Following on from these premises, this conference intends to explore the diplomatic strategies, models, agencies, and practices adopted by Italian duchies and republics when negotiating with the Ottomans, the Safavids or the various Muslim polities of North Africa, and to compare them with those traditionally deployed in the European context.
By addressing the issue of Christian-Muslim diplomatic relations through the eyes of the small Italian regional powers during the early modern times, our aim will be twofold: first, we want to offer a fresh overview of the small Italian powers’ diplomatic strategies towards Muslim states throughout the early modern age. Secondly, we want to provide a useful discussion about similarities and dissimilarities among small Italian states regarding how they used diplomacy to represent themselves outside the Latin-Christian world.