This should not belittle their role. Instead, it makes clear how many different layers of influence shaped #emdiplomacy. Even the distinction between formal and informal actors becomes vague when looking at #women as diplomatic actors.

If you want to know more about female #emdiplomats don’t miss the reflections of our editor @LenaOetzel on the representation of women (#diplomats) in palace exhibitions:

https://hcommons.social/@emdiplomacy/114313349396802000

(7/7)

#NewDiplomaticHistory #earlyModern #histodon #history #publicHistory

@histodons @historikerinnen @earlymodern @womenknowhistory

James argues, that the practice of dynastic #marriages marrying young noble #women to princes in very different countries and cultures, made them ideal #diplomats.

They needed to adapt to their new surroundings and built networks, while keeping an eye on the interests of the family of origin. Nonetheless, they remained largely unofficial actors and always had to balance their political and diplomatic activities with the prescribed norms of female behaviour. In general, it was their connection to men – their husbands, fathers, sons or brothers – that enabled them to play a role in #emdiplomacy. (6/7)

#NewDiplomaticHistory #earlyModern #CourtStudies #histodons #history

@histodons @historikerinnen @earlymodern @womenknowhistory

However, in rare cases and under special circumstances #ambassadresses could step in for their husband fulfilling also official diplomatic duties, if he e.g. had died during the mission.

Florian Kühnel describes the case of Anne-Marie de Pontac who took over the position of a French ambassador in the OttomanEmpire after her husband's death in 1685:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07075332.2021.1905032#abstract

(5/7)

#NewDiplomaticHistory #history #histodons #earlyModern #emdiplomacy

@histodons @historikerinnen @earlymodern @womenknowhistory

There were different ways in which #women could play a role in #emdiplomacy: as wives of #diplomats as princesses and queen consort or as ladies-in-waiting. It was often their position between their family of origin and their new family that enabled them to act as diplomatic brokers and person of contact of foreign diplomats.

Women had access to places at #court that were often inaccessible for men and thus were ideal information gatherers and spies. This is especially true for the European diplomats sent to #Constantinople, where the Harem was an important centre of power that remained closed to male diplomats. (4/7)

#NewDiplomaticHistory #CourtStudies #histodons #history #earlyModern

@histodons @historikerinnen @earlymodern @womenknowhistory

While older research in the wake of Mattingly’s seminal study on #Renaissance #diplomacy has ignored #women role in #emdiplomacy (as well as those of other informal actors), recent research has discovered the importance of women as diplomatic agents.

One reason why women as diplomatic actors have been ignored for so long, is that they seldom feature in the official diplomatic #correspondences. For understanding their role, one has to turn to other sources such as family letters. #emdiplomacysSources

(3/7)

#NewDiplomaticHistory #diplomacy #histodons #earlyModern #history

@histodons @historikerinnen @earlymodern @womenknowhistory

We talk a lot about non-male diplomatic actors in #emdiplomacy and of course there will be an #handbook article on women and #emdiplomacy.

We are very happy to have non other then Carolyn James as an author on this. James is an absolute expert on #women and #diplomacy having edited one of the first essay collections on the topic which still is standard.

Moreover, she has written on Renaissance women and the history of emotions:

https://monash.academia.edu/CarolynJames

In 2020, she published a monograph on the marriage of Isabella d’Este and Francesco Gonzaga:

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-renaissance-marriage-9780199681211?cc=se&lang=en&

(2/7)

#NewDiplomaticHistory #EarlyModern #histodons #history
@histodons
@historikerinnen
@earlymodern
@womenknowhistory

Als kleiner Dank mit #emdiplomacy Bezug an @LenaOetzel und weil ich morgen wahrscheinlich nicht posten werde – vielleicht auch zum heute einschlägigen Thema „Solidarität“ – noch ein Emblem:

@histodons @historikerinnen @earlymodern

If we caught your interest with this thread, we have some reading recommendations.
On Madame de Maintenon we can recommend the biography by Mark Bryant, Queen of Versailles: Madame de Maintenon, Fist Lady of Louis XIV’s France, London/Chicago 2020
as well as the PhD thesis by Corina Bastian who focused especially on #emdiplomacy: Corina Bastian. Verhandeln in Briefen. Frauen in der höfischen Diplomatie des frühen 18. Jahrhunderts, Köln u. a. 2013.

On Marie Adélaïde de Savoie we can recommend the biography by Elisabetta Lurgo, Marie Adélaïde de Savoie – Duchesse de Bourgogne, mère de Louis XV., Paris 2024. (7/7)

@histodons @historikerinnen @earlymodern

If you browse through the homepage of the castle of Versailles you do find more detailed information about Madame de Maintenon, but on side visiting the palace only with an audioguide at your side as most tourists do, you get a very limited and outdated view of the role of female political and diplomatic actors. (6/7)

https://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/history/great-characters/madame-maintenon

@histodons @historikerinnen @earlymodern

Another woman that played an important role at Versailles was Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon. She was first mistress and later wife of Louis XIV, although this marriage was never openly acknowledged. Nevertheless, she was a close confidant and advisor to the king and everybody knew about her political influence. The audioguide doesn’t mention this. At several points it describes how Louis XIV discussed politics with his (male) advisors in this or that room. Madame de Maintenon isn’t mentioned in these contexts. She is only discussed, when talking about Louis’ XIV free time and that he enjoyed going for extended walks with her. That the might have discussed politics isn’t mentioned at all, neither that she was an important political and diplomatic actor at the French court. (5/7)

@histodons @historikerinnen @earlymodern

Whether this is true or not, the position of the princess was always that of a broker between her family of origin and the family of her husband. They were in a way #emdiplomats. That was not always an easy position, as both sides expected on the one hand that she acted as an intermediary between the two families and on the other that she had to be loyal to both sides which of course could lead to conflicts. How the women handled this situation was very different, depending also on the political constellation between the two dynasties. In the case of Marie Adélaïde de Savoie it is important to acknowledge this position, instead of creating the image of a woman who overstepped her competences. When reporting home to her father, she might have enraged Louis XIV, but she fulfilled the expectations of her family of origin. (4/7)

@histodons @historikerinnen @earlymodern

One of these stories was about Marie Adélaïde de Savoie (1685-1712) who was married to Louis de Bourbon, the grandson of Louis XIV. She was also the mother of the later Louis XV. She came to Versailles when she was only eleven and the audioguide tells you that the old Louis XIV really enjoyed her lively company. When she died quite young at the age of 26 of measels, her papers were sorted and it was discovered that she had regularly reported about court politics to her father the duke of Savoy. According to the story, Louis XIV had been enraged and called her a traitor. (3/7)