Women and Power at the French Court, 1483-1563 (Gendering the Late Medieval and Early Modern World)

This book explores the ways in which a range of women-as consorts, regents, mistresses, factional power players, attendants at court, or as objects of courtly patronage-wielded power in order to advance individual, familial, and factional agendas in the early sixteenth-century French court. Spring boarding from the burgeoning scholarship of gender, the political, and power in early modern Europe, the book provides a perspective from the French court, from the reigns of Charles VIII to Henri II, a time at which the French court was a glittering centre of culture and which women are understood to have played increasingly important roles. Cross-disciplinary in its perspectives, these essays by historians, art and literary scholars cohesively investigate the dynamic operations of gendered power in political acts, recognised status as queens and regents, ritualised behaviors such as gift-giving, educational coteries, courtly household organisation, and social networking, literary and artistic patronage, female authorship, and epistolary strategies. Frontmatter Susan Broomhall Pages: 1–4 Table of Contents Susan Broomhall Pages: 5–6 List of Figures Susan Broomhall Pages: 7–8 In the Orbit of the King Susan Broomhall Pages: 9–40 Part I: Conceptualizing and Practicing Female Power 1. The Political, Symbolic, and Courtly Power of Anne de France and Louise de Savoie Aubrée David- Chapy Pages: 43–64 2. Anne de France and Gift-Giving Tracy Adams Pages: 65–84 3. Louise de Savoie Laure Fagnart and Mary Beth Winn Pages: 85–114 Part II: Centers and Peripheries of Power 4. Literary Lessons in Queenship and Power Erin A. Sadlack Pages: 117–138 5. Claude de France and the Spaces of Agency of a Marginalized Queen Kathleen Wilson- Chevalier Pages: 139–172 6. Portraits of Eleanor of Austria Lisa Mansfield Pages: 173–206 Part III: The Power of Creative Voices 7. Family Female Networking in Early Sixteenth-Century France Cynthia J. Brown Pages: 209–240 8. The Power of Reputation and Skills according to Anne de Graville Mawy Bouchard Pages: 241–262 9. Imagination and Influence Jonathan A. Reid Pages: 263–286 10. Power through Print Pollie Bromilow Pages: 287–306 Part IV: Economies of Power and Emotions 11. The Life and After-Life of a Royal Mistress David Potter Pages: 309–334 12. ‘The King and I’ Susan Broomhall Pages: 335–356 13. Catherine de Médicis Tested by the Virtue of Charity (1533–1559) Denis Crouzet Pages: 357–376 Index "Women and power at the French court, 1483-1563 explores the ways in which a range of women 'as consorts, regents, mistresses, factional power players, attendants at court, or as objects of courtly patronage' wielded power in order to advance individual, familial, and factional agendas at the early sixteenth-century French court. Spring-boarding from the burgeoning scholarship of gender, the political, and power in early modern Europe, the collection provides a perspective from the French court, from the reigns of Charles VIII to Henri II, a time when the French court was a renowned center of culture and at which women played important roles. Crossdisciplinary in its perspectives, these essays by historians, art and literary scholars investigate the dynamic operations of gendered power in political acts, recognized status as queens and regents, ritualized behaviors such as gift-giving, educational coteries, and through social networking, literary and artistic patronage, female authorship, and epistolary strategies"--Provided by publisher This work explores the ways in which a range of women, as consorts, regents, mistresses, factional power players, attendants at court, or as objects of courtly patronage, wielded power in order to advance individual, familial and factional agendas at the early sixteenth-century French court.

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