Description:
This volume focuses on the various Habsburg courts and households of the two branches of the dynasty that arose following the division of the territories originally held by Charles V. The authors trace the connections between these courtly communities regardless of their standing or composition, exposing the underlying network they formed. By cutting across the traditional division in the historiography between the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs and also examining the roles played by the courts and households of lesser known members of the dynasty, this volume determines to what degree the organization followed a particular model and to what extent individuals were able to move between courts in pursuit of career opportunities and advancement.


INDICE:

Courts and households of the Habsburg dynasty: history and historiography

The political configuration of the Spanish Monarchy: the court and royal households José Martínez Millán

The court of Madrid and the courts of the viceroys Manuel Rivero

The economic foundations of the royal household of the Spanish Habsburgs, 1556-;1621 Carlos Javier de Carlos Morales

The household of archduke Albert of Austria from his arrival in Madrid until his election as governor of the Low Countries: 1570-;1595 José Eloy Hortal Muñoz

Flemish elites under Philip III’s patronage (1598-1621): household, court and territory in the Spanish Habsburg Monarchy, Alicia Esteban Estríngana

The ‘Spanish Faction’ at the court of the archdukes Albert and Isabella Werner Thomas

‘Vous estez les premiers vassaux que j’aye et que j’aime le plus.’ Burgundians in the Brussels courts of the widowed Isabella and of the Cardinal-Infant don Ferdinand (1621-1641)* Birgit Houben

Anne of Austria, founder of the Val-de-Grâce in Paris Olivier Chaline

Some reflections on the ceremonial and image of the kings and queens of the House of Habsburg in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Alejandro López àlvarez

From Graz to Vienna: structures and careers in the Frauenzimmer between 1570 and 1657 Katrin Keller

The Innsbruck court in the 17th century: identity and ceremonial of a court in flux Astrid von Schlachta

Quo vadis: present and potential approaches to the relations between the courts and households of the Habsburg dynasty in the Early Modern period

Appendix: Principal offices of the court of the Spanish Habsburg kings 371

Index