Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Acknowledgements
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Introduction
- 1 Isabella d’Este's Sartorial Politics
- 2 Dressing the Queen at the French Renaissance Court: Sartorial Politics
- 3 Dressing the Bride: Weddings and Fashion Practices at German Princely Courts in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries
- 4 Lustrous Virtue: Eleanor of Austria's Jewels and Gems as Composite Cultural Identity and Affective Maternal Agency
- 5 Queen Elizabeth: Studded with Costly Jewels
- 6 A ‘Cipher of A and C set on the one Syde with diamonds’: Anna of Denmark's Jewellery and the Politics of Dynastic Display
- 7 ‘She bears a duke's revenues on her back’: Fashioning Shakespeare's Women at Court
- 8 How to Dress a Female King: Manifestations of Gender and Power in the Wardrobe of Christina of Sweden
- 9 Clothes Make the Queen: Mariana of Austria's Style of Dress, from Archduchess to Queen Consort (1634–1665)
- 10 ‘The best of Queens, the most obedient wife’: Fashioning a Place for Catherine of Braganza as Consort to Charles II
- 11 Chintz, China, and Chocolate: The Politics of Fashion at Charles II's Court
- 12 Henrietta Maria and the Politics of Widows’ Dress at the Stuart Court
- Works Cited
- Index
4 - Lustrous Virtue: Eleanor of Austria's Jewels and Gems as Composite Cultural Identity and Affective Maternal Agency
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 November 2020
- Frontmatter
- Acknowledgements
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Introduction
- 1 Isabella d’Este's Sartorial Politics
- 2 Dressing the Queen at the French Renaissance Court: Sartorial Politics
- 3 Dressing the Bride: Weddings and Fashion Practices at German Princely Courts in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries
- 4 Lustrous Virtue: Eleanor of Austria's Jewels and Gems as Composite Cultural Identity and Affective Maternal Agency
- 5 Queen Elizabeth: Studded with Costly Jewels
- 6 A ‘Cipher of A and C set on the one Syde with diamonds’: Anna of Denmark's Jewellery and the Politics of Dynastic Display
- 7 ‘She bears a duke's revenues on her back’: Fashioning Shakespeare's Women at Court
- 8 How to Dress a Female King: Manifestations of Gender and Power in the Wardrobe of Christina of Sweden
- 9 Clothes Make the Queen: Mariana of Austria's Style of Dress, from Archduchess to Queen Consort (1634–1665)
- 10 ‘The best of Queens, the most obedient wife’: Fashioning a Place for Catherine of Braganza as Consort to Charles II
- 11 Chintz, China, and Chocolate: The Politics of Fashion at Charles II's Court
- 12 Henrietta Maria and the Politics of Widows’ Dress at the Stuart Court
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
Abstract
The use of sumptuous apparel in private and public spheres from ceremonies to portraits is a recurring theme in representations of Eleanor of Austria (1498–1558), reflecting the display practices of the women of her exalted Habsburg, Burgundian, and Spanish lineage. Moving beyond the sartorial politics of her imperial allegiance, this essay critically redefines the political, economic, and emotional significance of Eleanor's acquisition and benefaction of jewels and gems as queen consort of Portugal (1518–1521) and France (1530–1547). It discusses her strategic self-adornment with these luxe accoutrements as an affective practice motivated by her familial devotion and maternal agency in service of the Habsburg dynasty.
Key words: Habsburg women; dynasty; jewels and gems; dowry; gifts; maternal agency
This essay considers the entwined economic, political, and emotional significance of jewels and gems for Eleanor of Austria (1498–1558), twice queen consort of Portugal (1518–1521) and France (1530–1547). Over the past two decades, the sketchily evidenced contours of Eleanor's profile, as one of the most elusive elite women of the Habsburg dynasty, has started to emerge through research highlighting her cultural activities and diplomatic efforts. In addition, a small number of literary descriptions and portraits have generated useful publications on the sartorial politics of her Spanish imperial representation as a French queen consort. These studies are complemented by the pioneering – comprehensive – archival research of Eleanor's limited surviving inventories by Annemarie Jordan Gschwend. While this chapter draws on this valuable foundation, it specifically focuses on providing an interpretation of Eleanor's discerning deployment of jewels and gems. Profound value was attached to these precious, durable, symbolic, and recyclable objects within Eleanor's cultural heritage, with heirloom ornaments bestowed names and women's livelihoods literally equated with their jewels.
Therefore, the ensuing discussion not only demonstrates Eleanor's participation in the affective compensatory gifting culture of her familial network, but also her strategic self-adornment with these luxe accoutrements to communicate a carefully crafted composite cultural identity that moved beyond her imperial allegiance. Moreover, comparative examination of Eleanor's feminine exemplars and patterns of benefaction illuminate the personalised politics underpinning her wide-ranging matriarchal role and construction of a material maternal legacy through her collection and display of jewels and gems.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Sartorial Politics in Early Modern EuropeFashioning Women, pp. 93 - 114Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2019