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Student, traveller, secretary, scoundrel, spy: introducing the maverick whose diplomacy saved Europe from war.
Henry Wotton had already exhausted several lives when he arrived in Venice as England's ambassador in 1604. Yet the most remarkable phase of his career was yet to come.
In Lying abroad, Carol Chillington Rutter tells Wotton’s extraordinary story. She reveals how this one-time exile, who fled England after his employer was convicted of treason, gained the favour of King James, securing a knighthood and a diplomatic posting. Charged with restoring relations with Venice after a fifty-year hiatus, he drew criticism for his breaches of protocol. But when a dispute brought Europe to the brink of war, Wotton took a risk – one that changed European history.
This engrossing biography recounts a life that was tumultuous, tarnished and endlessly theatrical. The man King James called his ‘honest dissembler’ was a maverick who fashioned diplomacy in ways that still inform international relations today.
'A riveting account of a remarkable Elizabethan whose experiences as a scholar, traveller, soldier, exile, outlaw, spy, traitor and compulsive letter-writer prepared him well for his greatest challenge: serving as King James’s ambassador to Venice. Deeply researched, captivatingly told and richly rewarding for anyone interested in British history and diplomacy.'
James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
‘This is an enchanting book. And, for any lover of Shakespeare, an exhilarating one. With characteristic panache, Carol Chillington Rutter introduces another performer of the period, a diplomat, and a worthy addition to that great generation of writers, actors and thinkers.’
Simon Russell Beale
‘Carol Chillington Rutter communicates her rigorous scholarship in lucid, sparkling prose. More than a biography, this is a compelling study of a vital period in our history – and one of the best books about Venice that I have read. Entertaining, erudite and essential reading.’
Anna Beer, author of Patriot or Traitor: The Life and Death of Sir Walter Ralegh
‘Combining political history with a life of high drama, Carol Chillington Rutter tells the story of Henry Wotton, whose career as English ambassador to Venice was both dramatic and highly impactful. Deeply researched and evocative, Lying abroad brings the man who was arguably the first modern diplomat back to life.’
Elizabeth Norton, author of The Lives of Tudor Women
'During the course of this exuberant narrative, Carol Chillington Rutter plunges readers into a world that is at once surpassingly strange yet jarringly familiar. In Lying abroad, Henry Wotton learns to survive perilous times and even thrive in a landscape of dangerous diplomacy. I read it with mounting excitement.'
Laurence Bergreen, author of In Search of a Kingdom
‘I wanted to highlight the whole book. Carol Chillington Rutter gives us Henry Wotton's character and world in a style that embodies and illuminates the teeming intellectual, political, cultural and linguistic exuberance of the man and his age. Lying abroad is full of fascinating detail and it was a continual, stimulating delight to spend time in Wotton's and Rutter's company.’
Sarah Fraser, author of The Prince Who Would Be King
‘As witty and entertaining as its subject – the brilliant, quirky dilettante, man of letters and diplomat Henry Wotton – this book distils formidable knowledge into a page-turner that brings to life a fascinating journey, from Shakespeare’s London to Paolo Sarpi’s Venice and back.’
Filippo de Vivo, author of Information and Communication in Venice
Prologue
Introduction
1 Furnishing a mind
2 Wit ballasted with learning
3 The useful library of travel
4 The wandering time of my life
5 A man well tumbled in the world
6 Mr Secretary Wotton
7 Campaigning with Essex
Interlude
8 The only Protestant address in Venice
9 Nostra segretario
10 Barren of commerce
11 The greatest event this side of the Alps
12 Duck hunting on the lagoon
13 The English ambassador licks his wounds
14 No season can be ill to go homewards
Epilogue
Index