Diplomatic Ceremonial for the Reception of British Envoy’s Sister at the Court of Catherine II

Novikova, Arina

doi:10.18254/S207987840028135-7

English

Home>Issue 9 (131)>Diplomatic Ceremonial for the Reception of British Envoy’s Sister at the Court of Catherine II

Diplomatic Ceremonial for the Reception of British Envoy’s Sister at the Court of Catherine II

Table of contents

Annotation Estimate Publication content

References Comments

Diplomatic Ceremonial for the Reception of British Envoy’s Sister at the Court of Catherine II

Annotation

PII

S207987840028135-7-1

DOI

10.18254/S207987840028135-7

Publication type

Article

Status

Published

Authors

Arina Novikova Send message

Affiliation: Higher School of Economics
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow

Edition

Volume 14 Issue 9 (131)

Abstract

Referring to relevant approaches of New Diplomatic History, this article looks into a ceremonial reception for the British envoy’s sister by a Russian court. Although the procedure for introducing diplomatic spouses to European monarchs in the eighteenth century has been studied in depth, the issue of resolving ceremonial disputes remains unanswered. The case of arrival of James Harris together with his wife and sister in Russia in 1777 invites us to re-examine women’s participation in diplomatic ceremonies at the Russian Imperial Court. Miss Harris, not being de juro an official member of the diplomatic corps (that is, neither wife nor daughter of a designated male), de facto was an agent of diplomatic action. She was presented to the Russian court, thought accepted rules did not allow unmarried women to attend court functions. This article draws on a set of archival unpublished diaries of Katherine Harris which are devoted to court presentations and rituals as well as miss Harris’s assessment of courtiers and Russian noble society. The article concludes that, contrary to popular opinion, diplomatic protocol at Catherinian court was flexible. So, despite the prohibition for unmarried women to enter the palace, the imperial court greeted Katherine Harris as an ambassadress. Meanwhile, Catherine II perceived some rituals as an indispensable prerequisite (for example, the kissing of the sovereign’s hands).

Keywords

Great Britain, Russia, European diplomacy, diplomatic ceremonial, New diplomatic history, Russian court, Catherine II

Received

11.07.2023

Publication date

26.10.2023

Number of characters

56776

Number of purchasers

Views

266

Readers community rating

0.0 (0 votes)

Cite Download pdf 200 RUB / 1.0 SU

To download PDF you should pay the subscribtion

GOST	Novikova A. Diplomatic Ceremonial for the Reception of British Envoy’s Sister at the Court of Catherine II // ISTORIYA. – 2023. – V. 14. – Issue 9 (131). URL: https://history.jes.su/s207987840028135-7-1/. DOI: 10.18254/S207987840028135-7
MLA	Novikova, Arina "Diplomatic Ceremonial for the Reception of British Envoy’s Sister at the Court of Catherine II." ISTORIYA. 14.9 (131) (2023). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840028135-7
APA	Novikova A. (2023). Diplomatic Ceremonial for the Reception of British Envoy’s Sister at the Court of Catherine II. ISTORIYA. vol. 14, no. 9 (131) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840028135-7

Full text is available to subscribers only

Subscribe right now

Only article and additional services

Subscription benefits

200 RUB / 1.0 SU

Whole issue and additional services

Subscription benefits

820 RUB / 10.0 SU

All issues and additional services for 2023

Subscription benefits

5000 RUB / 50.0 SU

References

1. Ageeva O. G. Diplomaticheskij tseremonial imperatorskoj Rossii. XVIII v. M., 2012.

2. Bordehriu K. Plat'e imperatritsy. Ekaterina II i evropejskij kostyum v Rossijskoj imperii. M., 2016.

3. Kamer-fur'erskie zhurnaly, 1778—1783. SPb., 1882—1890.

4. Karabanov P. F. Gofmejsteriny, stats-damy i frejliny russkogo dvora XVIII i XIX vv. SPb., 1872.

5. Letopis' krushenij i pozharov sudov Russkogo flota, ot nachala ego suschestvovaniya po 1854 god. SPb., 1855.

6. Mozer F.-K. fon. Zhenschina-posol i supruga posla: ikh prava. M., 2007.

7. Novikova A. D. Ofitsial'naya diplomatiya i neformal'nye svyazi pri dvore Ekateriny II: posol'stvo Dzhejmsa Garrisa v Rossiyu // Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2021. № 5. S. 127—139.

8. Petrova M. A. Ekaterina II i Iosif II: formirovanie rossijsko-avstrijskogo soyuza, 1780—1790. M., 2011.

9. Petrova M. A. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya i diplomatiya XVIII veka v sovremennoj rossijskoj istoriografii // 25 let vneshnej politike Rossii: sb. materialov X Konventa RAMI. V 5 t. M., 2017. T. 3: Istoriya mezhdunarodnykh otnoshenij: aktual'nye problemy otechestvennoj istoriografii. S. 98—113.

