Governmentality rationales and calculative devices: the rejection of a territorial barter proposed by the King of Spain (XVII century)

Almost 400 years ago, a territorial barter proposed by the King of Spain was refused by Ferdinando Gonzaga, Duke of Mantova and Marquis of Monferrato. The barter would have stated the exchange of Monferrato with the Isle of Sardinia, a Vice-Reign of the Spanish kingdom. It was the 1618 when a Duke’s advisor drafted a report (“Relatione dell’Isola di Sardigna”) to highlight the financial and governmental matters of the island. This “Relatione”, together with the written correspondence among the governors and their advisors engaged in the deal, let us investigate the information that allowed the Duke to take his decision about the barter by considering the effects on the duchy welfare as well as the risks related to at-a-distance government. Drawing on the Foucauldian governmentality framework, we demonstrate that the barter denial has been the output of a rational behaviour driven by territorial governability aims.