The Empress, the Queen, and the Nun: Women and Power at the Court of Philip III of Spain (The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science)
This study represents a fresh and innovative approach to diplomatic history, as well as women's history. It is an impressive achievement.(Jodi Bilinkoff, University of North Carolina, Greensboro)With brilliant analysis and careful archival research Magdalena Sánchez breaks new ground and lays to rest the old stereotypes about passive, apolitical, and powerless women.(Mary Elizabeth Perry, Occidental College)Sánchez has provided us with an illuminating study of the place of women in the court politics of Philip III's reign. Her fresh readings of how these women exercised their considerable political power should prompt historians of early-modern Spain to re-examine their understanding both of early-modern Spanish women and the court of Philip III.(Elizabeth LehfeldtBulletin of the Society of Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies)Sanchez's portrayal of court politics is convincing and solidly documented, and it broadens our understanding of not only a little-studied and often-derided reign but also the hidden logics of a crucial political institution, the court, in a period of transition toward government by royal favorites.(James S. AmelangJournal of Modern History)