“The Dutch here hav bin very hygh”: Charles Longland’s diplomatic correspondence of the 1650s

This chapter examines the diplomatic correspondence sent by Charles Longland to John Thurloe, the English Secretary of State, in 1653-1654. At the time of the correspondence Longland was England’s agent at Leghorn, a recently-built, fast-growing port on the Tuscan coast. England’s strong commercial ties with Leghorn necessitated not only the appointment of a government agent for the town but also reports from this person. From the summer of 1653, England’s agent was Longland, and hence it was his duty to provide frequent analyses of the naval, commercial, diplomatic and political manoeuvring involving the English, Dutch, Spanish and Grand Duchy of Tuscany in and around that part of the Mediterranean coast. This manuscript correspondence is fascinating from both a historical and linguistic point of view. The correspondence is examined in relation to its textual structure, semantics and orthography.