Vatican diplomacy and the Mission of Rinuccini to Ireland

Gianbattista Rinuccini, the papal nuncio to the confederate catholics of Ireland, was arguably one of the two most important figures in Ireland during the 1640s. Only James Butler, the Marquis of Ormond, exerted a comparable degree of influence over developments in Ireland during this period. Like Ormond, who became the king's Lord Lieutenant in 1643, the nuncio was the official representative in Ireland of a revered external authority. It was this position as the pope's representative, supplemented by a formidable personality and by control over papal financial assistance to Ireland, which formed the basis of Rinuccini's influence. What I propose in this paper is to focus on the reasons for Rinuccini's appointment as nuncio to the confederate catholics of Ireland in March 1645 and the implications which this was to have for the conduct of his mission