Des agents de renseignements Les membres du personnel consulaire français à Rome, à Naples et en Sicile au début du xviii^e siècle (1699-1724)

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, thanks to their network of information-gatherers established in Southern Italy and the Levant as well as passing sailors and soldiers, French consuls in their posts in the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily could inform the Secretary of State for the Navy and the chargé d’affaires in Rome. Without ceasing to check the reliability of their sources, and always eschewing enemy propaganda, they provided information on political and military affairs in particular.