Before high speed, secure communication technology existed in the form of computers/phones, how could a government confidently engage with someone claiming to represent a foreign nation’s government? I just imagine you’d risk someone with the ability to forge documents and put on a good performance being able to declare war on behalf of an unsuspecting country.
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This is one reason why historially ambassadors were members of the aristocracy. King Jimbob isn’t going to just send some random schlub to be his ambassador to king Billybob, he’s going to send Duke Dickweed to be the ambassador. King Billybob knows Duke Dickweed either directly or by reputation.
Another technique is for King Billybob to send a trusted person, Count Cowfart, to meet the ambassador right there in King Jimbob’s court, have King Jimbob introduce Count Cowfart to Duke Dickweed and that way Count Cowfart can personally assure his liege King Billybob that Duke Dickweed really is the ambassador from King Jimbob.
In addition to that, the whole signet ring and wax seal really was semi-secure. The signet was made by a skilled craftsman and quite diffcult to reproduce (as well as being a crime that resulted in a really horrible and drawn out execution if you were cuaght trying to reproduce it) and the wax they used as designed to cool brittle and rigid, adhere to paper and cloth, and to hold the impression perfectly. Meaning the only way to open the document would be to break the wax so you get both an assurance the document was legit sealed with the signet AND that it hadn’t been altered.
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