbuck and Ephraim Skinner]. Examining in detail the years 1665 to 1673 the article allows Villani to reconstruct the history of British consular presence in Livorno from the end of the 1500s. The author shows how the first two consuls – Raymond Dawkins and Thomas Hunt – were elected by Trinity House, a corporation of sea pilots, while only in 1621 the new consul, Richard Allen was elected by the Levant Company with the consent of the sovereign, James I. He has succeeded the Catholic Morgan Read, who had exercised the office from 1634 until his death in Livorno on May 29, 1665. After Read’s death Britain chose the enigmatic figure of Joseph Kent, which may have been the pseudonym of the Baronet John Abdy who adopted the name in order to mask his activities as a royalist spy during the Interregnum. Joseph Kent died in Rome on May 22, 1670 and was succeeded by Thomas Clutterbuck in 1669 and later Ephraim Skinner in 1671. These three consuls are interesting figures and their embassies were during a time when the litigious merchant community in Livorno experienced a marked increase in economic importance. The article also briefly outlines the work of other British consuls in the seventeenth century. The history of British consuls in the 1600s, along with their successors through to the eve of World War II, clearly shows Livorno’s important role in the political and diplomatic relations between Tuscany and England. In a important posthumous article on the English in Genoa between 1600s and 1700s published in Quaderni Storici Edoardo Grendi emphasized the importance consuls and envoys have for a nation “devoted to commerce.” He demonstrated how these “leading figures” not so much expressed relationships to the “community or national group of local settlement, but rather evolutions and dynamics of power associated with inter-state relations.” This essay is a detailed verification of this line of research.
I consoli della nazione inglese a Livorno tra il 1665 e il 1673: Joseph Kent, Thomas Clutterbuck e Ephraim Skinner
VILLANI, STEFANO
2004-01-01
Abstract
[The Consuls of the English Nation in Leghorn between 1665 and 1673: Joseph Kent, Thomas Clutterbuck and Ephraim Skinner]. Examining in detail the years 1665 to 1673 the article allows Villani to reconstruct the history of British consular presence in Livorno from the end of the 1500s. The author shows how the first two consuls – Raymond Dawkins and Thomas Hunt – were elected by Trinity House, a corporation of sea pilots, while only in 1621 the new consul, Richard Allen was elected by the Levant Company with the consent of the sovereign, James I. He has succeeded the Catholic Morgan Read, who had exercised the office from 1634 until his death in Livorno on May 29, 1665. After Read’s death Britain chose the enigmatic figure of Joseph Kent, which may have been the pseudonym of the Baronet John Abdy who adopted the name in order to mask his activities as a royalist spy during the Interregnum. Joseph Kent died in Rome on May 22, 1670 and was succeeded by Thomas Clutterbuck in 1669 and later Ephraim Skinner in 1671. These three consuls are interesting figures and their embassies were during a time when the litigious merchant community in Livorno experienced a marked increase in economic importance. The article also briefly outlines the work of other British consuls in the seventeenth century. The history of British consuls in the 1600s, along with their successors through to the eve of World War II, clearly shows Livorno’s important role in the political and diplomatic relations between Tuscany and England. In a important posthumous article on the English in Genoa between 1600s and 1700s published in Quaderni Storici Edoardo Grendi emphasized the importance consuls and envoys have for a nation “devoted to commerce.” He demonstrated how these “leading figures” not so much expressed relationships to the “community or national group of local settlement, but rather evolutions and dynamics of power associated with inter-state relations.” This essay is a detailed verification of this line of research.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