10. Polnoe sobranie zakonov Rossijskoj imperii (1649—1825). 1-e sobr. SPb., 1830. T. XXI.

11. Sbornik Imperatorskogo Russkogo istoricheskogo obschestva. SPb., 1878. T. 26.

12. Smilyanskaya E. B. Diplomaticheskij tseremonial pri dvore Ekateriny II // Quaestio Rossica. 2020. T. 8. № 4. S. 1255—1273.

13. Smilyanskaya E. B. Anglofiliya Ekatepiny II i «icklyuchitel'noe pocol'ctvo» lopda Katkapta v Cankt-Petepbupg v 1768—1772 gg. // Journal of Modern Russian History and Historiography. Holland. 2019. No. 12. P. 224—244.

14. Shilov D. N. Osnovnye dokumenty i spravochniki o grazhdanskikh chinovnikakh v Rossii (konets XVIII — nachalo XX veka): kratkij obzor // Vestnik kul'tury i iskusstv. 2011. T. 1. № 25. S. 90—95.

15. Ehlias N. Pridvornoe obschestvo: Issledovaniya po sotsiologii korolya i pridvornoj aristokratii. M., 2002.

16. Allen G. The Rise of the Ambassadress: English Ambassadorial Wives and Early Modern Diplomatic Culture // The Historical Journal. 2019. Vol. 62. No. 3. P. 617—638.

17. Allgor C. “A Republican in a Monarchy”: Louisa Catherine Adams in Russia // Diplomatic History. 1997. Vol. 21. No. 1. P. 15—43.

18. Borsay P. The English Urban Renaissance: The Development of Provincial Urban Culture c. 1680—c. 1760 // Social History. 1977. Vol. 2. No. 5. 1977. P. 581—603.

19. Elliot G. Life and letters of Sir Gilbert Elliot First Earl of Minto, from 1751 to 1806, when his public life in Europe was closed by his appointment to the vice-royalty of India. L., 1874. Vol. I.

20. Gender and Diplomacy: Women and Men in European Embassies from the 15th to the 18th Century / eds. Anderson R., Santaliestra L. O., Suner S. Hollitzer Verlag, 2021.

21. Greig H. Faction and Fashion: The Politics of Court Dress in Eighteenth-Century England // Apparence(s). 2015. No. 6. [Ehlektronnyj resurs]. URL: https://journals.openedition.org/apparences/1311 (data obrascheniya: 25.06.2023).

22. Hennings J. Russia and Courtly Europe. Ritual and the Culture of Diplomacy, 1648—1725. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.

23. Horn D. B. British Diplomatic Representatives 1689—1789. L., 1932.

24. Madariaga I. de. Britain, Russia, and the armed neutrality of 1780. New Haven, 1962.

25. Madariaga I. de. The Use of British Secret Funds at St Petersburg, 1777—1782 // The Slavonic and East European Review. 1954. Vol. 32. No. 79. P. 464—474.

26. Malmesbury J. H. A Series of Letters: Of the First Earl of Malmesbury, His Family and Friends, from 1745 to 1820. L., 1870. Vol. 1—2.

27. Malmesbury J. H. Diaries and Correspondence of James Harris, First Earl of Malmesbury, containing an account of his missions at the court of Madrid, to Frederick the Great, Catherine the Second, and The Hague, and His Special Missions to Berlin, Brunswick, and the French Republic (1767—1809). L., 1845. Vol. 1—4.

28. Mori J. The Culture of Diplomacy: Britain in Europe, C. 1750—1830. Manchester, 2011.

29. Music and Theatre in Handel’s World: The Family Papers of James Harris / ed. by Burrows D., Dunhill R. Oxford, 2002.

30. Paço D. Women in Diplomacy in Late Eighteenth-Century Istanbul // The Historical Journal. Vol. 65. No. 3. P. 640—662.

31. Pohlig M. Gender and the Formalisation of Diplomacy in Early Modern Europe // The International History Review. 2021. Vol. 44. No. 5. R. 1—15.

32. Probyn C. T. The Sociable Humanist: The Life and Works of James Harris 1709—1780: Provincial and Metropolitan Culture in Eighteenth-century England. Oxford, 1991.

33. Scott H. Cultures of Power in Europe during the Long Eighteenth Century. Cambridge, 2007.

34. Watkins J. Toward a New Diplomatic History of Medieval and Early Modern Europe // Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. 2008. Vol. 38. No. 1. R. 1—14.

35. Women, Diplomacy and International Politics since 1500 / eds. Sluga G., James C. L., 2016.