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Family Matters. Female Dynastic Agency and Correspondence

Family Matters. Female Dynastic Agency and Correspondence

Katrin Keller (ORCID: 0000-0002-8621-5162)
  • Grant DOI 10.55776/P34651
  • Funding program Principal Investigator Projects
  • Status ended
  • Start October 1, 2021
  • End June 30, 2025
  • Funding amount € 372,203

Disciplines

Other Humanities (25%); History, Archaeology (70%); Computer Sciences (5%)

Keywords

    Correspondence, History, Edition, Holy Roman Empire, Empress

Abstract Final report

In Austria and far beyond, everyone probably knows Empress Maria Theresa, who ruled the Habsburg Monarchy in the 18th century and exerted great influence on European politics. But have you ever heard of her grandmother Eleonora Magdalena? As the mother of two emperors reigning for almost 40 years, Joseph I and Maria Theresas father Charles VI, she was deeply involved in the politics of her time. How come she is completely unknown to most people today? The presumed lack of archive material on women in this period has led to very little research on her person so far. Luckily that has now changed: In Munich, more than 1,000 letters have were discovered that the Empress wrote to her father, Elector Philipp Wilhelm of the Palatinate, and to her brother Johann Wilhelm of the Palatinate, in which she commented on politics, family and everyday life. These letters form the basis of a more intensive study of the empress and her political as well as her role in the dynasty, the princely family. Thus, for the period between 1676, the year of her marriage to Emperor Leopold I, and 1716, the year of her brother`s death, it is now possible to understand very precisely how she lived and which political goals she pursued. In her endeavours she collaborated with numerous people located in Vienna, Düsseldorf, Neuburg on the Danube, but also in Cologne, Madrid and Rome. Investigating political processes, it interesting to see in whose favour she took sides. She supported her numerous siblings as well as her own children, namely she was involved in several of her brothers becoming bishops and thus princes of the Holy Roman Empire. Eleonora Magdalena prepared the marriages of her sisters, who married to Spain, Portugal, Poland and Italy. All the siblings corresponded with each other throughout their lives, supporting each other and playing a role in European politics in different ways. The princely family, i.e. the dynasty, was an important framework of action for all of them, both women and men, and the strengthening the House of Palatinate-Neuburg as well as the House of Habsburg was Eleonora Magdalena`s goal. The project has three aims: Firstly, we want to make the empress`s many letters available online so that anyone interested can look at the exchanges and cooperation within the family. Secondly, we will search for more of the empress`s letters in order to broaden our knowledge about her and the ways in which she acted. And finally, we are investigating the arguments and strategies she used to realise her goals in a time when, at first glance, women seemed to have no independent means of political action.

The project's focus were the letters from the Holy Roman Empress Eleonora Magdalena of Palatine-Neuburg (1655-1720) sent between 1677 and 1716 to her father Philipp Wilhelm of Palatine-Neuburg and her brother Johann Wilhelm, both Electors Palatinate in their respective lifetimes. This collection consists of 1,152 autograph letters from the Empress, 56 draft letters from her father and 381 draft letters and letter copies from her brother. Predating Maria Theresa, the famous grand-daughter of our respective Empress, there is no larger collection of letters of a Habsburg princess than that of Eleonora Magdalena. This archival collection held at the Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv München (Munich, Germany) was transcribed using the TRANSKRIBUS software and processed into a digital edition available at https://kaiserin-eleonora.oeaw.ac.at/ (online since June 2024). The letters provide a fascinating insight into the political thinking of a Habsburg empress and reveal how and in what context Eleonora Magdalena in particular became politically active. They act as testimonies of everyday life at the Viennese court from the great plague epidemic of 1680 through the second Turkish siege in 1683 to the end of the War of the Spanish Succession. On top of that, they substantially illuminate the close ties between the Empress's two families, the Palatine Wittelsbachs and the Austrian Habsburgs, in which she played a key role. In the project, this last aspect was given priority attention. To this end, additional research was conducted in various European archives to locate further letters written by the Empress. Our new archival findings from Karlsruhe, Wolfenbüttel, Parma and Minsk made it possible to map more accurately Eleonora Magdalena's European correspondence network. In addition, the letters were used to examine two major aspects of the Empress's actions in more detail: First, a study was conducted on the aspect of dynastic loyalty, showing how she represented, combined and negotiated the political interests of both her family of origin in Düsseldorf and Heidelberg and that of the Austrian Habsburgs into which she married. Second, it was possible to highlight the considerable influence the Empress exerted on the appointment of bishops in the Holy Roman Empire. In doing so, she represented the political interests of both her dynasties and gained lasting influence in imperial politics. In the present continuation project, the contentual exploration of the letters will be completed and the personal networks of the Empress further examined - we will keep you posted at https://kaiserin.hypotheses.org/.

