Giacomo Soranzo (1518–1599) was a Venetian diplomat, General Commissioner of the Fleet, and one of the Procurators of Saint Mark in 1575.D. S. Chambers, "Merit and Money: The Procurators of St Mark and Their Commissioni, 1443–1605", Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 60 (1997), p. 58.
Career He was a son of Francesco Soranzo and a brother of Lorenzo Soranzo.Rawdon Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice, 1553–1554 (London, 1873), p. 482 no. 873. Giacomo Soranzo served as a Venetian ambasador in England (1551–1554), France (1555–1558), Florence, Germany (to Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, 1559–1561), Rome (1562–1565), and Turkey, as Bailo (1566–1567).Paul F. Grendler, "Prosopographical analysis", Renaissance Education Between Religion and Politics (Ashgate, 2006), pp. 68, 75.
As a Provveditore Generale di Terrafirma, in 1574 Soranzo banned the use of wheellock guns in Brescia to prevent feuding and banditry.Peter Laven, "Banditry and lawlessness on the Venetian Terraferma in the later Cinquecento", K. J. P. Lowe and Trevor Dean, Crime, Society and the Law in Renaissance Italy (Cambridge, 1994), p. 222.
Relazioni
Giacomo Soranzo's diplomatic correspondence is thought to have been destroyed in a fire. He wrote several Relazioni for the Venetian state, papers detailing the customs and international policy of the countries where he was stationed.Eugenio Albèri, Relazioni degli ambasciatori veneti al senato, 10 (Florence, 1857), pp. 125–126. In August 1554, Soranzo wrote a Relazione describing England and recent events.Eugenio Albèri, Relazioni dello Impero Britannico nel secolo XVI scritte da veneti ambasciatori (Florence, 1852), pp. 29–87, in Italian, from the Lazzari-Wcovich copy.Rawdon Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice, 1553–1554 (London, 1873), p. 532 no. 934, from Correr Museum MS 1072.
The Relazioni were copied and circulated. The author and language teacher Giacomo Castelvetro owned copies of Soranzo's 1576 and 1582 reports from Istanbul. In 1582, Soranzo attended the ceremony of the circumcision of Mehmed, son of Murad III.Giovanni-Tommaso Minadoi, The War Between the Turks and the Persians: Conflict and Religion in the Safavid and Ottoman Worlds (London, 2019), p. 122. Castelvetro's copies of the Turkish reports are held by the Newberry Library in Chicago.Palmira Brumett, "The Jacopo Castelvetro Collection: A Renaissance Man with Documents on Istanbul", Turkish Studies Association Bulletin, 11:1 (March 1987), pp. 1–8.Castelvetro manuscripts of relazioni, Newberry Library, digitised A Fugger newsletter report of the festivities at Istanbul in 1582 mentions that the Venetian ambassador presented 150 gifts including four gold and several silk embroidered robes.Victor von Klarwill and Pauline de Chary, The Fugger News-Letters (London, 1924), p. 67.
England Soranzo arrived in England as ambassador to the court of Edward VI in June 1551. Jean Scheyfve wrote that he was young and well educated.Royall Tyler, Calendar State Papers Spain, 10 (London: HMSO, 1914), p. 301. He described the new epidemic of the "sweating sickness".Rawdon Brown, Calendar State Papers Venice, vol. 5 (London, 1873), pp. 531–564. The king was busy practicing martial sports and immersed in his studies.Aysha Pollnitz, Princely Education in Early Modern Britain (Cambridge, 2015), p. 148.
