Queen’s Apprentice : Archduchess Elizabeth, Empress María, the Habsburgs, and the Holy Roman Empire, 1554-1569

This book recounts the first fifteen years, early education and marriage negotiations of the Habsburg Archduchess, Elizabeth, who grew up in the Royal and Imperial Courts of Vienna and Wiener Neustadt in the latter half of the sixteenth century. It portrays life at the court of Elizabeth's mother, the Empress Maria, and describes tournaments, coronations, plays, medals, chivalric literature, music, art, sewing, and saints' lives, as well as urban contexts. Ideas of political space and travel are discussed against the settings of Prague, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Bratislava, Munich and Augsburg. Elizabeth's story reveals specific structures of the Habsburg Courts, featuring Spanish, Austrian, Hungarian, Low Country, Italian, and Bohemian courtiers, and sets her personal story against the background of larger international events, such as the Peace of Augsburg in 1555 and the Ottoman Wars. This book recounts the first fifteen years, early education and marriage negotiations of the Habsburg Archduchess, Elizabeth, who grew up in the Royal and Imperial Courts of Vienna and Wiener Neustadt in the latter half of the sixteenth century. It portrays life at the court of Elizabeth's mother, the Empress Maria, and describes tournaments, coronations, plays, medals, chivalric literature, music, art, sewing, and saints' lives, as well as urban contexts. Ideas of political space and travel are discussed against the settings of Prague, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Bratislava, Munich and Augsburg. Elizabeth s story reveals specific structures of the Habsburg Courts, featuring Spanish, Austrian, Hungarian, Low Country, Italian, and Bohemian courtiers, and sets her personal story against the background of larger international events, such as the Peace of Augsburg in 1555 and the Ottoman Wars. Contents 8 Acknowledgements 10 Introduction A Queen in Training and an Empress in Charge 12 Chapter One Playing Queen: In the Women's Court at Vienna and Wiener Neustadt, 1554–1560 22 Chapter Two Marriage Negotiations and the Tumultuous 1560's 144 Chapter Three Empress and Imperial Daughter 256 Chapter Four Wars and Weddings on the Horizon 352 Conclusions Growing Up: A Queen before the Fact 406 Bibliography 412 Index 446 ISSN,1573-4188,ISBN,9789004180307 BRILL NV This study seeks to examine a number of themes relating to the roles of the women's court of the central European Habsburgs. These include its role in helping consolidate their holdings in central Europe and the Holy Roman Empire and structure their relations with the rest of Europe.