As an art, diplomacy has always tended to be shrouded in secrecy, very little, save the names of treaties, being known by the general public. As the early modern period progressed diplomacy gradually emerged as an activity possessed of an increasingly stable and for the most part, honourable body of precepts and traditions. Nevertheless, the code of honour of diplomacy should not be exaggerated – its working practice could never be any better than those whose tool it was. This study provides an opportunity for the investigation of foreign ambassadors and the evolution of the diplomatic structure in place during the early years of the seventeenth century at the court of James VI and I. Traditionally work on these men was concentrated on individuals, the country the individuals represented or on specific negotiations in which they were involved. In the early years of the seventeenth century, men of varying talents were being sent to England on diplomatic missions that required great delicacy and tact. They were the ambassadors from one state, accredited to the Court of St. James, who were sent to negotiate matters of mercantile importance, arrange state marriages and political alliances and to protect the reputation and political status of their matters.