Soranzo was knighted by Edward at Westminster Palace on 5 February 1553. Scheyfve noticed that he was frequently with the Duke of Northumberland and was close to the French ambassador René de Laval de Boisdauphin. Scheyfve guessed Soranzo was working on a plan for Princess Mary to marry Alfonso II d'Este.Kenneth R. Bartlett, "The English Exile Community in Italy and the Political Opposition to Queen Mary I", Albion, 13:3 (1981), pp. 228–229: Royall Tyler, Calendar State Papers, Spain, 11 (London: HMSO, 1916), p. 9.Paul Friedmann, Les dépêches de Giovanni Michiel Ambassadeur de Venise en Angleterre (Venice, 1869), p. xxxi. As Edward's health worsened in June 1553, Soranzo visited Elizabeth and Mary. According to his Relazione, Soranzo bought Venetian luxury goods for Mary before and after her accession.Rawdon Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice, 1553–1554 (London, 1873), p. 563 no. 934, "molte robbe, e anco di valore". Edward VI died from tuberculosis according to Soranzo, but the diagnosis is uncertain.Jennifer Loach, Edward VI (Yale, 1999), p. 161: Vertot, Ambassades, 2, p. 32.
Soranzo advised Mary to leave London during the succession crisis and rode out from London to greet her in July 1553 on her return.Anna Whitelock and Diarmaid MacCulloch, "Princess Mary's Household and the Succession Crisis, July 1553", The Historical Journal, 50:2 (June 2007), p. 276: Royall Tyler, Calendar State Papers, Spain, 11 (London: HMSO, 1916), p. 109 fn. After a discussion with the "cloaked" French ambassador Antoine de Noailles in September 1553, they found common ground to try to prevent the wedding of Mary I of England and Philip of Spain.E. Harris Harbison, Rival Ambassadors at the Court of Queen Mary (Princeton, 1940), p. 79: E. Harris Harbison, "French Intrigue at the Court of Queen Mary", The American Historical Review, 45:3 (April 1940), pp. 538–539: Vertot, Ambassades, 2 (Leiden, 1763), pp. 174–178, "en Cape".Samantha Perez, "Venetian Diplomacy Under Mary I", Valerie Schutte and Jessica S. Hower, Writing Mary I: History, Historiography, and Fiction (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), p. 78.
Soranzo attended Mary's coronation on 1 October, spending freely to represent the magnificence of the Venetian Republic, (he was later reimbursed).Judith M. Richards, "Mary Tudor as 'Sole Quene?: Gendering Tudor Monarchy", The Historical Journal, 40:4 (December 1997), p. 900: Rawdon Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice, 1553–1554 (London, 1873), pp. 531 no. 933, 563 no. 934. Later in October, Simon Renard wrote to Charles V that Soranzo had forgotten his duty to Venice to forward French interests, but the ambassadors' efforts to prevent the Habsburg marriage had failed.Royall Tyler, Calendar State Papers Spain, 11 (London, 1916), pp. 311–312, 329.
Simon Renard wrote that Soranzo's house in London was full of spies.Samantha Perez, "Venetian Diplomacy Under Mary I", Valerie Schutte and Jessica S. Hower, Writing Mary I: History, Historiography, and Fiction (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), pp. 78–80. According to Renard, Mary was informed that Soranzo and Noailles had been in touch with Edward Courtenay, (suggested as a husband for Queen Mary). When Noailles and Soranzo's informant told them this news they started to be more careful and discreet. It has been suggested that Noailles' informant on this occasion was John Leigh, a son of Lord Edmund Howard.E. Harris Harbison, "French Intrigue at the Court of Queen Mary", The American Historical Review, 45:3 (April 1940), pp. 543–545: Royall Tyler, Calendar State Papers Spain, 11 (London, 1916), pp. 256, 333 and footnote. Soon after, Queen Mary told Renard that Courtenay's mother Gertrude Courtenay had discussed a supper party for her son with Noailles at Soranzo's house which needed her approval. Renard suspected the supper was arranged by Soranzo to sound out Mary's disposition.Royall Tyler, Calendar State Papers Spain, 11 (London, 1916), p. 359. In December 1553, the Venetian Council of Ten were critical of Soranzo's informal alliance with France and its object.David Loades, The Reign of Mary Tudor (Longman, 1979), p. 80: Rawdon Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice, 1553–1554 (London, 1873), p. 450 no. 842: Vertot, Ambassades, 2, pp. 174–178.
