The beginning of the early New Time in Europe was the period characterized by formation of new national states as well as by creation of a new system of international relations and diplomatic service. This – among other things – led to the following: a conflict in one region of Europe affected the interests of other countries. The main site of contradictions in Western Europe in the late 16th century was the conflict between England and Spain. Indirectly, other European states were involved in it. This also affected the Polish state in the last quarter of the 16th century, because the goods of Polish merchants, which they sent to Portugal and Spain at the end of the 16th century were intercepted by English pirates. This spurred the dispatch of an official embassy headed by Pavel Dzialinsky to the English queen. At the end of July 1597, the Polish Embassy arrived in London and Elizabeth I received Pavel Dzialinsky. The English queen, not knowing exactly the purpose of the Polish diplomatic mission, made the audience public. Her advisers were to blame for that lack of information: they did not meet with the ambassador in advance to find out the main purpose of his mission. On the other hand, the Ambassador himself did not hold preliminary meetings with the main advisers of Elizabeth I to find out the position of the opposite side on controversial issues. In other words, no preliminary but necessary diplomatic work was carried out. This resulted in mutual accusations of the parties for violations of various rules, from violations of diplomatic traditions to disregard for international law. Consequently, Pavel Dzialynski’s mission is unlikely to be considered successful.
Reference to article:
Evseev V. A., Stukmanov P. A. A failed diplomatic mission. The embassy of the Pavel Dzialinsky to Elizabeth I in 1597 // Ivanovo State University Bulletin. Series «The Humanities». 2021. No.4. P. 97–104.