The Value of Information: Production, Transmission, and Manipulations in Late Medieval Ragusan Diplomatic Practice

Abstract The political scheming and maneuvering of the medieval world have long captured scholarly attention, with medieval Dubrovnik being no exception. Diplomatic activities were the main instrument used to achieve important foreign goals in the late medieval period of Ragusan history, with city authorities exerting considerable effort to acquire prompt and complete news, based on which they would consider their future decisions. The source of the information, the time and place of an event, and the motives that drove an individual to spread gossip, rumors, or fake as well as accurate news were constantly critically questioned in this period characterized by the hyperproduction of information. The aim of this article is to interpret methods of information gathering and management, focusing on the production, circulation, concealment, and trade of intelligence within Ragusan diplomacy from the mid-fourteenth to the mid-fifteenth century. Ragusan authorities devised complex strategies of manipulation within a highly structured system of information control, balancing its benefits and risks. Their selective disclosure and concealment of news often provoked tensions and ethical dilemmas, exposing fragile bonds of loyalty and trust within the intricate communication networks of late medieval diplomacy.