Noailles and Soranzo gave some encouragement to Wyatt's rebellion in 1554. Soranzo was said to have supplied the rebels with guns from a Venetian merchant ship in the Thames. According to Renard, the Admiral William Howard did not accept Soranzo's excuse, and Sebastian Cabot denounced his intrigues.Kenneth R. Bartlett, "The English Exile Community in Italy and the Political Opposition to Queen Mary I", Albion, 13:3 (1981), p. 229: Patrick Fraser Tytler, England under the reigns of Edward VI and Mary, 2, pp. 300, 304. The Council of Ten acknowledged the suspicions of Charles V that Soranzo had performed "some evil office in the matter of the marriage".Samantha Perez, "Venetian Diplomacy Under Mary I", Valerie Schutte and Jessica S. Hower, Writing Mary I: History, Historiography, and Fiction (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), p. 80. Although he was recalled from England, Mary gave him a gold chain and he escaped censure in Venice.William B. Robison, "Wyatt's Rebellion: History. Memory, and Representation", Valerie Schutte and Jessica S. Hower, Mid-Tudor Queenship and Memory: The Making and Re-making of Lady Jane Grey and Mary I (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) p. 138: Calendar State Papers, Venice, 5, p. 532 no. 933.
Soranzo on English court fashion
Soranzo's descriptions of the appearance of Mary I of England and her costume and jewellery are frequently quoted by historians.Samantha Perez, "Venetian Diplomacy Under Mary I", Valerie Schutte and Jessica S. Hower, Writing Mary I: History, Historiography, and Fiction (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), p. 70. Soranzo wrote that on state occasions she wore a gown and a bodice with French-style sleeves, and at other times fashions like those usually worn by women in England (which also appeared French to his eye).Hilary Doda, "Lady Mary to Queen of England: Transformation, Ritual, and the Wardrobe of the Robes", Sarah Duncan & Valerie Schutte, The Birth of a Queen: Essay on the Quincentenary of Mary I (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), p. 51: Cassandra Auble, "Bejeweled Majesty: Queen Elizabeth I", Debra Barret-Graves, The Emblematic Queen (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), p. 37.Mary Jean Stone, History of Mary I, Queen of England (London, 1901), pp. 319-320Diana Scarisbrick, Tudor and Jacobean Jewellery (London, 1995), p. 14.Rawdon Brown, Calendar State Papers Venice, vol. 5 (London, 1873), pp. 533, 554 no. 934Alexander Samson, "Changing Places: The Marriage and Royal Entry of Philip, Prince of Austria, and Mary Tudor, July–August 1554", Sixteenth Century Journal, 36:3 (Fall 2005), p. 764. In his Relazione, Soranzo commented:Ma sopra ogni altra cosa le piace vestir ornata; e superbamente, e li vestiti suoi sono in due modi; uno con una veste come portano gli uomini, ma assai stretta, con un'altra veste di sotto con la coda molto lunga, e la porta ordinariamente, siccome la portano anco le signore inglesi; e l'altro una veste con il busto e con le maniche; larghe rinversate, come usano le francesi, e usa di portar questo nelli giorni pi solenni, e porta molti ricami e vesti e sopravvesti d'oro e d'argento di molto valore, e si muta ogni giorno. Usa anche molte gioie; portandole e sopra il capperone che porta in testa, e al collo, per guarnimento delle vesti.Eugenio Albèri, Relazioni dello Impero Britannico nel secolo XVI scritte da veneti ambasciatori (Florence, 1852), pp. 33–34.Above all else she likes to dress ornately, and superbly, and her clothes are of two kinds. A robe (or garment) like that worn by men but very tight, with another dress underneath with a very long train, which she wears ordinarily, as English ladies wear. On the most solemn days, she is accustomed to wearing the dress with a bodice and sleeves, wide and turned up, as worn by French women. She wears a lot of embroidery and dresses and overdresses of gold and silver cloth of great value, and she changes them every day. She makes great use of jewels, wearing them on her chaperon (or French hood), and round her neck, and as trimming for her gowns.Rawdon Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice, 1553–1554 (London, 1873), no. 934.