Catherine de Medicis and the Performance of Political Motherhood
Despite long-standing disabilities attached to women as political actors in France, Catherine de Medicis moved into a position of political prominence largely on her own initiative by presenting herself as a devoted wife, widow, and mother as the basis of her political entitlement. Utilizing her con...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers, Inc.
2000
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| In: |
The sixteenth century journal
Year: 2000, Volume: 31, Issue: 3, Pages: 643-673 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | Despite long-standing disabilities attached to women as political actors in France, Catherine de Medicis moved into a position of political prominence largely on her own initiative by presenting herself as a devoted wife, widow, and mother as the basis of her political entitlement. Utilizing her conformity with accepted notions of female behavior, Catherine defended her authority (but not always her power) from an array of detractors both individual and institutional in order to develop motherhood as a positive political position which was expressed in both legal precedent and representational schema. That she was able to assert the role of the queen mother in politics was made possible by the context of the factional struggles that marked the minority of Charles IX. But Catherine's ability to utilize this context reveals both the possibilities and limitations inherent in relying on gender performance as a basis for political authority in sixteenth-century France. |
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| ISSN: | 2326-0726 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The sixteenth century journal
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/2671075 |