- Diplomatic Networks in the Medieval Mediterranean
- A cura di Isabella Lazzarini, Roser Salicrú i Lluch
Francesco Gonzaga, Ṭaghrī Birdī, and the Two Sultans. Crafting a Mediterranean Network for the Marquis of Mantua (1493)
- Evelina del Mercato
- © 2026 Author(s) |
- CC BY 4.0
- DOI: 10.36253/979-12-215-1117-8.10
This article examines the 1493 Mantuan mission to Mamluk Cairo, in which Francesco Gonzaga sent envoys to sultan Qāʾitbāy to procure horses. Drawing on unpublished correspondence between the marquis, his agents, and the Mamluk dragoman Ṭaghrī Birdī, it explores how a landlocked Italian prince sought to position himself within the late fifteenth-century Mediterranean diplomatic arena. By reconstructing the network that enabled the mission, Venetian consul Alvise Arimondo, Genoese merchant Niccolò de Nigro, and the envoy Rozer de Montesalvo, the study reveals the hybrid nature of Gonzaga’s diplomacy, which relied on cross-regional infrastructures and ad hoc intermediaries. Placing this episode within broader patterns of Italian-Eastern Mediterranean interactions, it argues that small territorial principalities, despite their lack of maritime access, sought to engage in Mediterranean diplomacy through experimental practices.
- Keywords:
- 15th century,
- Mantua,
- Mamluk sultanate,
- Francesco Gonzaga,
- Ṭaghrī Birdī,
University of Antwerp, Belgium - ORCID: 0009-0000-5381-4065
Informazioni sul capitolo
Titolo del capitolo
Francesco Gonzaga, Ṭaghrī Birdī, and the Two Sultans. Crafting a Mediterranean Network for the Marquis of Mantua (1493)
Autori
Evelina del Mercato
Lingua
Inglese
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-1117-8.10
Opera sottoposta a peer review
Anno di pubblicazione
2026
Copyright
© 2026 Author(s)
Licenza d'uso
Licenza dei metadati
Informazioni bibliografiche
Titolo del libro
Diplomatic Networks in the Medieval Mediterranean
Sottotitolo del libro
Individuals, Groups, and Interactions
Curatori
Isabella Lazzarini, Roser Salicrú i Lluch
Opera sottoposta a peer review
Numero di pagine
208
Anno di pubblicazione
2026
Copyright
© 2026 Author(s)
Licenza d'uso
Licenza dei metadati
Editore
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-1117-8
ISBN Print
979-12-215-1115-4
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-1117-8
eISBN (xml)
979-12-215-1120-8
Collana
Reti Medievali E-Book
ISSN della collana
2704-6362
e-ISSN della collana
2704-6079