Galeazzo Gualdo Priorato and the Politics of Information
abstract
As a historian of recent events, Galeazzo Gualdo Priorato relied on numerous types of sources for information. His particular relation to these sources is the subject of this article. After a rapid survey of what was available, we consider how his choices and his handling of them were affected by, and affected in turn, his relations to his patrons. News reports in manuscript and print were growing in importance. We focus on the Historia delle guerre (1640‑51) and link it to contemporary news reports of various kinds, taking stylistic aspects and strategic compositional techniques into account, to show how sources are interpreted and for which ends.
Keywords: News • Narrative • War • Leadership • Historiography • Politics • Gualdo Priorato • Violence