‘Per mantenere la bona unione et intelligenza che è e deve essere tra il Papa e quella Republica’. Interest of the State in Giovanfrancesco Peranda’s Instruction to the Papal nuncio to Venice

The debate about the origin and development of the language of reason of state has so far ignored the long period between Francesco Guicciardini’s formulation of the expression (1521–5), and Giovanni Botero’s first theoretical approach to the topic (1589). My paper analyses a case study of the language of reason of state in the instruction by secretary Giovanfrancesco Peranda to Papal nuncio Annibale di Capua in 1576, when he was sent on a mission to Venice. It was printed for the first time in 1589 as part of the anonymous collection of occasional political writings titled Thesoro politico, a miscellany published under a false imprint, and in mysterious circumstances. Peranda’s instruction is among a handful of texts that Church authorities decided to prohibit, and thus put the entire Thesoro politico on the Index of Forbidden Books. As for the content, the instruction advises the addressee to do everything possible to avoid any criticism of the Venetian foreign policy during the delicate period following the separate peace agreements between the Republic and the Turkish empire. In order to do so, the author develops diplomatic strategies, where the main issue at stake is the interest of the Church as a state. From a literary angle, the instruction stands between Machiavelli’s diplomatic instruction to Raffaello Girolami (1522), and Torquato Tasso’s philosophical reflection on the role of the diplomat in The messenger (1580–83). From different perspectives and contexts, the three texts touch upon the ethical issue of the acceptance of lying and deceit when acting on behalf of the prince.