New Diplomatic History
The Institute of History has established itself as a centre of excellence in historical studies and a prominent place for New Diplomatic History research. In this sphere recent years have witnessed a deepening of its cooperation with historical institutes in the Czech Republic, Europe, and the USA and several prominent scholars analysing the history of diplomacy and international relations within the broader context of social, economic, cultural, legal, and gender history from the early modern period to the present. These scholars, with their international experience and publications on the world stage, offer expert guidance to PhD students that transcends the narrow horizon of the Czech academic environment and enables the development of knowledge and skills essential for success in a highly competitive international arena.
Leading scholars
Prof. Dr. Miroslav Šedivý
Doc. Dr. Jiří Kubeš
Doc. Dr. Pavel Marek
Miroslav Šedivý is a professor of Modern European and World History, dealing primarily with the history of Austria, Germany, Italy, the Mediterranean, the Near East, and the USA, spanning the period from the late 18th to the early 20th century.
He studied at the University of Vienna, Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich, and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne prior to completing his PhD at Charles University in Prague in 2008.
He has been a guest lecturer or researcher at the Universities of Delaware, Hildesheim, Klagenfurt, Lodz, Vienna, Prague (Charles University), Berlin (Humboldt-Universität), and Moscow (Russian State University for the Humanities). He has already published a trilogy on the functioning of the system of post-Napoleonic states in the Near East (Metternich, the Great Powers and the Eastern Question, Pilsen 2013), Central Europe (Crisis among the Great Powers: The Concert of Europe and the Eastern Question, London–New York 2017), and Italy (The Decline of the Congress System: Metternich, Italy and European Diplomacy, London–New York 2018). His most recent book, Si vis pacem, para bellum: The Italian Response to International Insecurity 1830–1848, was published by the publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Science in 2021.
He is about to publish a fifth English monograph, entitled The Victory of Realism: The German Quest for International Security 1839–1853 through Ferdinand Schöningh/Brill during 2024. He is the author of three scholarly monographs in Czech on German and Mediterranean history and 100 articles in English, German, and Czech published in scholarly journals and memorial volumes, for example in the English Historical Review, European History Quarterly, European Review of History, Diplomacy & Statecraft, International History Review, Central European History, Austrian History Yearbook, German History, Slavonic & East European Review, Journal of Modern Italian Studies, Mediterranean Historical Review, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, and Middle Eastern Studies.
Jiří Kubeš is an assistant professor dealing with the early modern history of the Habsburg Monarchy, especially with its court society and nobility and their lifestyle. He studied at the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice. He habilitated in 2011 at the University of Pardubice.
He has participated with contributions in nearly 20 international conferences all over Europe. He has edited the travel diary of Christoph Wenzel von Nostitz from his journey to the Netherlands (Kryštof Václav z Nostic, Deník z cesty do Nizozemí, Prague 2004) and published three other books: the first on the election and coronation of Leopold I (Trnitá cesta Leopolda I. za římskou korunou (1657–1658). Volby a korunovace ve Svaté říši římské v raném novověku, Budweis 2009); the second on the Grand Tours of the Czech and Austrian nobility (Náročné dospívání urozených. Kavalírské cesty české a rakouské šlechty (1620–1750), Pelhřimov 2013), and the third on nobles in the diplomatic service of the Austrian Habsburgs (V zastoupení císaře. Česká a moravská aristokracie v habsburské diplomacii 1640–1740, Prague 2018).
He is the author of nearly 60 articles in English, German, Polish, and Czech published in edited volumes or scholarly journals, for example The Court Historian, Legatio: The Journal for Renaissance and Early Modern Diplomatic Studies, Bohemia, Frühneuzeit-Info, Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung, Salzburg Archiv, Kronika zamkowa: Roczniki, Res Gestae: Czasopismo historyczne, Theatrum historiae, Folia Historica Bohemica, and Český časopis historický.
Pavel Marek is the director of the Institute of History at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Pardubice. His research concentrates on Spanish diplomacy at the Imperial Court, the aristocratic relations between both Habsburg empires, and the role of women in shaping political and diplomatic outcomes across early modern Europe.
He studied at the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice. He habilitated in 2014 at Charles University in Prague.
He has supervised a large number of qualifying theses and lectured at universities in Spain, Italy, and Mexico. He has published La embajada española en la corte imperial 1558–1641: Figuras de los embajadores y estrategias clientelares (Prague 2013), Bohemia hispánica: Fondos españoles de los siglos XV a XVII en bibliotecas checas (London–Barcelona 2013), Pernštejnské ženy: Marie Manrique de Lara a její dcery ve službách habsburské dynastie (Prague 2018), and Gesandte und Klienten: Päpstliche und spanische Diplomaten im Umfeld von Kaiser Rudolf II. (Berlin–Boston 2020).
He has also published about a hundred articles in Spanish, German, English, Italian, and Czech published in scholarly journals and memorial volumes, for example in Manuscrits: Revista d’Història Moderna, Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung, Český časopis historický, and Studia historica: Historia moderna.