Research institution(s)
  • Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften - 100%
Project participants
  • Ellinor Forster, Universität Innsbruck , national collaboration partner

Research Output

  • 11 Publications
  • 2 Datasets & models
  • 9 Disseminations
  • 2 Scientific Awards
  • 1 Fundings
Publications
  • 2024
    Title RELIGIOUS PLURALITY AT PRINCELY COURTS
    DOI 10.3167/9781805394877
    Type Book
    editors Marschke B, Riches D, Schunka A, Smart S
    Publisher Berghahn Books
  • 2022
    Title Hidden Figures: The Holy Roman Empire as a “Realm of Ladies”
    DOI 10.1017/s0008938922000024
    Type Journal Article
    Author Keller K
    Journal Central European History
    Pages 339-354
    Link Publication
  • 2025
    Title Noch eine Eleonora; In: Transalpine Transferprozesse im 17. Jahrhundert - Die Gonzaga-Kaiserinnen zwischen Mantua und Wien
    DOI 10.1515/9783839476369-005
    Type Book Chapter
    Publisher transcript Verlag
  • 2025
    Title Die Fürstin schreibt. Strukturen weiblicher Korrespondenzen am Beispiel von Kaiserin Eleonora Magdalena von Pfalz-Neuburg (1655-1720)
    Type Conference Proceeding Abstract
    Author Keller
    Conference Briefkulturen - Perspektiven ihrer Erforschung"
  • 2025
    Title Fürstin, Kaiserin, Reich: Von Erzämtern, Karrieren und armen Verwandten; In: Herrschaft der Frauen - Herrschaft der Männer. Fürstabteien als weltliche Residenzen
    Type Book Chapter
    Author Keller
  • 2025
    Title Familiensache. Dynastische Loyalität bei Kaiserin Eleonora Magdalena
    Type Journal Article
    Author Keller
    Journal Zeitschrift für historische Forschung
  • 2025
    Title Kaiserin Eleonora Magdalena als Witwe; In: Fürstliche Witwen
    Type Book Chapter
    Author Keller
    Publisher Transkript
  • 2025
    Title Fürstin und Nonne. Zum Näheverhältnis von Hof und Kloster in der Barockzeit am Beispiel der Kaiserin Eleonora Magdalena (1655-1720) und ihrer Mutter, Kurfürstin Elisabeth Amalia von Pfalz-Neuburg (1635-1709)
    Type Journal Article
    Author Peper I
    Journal Das Achtzehnte Jahrhundert und Österreich. Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Gesellschaft zur Erforschung des 18. Jahrhunderts
    Pages 145-169
    Link Publication
  • 0
    Title Kaiserin Eleonora Magdalena von Pfalz-Neuburg (1655-1720) schreibt: Briefe als Selbstzeugnisse; In: Adlige und fürstliche Selbstzeugnisse der Frühen Neuzeit: Fürst Christian II. von Anhalt und seine Diarien im Kontext ihrer Zeit / Noble and princely self-testimonies and diaries in the early modern age: Prince Christian II. of Anhalt and his diaries in context
    Type Book Chapter
    Author Keller
  • 2022
    Title Central European Pasts, Old and New in the Intellectual Culture of Habsburg Europe, 1700–1750
    DOI 10.1515/9783110653052
    Type Book
    editors Peper I, Wallnig T
    Publisher De Gruyter
  • 0
    Title Kaiserin Eleonora Magdalena Theresia (1655-1720) als Akteurin der Reichskirchenpolitik
    Type Journal Article
    Author Peper I
    Journal submitted with: Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung
    Link Publication
Datasets & models
  • 2024 Link
    Title Familiensache. Die Korrespondenz der Kaiserin Eleonora Magdalena (1655-1720)
    Type Database/Collection of data
    Public Access
    Link Link
  • 2024 Link
    Title Familiensache. Die Korrespondenz der Kaiserin Eleonora Magdalena (1655-1720)
    Type Database/Collection of data
    Public Access
    Link Link
Disseminations
  • 2024
    Title Long Night of Research
    Type Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
  • 2023
    Title "Maria Theresa's grandmothers"
    Type Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
  • 2022 Link
    Title Women of the Habsburgs
    Type A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
    Link Link
  • 2025 Link
    Title Frauen und Politik
    Type A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
    Link Link
  • 2023 Link
    Title Präsentation WBH 2.0
    Type Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
    Link Link
  • 2022 Link
    Title Kick-off event "The Empress' Correspondence"
    Type Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
    Link Link
  • 2023
    Title Exhibition "Forscherinnen entdecken"
    Type Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
  • 2021 Link
    Title Blog "Kaiserin und Reich" / "Empress and Empire"
    Type Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
    Link Link
  • 2024 Link
    Title Release of the edition (beta version)
    Type A talk or presentation
    Link Link
Scientific Awards
  • 2024
    Title Fürstin - Kaiserin - Reich
    Type Personally asked as a key note speaker to a conference
    Level of Recognition National (any country)
  • 2022
    Title Krönungen und Korrespondenzen. Neues von den Kaiserinnen der Frühen Neuzeit
    Type Personally asked as a key note speaker to a conference
    Level of Recognition Regional (any country)
Fundings
  • 2025
    Title Networks and Female Agency
    Type Research grant (including intramural programme)
    DOI 10.55776/pat3146724
    Start of Funding 2025
    Funder Austrian Academy of Sciences

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