George Stepney, 1663-1707: Diplomat and PoetGeorge Stepney was one of the most remarkable men of the end of the seventeenth century. He was considered one of the eight poets worthy of emulation, while 'no Englishman ever understood the affairs of Germany so well, and few Germans better.' A member of the Kit-Cat Club, and respected by Halifax and Marlborough, he - a commoner - was carried to his grave in Westminster Abbey by two dukes, two earls and two barons. Despite his importance for students of the period, and the fascination of his story in its own right, the only study of his life to date has been an article in The Huntingdon Library Quarterly from 1946. Miss Spens's biography is therefore a major contribution to scholarship which will prove invaluable to the international academic community. Diplomatic history has tended to focus on the monarchs and princes rather than on the handful of professional diplomats whose job it was to 'lie abroad for their country', of whom Stepney stands as an unusually well-documented example. Besides arousing the enthusiasm of specialists this volume will complement works on figures as diverse as William III and John Dryden. The fruit of over ten years' research in major archival collections throughout Europe, George Stepney provides new and valuable material on a key period of political and military history. |
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Page 197
... Count , for the two men had never met . However Stepney was engaged in leasing the Palais Lamberg from the Count's ... Kaunitz ; and he renewed his previous friendship with Caspar Florentin Consbruck , the Secretary of State , from whom ...
... Count , for the two men had never met . However Stepney was engaged in leasing the Palais Lamberg from the Count's ... Kaunitz ; and he renewed his previous friendship with Caspar Florentin Consbruck , the Secretary of State , from whom ...
Page 201
... Count Kaunitz at Oesterlitz [ Austerlitz ] in Moravia where he is laying out m / 300 Dollars on house and gardens which will hardly turn to account . I then removed to Brunn [ Brno ] the capital of that Province , and was lodged by the ...
... Count Kaunitz at Oesterlitz [ Austerlitz ] in Moravia where he is laying out m / 300 Dollars on house and gardens which will hardly turn to account . I then removed to Brunn [ Brno ] the capital of that Province , and was lodged by the ...
Page 248
... Kaunitz , and after some days Stepney was informed that the elder Count Harrach would be in charge of Hungarian affairs . According to Stepney , Kaunitz before he died had advised him to write to Counts Harrach and Mansfeldt , as ...
... Kaunitz , and after some days Stepney was informed that the elder Count Harrach would be in charge of Hungarian affairs . According to Stepney , Kaunitz before he died had advised him to write to Counts Harrach and Mansfeldt , as ...
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Common terms and phrases
affairs appointment army August Baron Benebourg Blathwayt Bruynincx Cardonnel Charles Montagu Cleves Colt command correspondence Count Frise Count Kaunitz Count Wratislaw Cresset Danckelmann diplomat dispatch Dresden Duke Dutch Earl Elector of Bavaria Elector of Brandenburg Elector of Saxony Elector Palatine Electress Ellis Emperor England favour France Frankfurt French George Stepney Goertz Hague Hamburg Hanover Harley Hedges Heinsius Het Loo Holland horses Hungarian Hungary ibid imperial court instructions James Johnston journey July n.s. Kaunitz King William King's Landgrave later Letters to Stepney Lexington London Lord March n.s. Marlborough Max Emmanuel Mediators ministers negotiations Palatine Pressburg Prince Eugene Prince Louis Queen Rákóczy received Rechteren Rhine Schöning secretary sent Spanish Netherlands Stepney continued Stepney in Dresden Stepney in Vienna Stepney Papers Stepney reported Stepney wrote Stepney's Letter Book Trade treaty troops Tyrnau Vernon Whitehall wished Wratislaw writing Wyche Zell