The unwicked Stepmother: the Dowager Empress Eleonora II Gonzaga as a swing vote at the Court of Vienna
The Dowager Empress Eleonora II Gonzaga was credited with great influence over her step-son Emperor Leopold I (r. 1657-1705). For that reason, she was not just courted by Venetian, French and Papal diplomats. Unusual for female members of the Casa d’Austria, even the minutes of official meetings of...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | deu |
| Published: |
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Los Libros de la Corte.es |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://revistas.uam.es/librosdelacorte/article/view/18014 |
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| Summary: | The Dowager Empress Eleonora II Gonzaga was credited with great influence over
her step-son Emperor Leopold I (r. 1657-1705). For that reason, she was not just courted by
Venetian, French and Papal diplomats. Unusual for female members of the Casa d’Austria,
even the minutes of official meetings of Austrian ministers show that she was a force to be
reckoned with. However, Eleonora did not consistently favour one of the court factions. The
marriage of her daughter to Polish king Michal Korybut in 1670 might have been supposed to
turn her into an ‘Easterner’, willing to appease the French. Indeed, Eleonora was originally
regarded as an ally by French ambassador Gremonville, but decisively turned against him in
1671/72. Ten years later, with a French threat to her native Mantua (and her own inheritance
prospects in Monferrato), she once again spear-headed a drive by the pro-Spanish ‘war
hawks’ against the ‘business-as-usual’ appeasers in power at the time.
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| ISSN: | 1989-6425 |