Epistolary relationship between the Gran duchess Cristina of Lorena and some of the Spanish women nobility (1590-1620)

Abstract

This paper explores the correspondence between the Gran Duchess Cristina of Lorena and some of the most important Spanish noblewomen between 1590 and 1620. Thanks to the extensive documentation —hold in the Archivio di Stato di Firenze— we are able to rebuilt informal power networks controlled by women, who acted as Madrid Court reporters in a peculiar difficult moment for the Tuscan and Spanish Monarchy political relationship. This article would question the traditional image attributed to Cristina of Lorena, and the role which was played by these women linked by ties of patronage or even blood or in-law relationships, where political and economic interests were the key of these relations.