‘Patterns of Translation : Contacts and Linguistic Variety in Italian Late Medieval Diplomacy (1380-1520 c.)

TThe paper offers an initial overview of usages of translations and of forms of multilingualism in Renaissance Italian diplomatic and political practice by considering as many different models of translating political languages and interlinguistic or multilingual exchanges as possible. In this sense, the paper deals with diplomatic and linguistic exchanges both within and outside the Christian West whilst considering the daily cultural shift between Latin and the vernaculars in Italian and European diplomatic and political exchanges. Translation in Renaissance Italian diplomacy and politics encompassed many different levels: it was a dyadic or a triadic practice that involved very different social actors and required several skills, at both linguistic and socio-cultural levels, placing itself at the very heart of the negotiation and decision-making process.