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Maria of Austria was one of the longest surviving Renaissance
Empresses but until now has received little attention by
biographers. This book explores her life, actions, and management
of domestic affairs, which became a feared example of how an
Empress could control alternative spheres of power. The volume
traces the path of a Castilian orphan infanta, raised among her
mother's Portuguese ladies-in-waiting and who spent thirty years of
marriage between the imperial courts of Prague and Vienna. Empress
Maria encapsulates the complex dynastic functioning of the
Habsburgs: devotedly married to her cousin Maximilian II, Maria had
constant communication with her father Charles V and her brother
Philip II while preserving her Spanish background. Her unique
intertwining of roles and positions allows a fresh approach to
female agency and the discussion of current issues: the rules of
dynastic entente, the negotiation of discreet political roles for
royal women, the reassessment of informal diplomacy, and the
creation of dynastic networks parallel to the embassies. With
chronological chapters discussing Empress Maria's roles such as
infanta, regent, Empress, and a widow, this volume is the perfect
resource for scholars and students interested in the history of
gender, court culture, and early modern Central Europe.
Maria of Austria was one of the longest surviving Renaissance
Empresses but until now has received little attention by
biographers. This book explores her life, actions, and management
of domestic affairs, which became a feared example of how an
Empress could control alternative spheres of power. The volume
traces the path of a Castilian orphan infanta, raised among her
mother's Portuguese ladies-in-waiting and who spent thirty years of
marriage between the imperial courts of Prague and Vienna. Empress
Maria encapsulates the complex dynastic functioning of the
Habsburgs: devotedly married to her cousin Maximilian II, Maria had
constant communication with her father Charles V and her brother
Philip II while preserving her Spanish background. Her unique
intertwining of roles and positions allows a fresh approach to
female agency and the discussion of current issues: the rules of
dynastic entente, the negotiation of discreet political roles for
royal women, the reassessment of informal diplomacy, and the
creation of dynastic networks parallel to the embassies. With
chronological chapters discussing Empress Maria's roles such as
infanta, regent, Empress, and a widow, this volume is the perfect
resource for scholars and students interested in the history of
gender, court culture, and early modern Central Europe.
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