Notions of Privacy at Early Modern European Courts : : Reassessing the Public and Private Divide, 1400-1800.

• Author: Neighbors, Dustin M.
• TeilnehmendeR: Nørgaard, Lars Cyril.; Woodacre, Elena.
• Place / Publishing House: Amsterdam : : Amsterdam University Press,, 2024.; ©2024.
• Year of Publication: 2024
• Edition: First edition.
• Language: English
• Series: Early Modern Court Studies ; v.3.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (306 pages)

Grand, extravagant, magnificent, scandalous, corrupt, political, personal, fractious; these are terms often associated with the medieval and early modern courts. Moreover, the court constituted a forceful nexus in the social world, which was central to the legitimacy and authority of rulership. As such, courts shaped European politics and culture: architecture, art, fashion, patronage, and cultural exchanges were integral to the spectacle of European courts. Researchers have convincingly emphasised the public nature of courtly events, procedures, and ceremonies. Nevertheless, court life also involved pockets of privacy, which have yet to be systematically addressed. This edited collection addresses this lacuna and offers interpretations that urge us to reassesses the public nature of European courts. Thus, the proposed publication will fertilise the grounds for a discussion of the past and future of court studies. Indeed, the contributions make us reconsider present-day understandings of privacy as a stable and uncontestable notion.

Table of Contents

Cover -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Reassessing the Public/Private Nature of European Court Cultures: An Introduction -- Dustin M. Neighbors -- 1. Considering Privacy at Court -- Mette Birkedal Bruun and Lars Cyril Nørgaard -- 2. Privacy at Court? Reconsidering the Public/Private Dichotomy -- Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger -- 3. The Monarch Exposed: The Negotiation of Privacy at the Early Modern Court -- Dries Raeymaekers -- 4. Institutionalised Privacy? The Need to Achieve and Defend Privacy in the Frauenzimmer -- Britta Kägler -- 5. Public Displays of Affection: Creating Spheres of Apparent Royal Intimacy in Public -- Fabian Persson -- 6. The Translation of Court Culture from the Burgundian Court to the Kingdom of Castile: The Sovereign's Privacy and Relationship with Court Artists -- Oskar J. Rojewski -- 7. On Privacy-or Rather the Lack Thereof-at Court in the Polish Literature of the Sixteenth Century -- Marta Wojtkowska-Maksymik -- 8. 'Au Milieu d'une Cour Superbe &amp -- Tumultueuse': Devotional Privacy at the Court of Versailles -- Mette Birkedal Bruun and Lars Cyril Nørgaard -- 9. Private Justice or Ducal Power? Testing the Strength of Public Authority and Dynastic Loyalty among Transnational Nobles at the Court of the Duke of Lorraine -- Jonathan Spangler -- 10. The Politics of Privacy: Examining Influence and Personal Relationships at the English and Holy Roman Imperial Courts -- Dustin M. Neighbors and Elena Woodacre -- Index -- List of Illustrations -- 2.1 Anonymous, Maria Theresa Playing Cards with Four of Her Closest Confidants, c. 1751, drawing. Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest/Bridgeman Images.

2.2 Martin van Meytens, The Wedding Banquet of Crown Prince Joseph (II) and Isabella of Parma, in Desserttafel bei der Vermählung von Joseph II. mit Isabella von Parma am 06 October 1760 im Redoutensaal der Wiener Hofburg, c. 1760-63, oil on canvas painti -- 2.3 Martin van Meytens, Maria Theresa with Joseph II as a Child, 1744, oil on canvas painting. Wien Museum, Vienna. Photo: Birgit and Peter Kainz. CC BY 4.0. -- 2.4 Jean-Etienne Liotard, Trompe l'Oeil Portrait of Maria Theresa as an Elderly Woman, c. 1762-63, oil on panel. Private property of Sylvie Lhermite-King, printed with permission. -- 2.5 Jean Huber (1721-86), Voltaire's Morning, c. 1750-75, oil on canvas painting, Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. Published in Colin Eisler, Paintings in the Hermitage (New York: Stewart, Tabori and Change, 1990), 21. -- 3.1 Inner courtyard of Coudenberg Palace on the Coudenberg Hill in Brussels, in Erycius Puteanus, Erycii Puteani Bamelrodii Bruxella, incomparabili exemplo septenaria, gripho palladio descripta: luminibus historicis, politicis, miscellaneis distincta &amp -- ex -- 3.2 Peephole, c. 17th century. © The Royal Danish Collection, Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen. -- 3.3 Henry Romaynes, "The Beddington Lock", c. 1539-47. © Victoria &amp -- Albert Museum, London. -- 4.1 Nikolaus Prugger (also Prucker or Brucker), Three Court Ladies as the Parcae, overdoor for the Cabinet of Hearts of the Munich Residenz, oil painting, 1668-1669, Residence Museum, Munich. © Wittelsbacher Ausgleichsfonds München. -- 5.1 Framed entrée list, c. 18th century, Gripsholm Castle, Mariefred. © Timothy Cox. -- 5.2 Confidence Room, c. 18th century, Chinese Pavilion, Royal Palace, Stockholm. © Fabian Persson. -- 5.3 Table hoist, c. 18th century, Confidence Room, Chinese Pavilion, Royal Palace, Stockholm. © Fabian Persson.

6.1 Anonymous, Possible Copy of the Portrait of Isabella of Portugal, c. 16th century, pen and brush on paper. Arquivo Nacional Torre de Tombo, Lisbon. CC-BY-SA. -- 6.2 Rogier van der Weyden, Portrait of Philip the Good, c. 1460, oil on panel. Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, Antwerp. CC-BY-SA. -- 6.3 Rogier van der Weyden, Portrait of Isabella of Portugal, c. 1450, oil on panel. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. CC-BY-SA. -- 6.4a Anonymous, Portrait of Ferdinand II of Aragon, c. 1500, oil on panel. Musée Sainte-Croix, Poitiers. CC-BY-SA. -- 6.4b Anonymous, Queen Isabella the Catholic, c. 1500, oil on panel. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. CC-BY-SA. -- 7.1 Woodcut, in Mikołaj Rej, Żywot człowieka poczciwego (Kraków: Maciej Wirzbięta, 1567-68), sig. Łr [List 25]. Reproduced with the permission of the University of Warsaw Library (inventory number Sd. 612.636). -- 7.2 Woodcut, in Andrea Alciato, Emblematum libellus (Paris: Christianus Wechelus, 1542). Reproduced with the permission of the University of Warsaw Library (inventory number Sd. 608.845). -- 10.1a Lucas Cranach the Younger, Kurfürst August von Sachsen (1526-1586), c. 1564, oil on canvas. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Wikimedia Commons. -- 10.1b Nicolas Neufchatel, Kaiser Maximilian II. (1527-1576), c. 1566, oil on canvas. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Wikimedia Commons. -- 10.2 Lucas Cranach the Elder, Hunting near Hartenfels Castle, c. 1540, Oil, originally on wood, transferred to masonite. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. Printed with permission under the Cleveland Museum of Art Open Access Initiative (CC0 1.0). -- Tables/Graphs/Diagrams -- 6.1 Number of valets de chambre per year, according to the ordinances (© Oskar J. Rojewski). -- 6.2 Number of servants of cámara, according to the nóminas (© Oskar J. Rojewski).

10.1 Lenses of political privacy (© Dustin M. Neighbors).