| Title: | Ambassador extraordinary |
| Original Title: | Ambassadeur extraordinaire |
| Volume and Page: | Vol. 1 (1751), p. 320 |
| Author: | Unknown |
| Translator: | James W. Brenner [Drew University] |
| Subject terms: |
Modern history
|
| Original Version (ARTFL): | Link |
| Rights/Permissions: |
This text is protected by copyright and may be linked to without seeking permission. Please see http://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/did/terms.html for information on reproduction. |
| URL: | http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0003.036 |
| Citation (MLA): | "Ambassador extraordinary." The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project. Translated by James W. Brenner. Ann Arbor: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library, 2013. Web. [fill in today's date in the form 18 Apr. 2009 and remove square brackets]. <http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0003.036>. Trans. of "Ambassadeur extraordinaire," Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, vol. 1. Paris, 1751. |
| Citation (Chicago): | "Ambassador extraordinary." The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project. Translated by James W. Brenner. Ann Arbor: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0003.036 (accessed [fill in today's date in the form April 18, 2009 and remove square brackets]). Originally published as "Ambassadeur extraordinaire," Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, 1:320 (Paris, 1751). |
The Ambassador Extraordinary is sent to the court of a Prince for an exceptional and pressing affair. For instance, this ambassador is sent to ratify a peace agreement or marriage contract, or to pay homage, etc. See Extraordinary.
In truth, there is no real difference between an Ambassador Ordinary and an Ambassador Extraordinary . The motive of their embassies is all that distinguishes them. They both enjoy the prerogatives afforded to them by the law of the people.
Mr. Toureil says that in their heyday, both Athens and Sparta relished nothing more than seeing and hearing various ambassadors seek the protection or alliance of one or the other during their assemblies. If the ambassadors were received, this was the greatest homage one could pay them. The city that received the most embassies claimed a victory over her rival.
In Athens, ambassadors of foreign Princes and States ascended to the tribune of the Orators to present their mission and to make themselves better heard by the people. In Rome, they were admitted to the Senate, to which they exposed their orders. In our society, ambassadors speak directly and solely to the King.
The title of ambassador , Cicero says, is sacred and inviolable: non modo inter sociorum jura, sed etiam inter hostium tela incolume versatur (from the laws of our allies, and the weapons of our enemies) . In Verr. Orat. VI . We read that David waged war upon the Ammonites to avenge an offense made to his ambassadors , livre II des Rois, chapitre X . Alexander put the inhabitants of Tyr to the sword for having insulted his ambassadors . When the Roman youth offended the ambassadors of Vallonne, they were handed over to them so that they might be punished at their discretion.
Kings’ ambassadors cannot attend weddings, funerals, or assemblies be they public or solemn, unless their Master has a vested interest in them. They must not be seen grieving, even for those close to them, as they represent the person of their Prince, to whom they owe the duty of conforming in all things.
In France, the papal nuncios have precedence over all other ambassadors and carry their word on their behalf when it comes to paying homage to the King.
In all the other courts of Europe, the ambassador of France is a step above that of Spain, as that Crown publicly recognized in May of 1662 during the audience that King Louis XIV gave to the ambassador of Spain. In the company of twenty-seven other ambassadors sent by their respective Princes, he protested that his lord the King would never claim precedence over France. This was in reparation to the insult made in London the previous year by the Baron of Batteville, ambassador of Spain, to the Count d’Estrades, ambassador of France. A medal was struck to commemorate the event.