Plain truth and misinformation in Early Modern news networks: the translation of the articles of capitulation of Breda (1625) in European journalism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17979/janus.2024.13.10630Keywords:
journalism, misinformation, translation, Breda, Eighty Years’ War, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, France, Italy, PortugalAbstract
The surrender of Breda in June 1625, after a nine-month siege by Habsburg forces under the command of Ambrogio Spinola, was one of the most celebrated events in the Eighty Years’ War and had extensive media impact at a time coinciding with the advent of modern journalism. The articles of capitulation were circulated in a plethora of news publications in different European countries, with both warring parties recounting and interpreting them in a favourable light. An analysis of these publications shows that embedded within a range of narratives are three different versions of the terms of surrender: one full copy based directly on the original documents, and two different partial summaries, one incorporating elements of hearsay and the other based on what would seem to have been the preferred redaction of Spinola’s field chancery and/or the Brussels court. This last version was tailored not primarily to counter enemy narratives, but to deny ammunition to elements within the Spanish monarchy hostile to Spinola’s concessions.
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