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 16
... Lord Dorset . By 1724 , when memoirs of the Kit - Cat Club began to appear , all three were grouped together as ' My Lord Dorset's Boys ' and it was assumed that the Earl spirited them away to be greeted with admiring attention by the ...
... Lord Dorset . By 1724 , when memoirs of the Kit - Cat Club began to appear , all three were grouped together as ' My Lord Dorset's Boys ' and it was assumed that the Earl spirited them away to be greeted with admiring attention by the ...
Page 60
... Lord Portland and Dr Burnet for foreign affairs , and Lord Sidney and Mr. Johnston ' for what concerns England . ' The inclusion of Johnston's name in this context is surprising : but it indicates that Stepney was aware of the ...
... Lord Portland and Dr Burnet for foreign affairs , and Lord Sidney and Mr. Johnston ' for what concerns England . ' The inclusion of Johnston's name in this context is surprising : but it indicates that Stepney was aware of the ...
Page 391
... Lord , see Drummond , John Mesmes , Jean Antoine de ( 1640-1709 ) , Count d'Avaux , French diplomat , 193 , 194 Earl ... Lord Halifax ) , 255 Montagu , George , nephew to Lord Halifax , 213 , 232 , 237 , 255 Montagu , Heneage ( d ...
... Lord , see Drummond , John Mesmes , Jean Antoine de ( 1640-1709 ) , Count d'Avaux , French diplomat , 193 , 194 Earl ... Lord Halifax ) , 255 Montagu , George , nephew to Lord Halifax , 213 , 232 , 237 , 255 Montagu , Heneage ( d ...
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Common terms and phrases
affairs appointment army August Baron Bavaria Benebourg Blathwayt Bruynincx Cardonnel Charles Montagu Cleves Colt command copy 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 Johnston journey Kaunitz King William King's Landgrave Letters to Stepney Lexington London Lord March n.s. Marlborough Max Emmanuel Mediators Mindelheim ministers negotiations Palatine Pressburg Prince Eugene Prince Louis Queen Rákóczy received Rechteren Rhine Savoy Schöning Secretary Spanish Netherlands Stepney continued Stepney in Dresden Stepney in Vienna Stepney Papers Stepney reported Stepney wrote Stepney's Letter Book Sunderland Trade treaty troops Tyrnau Vernon Whitehall wished writing Wyche Zell