Christina of Denmark, Duchess and Regent of Lorraine

Christina of Denmark, regent of Lorraine (died 10 December 1590)

Those obsessed with all things Tudor might have come across a reference to Christina of Denmark in their reading--before Henry VIII's "great matter" erupted, the young Danish princess was considered (by Thomas Wolsey, at any rate) as a possible match for Henry's illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy. But there was no reason why the girl's uncle, the Emperor Charles V, would find such a match acceptable, and no match was made.

Years later, after the death of his third queen, Jane Seymour, Henry VIII again considered Christina of Denmark, this time deciding that she might make an excellent wife for himself. Rather than being flattered by the English king's interest, the young woman is said to have responded, "If I had two heads, one should be at the King of England's disposal." Henry persisted for over a year until he was convinced by his ambassador that he should "fix his most noble stomach in some other place." (In this case, "stomach" meant "desire," but given Henry's eventual girth, it's an especially funny comment.)

Christina of Denmark,
portrait by Hans Holbein

It's interesting to think about what might have been if the young woman had become Henry's fourth queen.

In 1521, Christina of Denmark was born into a family of politically astute women--she was the great granddaughter of Isabella of Castile and the granddaughter of Juana of Castile. Christina's mother, Isabel of Austria (Juana's daughter) was married to King Christian II of Denmark and Norway--and during the king's absence (he briefly held the throne of Sweden), Queen Isabel served as regent of Denmark.

Christian II never quite gained control in Sweden, and he soon lost Denmark as well. When he was forced off the throne and into exile in 1523, the king, his wife, and his family took refuge in the Netherlands with Margaret of Austria, who was Isabel of Austria's aunt. The young Christina of Denmark thus came under the influence of apolitically experienced woman who governed the Netherlands as regent for twenty years.

After Isabel of Austria's death in 1526, the Danish king eventually made an ill-fated attempt to retake his throne. Christian was "persuaded" to leave his children behind, in Margaret of Austria's care, by the regent's offer of a generous annual payment.*

Under the influence of Margaret of Austria, Christina of Denmark was educated with a generation of women who learned much about politics and power from the Habsburg regent. (Among these young women was, interestingly, Anne Boleyn, who arrived at Margaret's court in 1513 and spent at least a year there.)

After the regent's death in 1530, she was followed by yet another Habsburg regent, Mary of Austria, Christina of Denmark's aunt (her mother Isabel's sister). But Christina's period of tuition was brief--by the time she was twelve years old, she became one more useful pawn in the Habsburg game of using marriage as a way to increase influence.

On 23 September 1533, Christina of Denmark was married in Brussels by proxy to Francesco II Sforza, duke of Milan (he was the son of Beatrice d'Este). When she arrived in Milan in May 1534, a second marriage ceremony was celebrated. By October 1535, her husband was dead, leaving Christina of Denmark, duchess of Milan, a widow at the age of thirteen.

Christina of Denmark returned to the Netherlands and Mary of Austria's court in 1537. A few months after her return, Hans Holbein was in Brussels, painting Christina's portrait for Henry VIII. Now all of sixteen, the young widow was sought by many--among those who hoped to arrange a match (aside from the English king), was William of Cleves, the brother of the woman who would become Henry VIII's fourth wife, Anne. (Another fix for the Tudor fan!)

Christina had her own views--having made a political match, she preferred a love match and wished to marry René of Chalon, Prince of Orange. While her aunt raised no objections, the Habsburg emperor had his own plans, and in 1540 he insisted that René marry Anne of Lorraine and that Christina marry the brother of the woman who married the man she loved--got that? 

On 10 July 1541, Christina of Denmark married Francis, duke of Bar. In 1544, Francis succeeded his father as duke of Lorraine. Despite her hope to marry René of Chalon, Christina found happiness in her marriage to Francis.

But the marriage was not a long one--by 1545, she was a widow again. During the brief years of her second marriage, she had given birth to two children (Charles, in 1543; Renata, in 1544). A third child, a daughter named Dorothea, was born after her husband's death.

Francis of Lorraine left his wife, Christina, as regent for his son and heir. She remained as regent until 1552--despite her efforts to secure assistance from the emperor, Lorraine was invaded by the French king, who took custody of Charles and relieved her of her duties. 

She was eventually exiled from Lorraine and made her way to the court of her aunt, Mary of Austria, regent of the Netherlands. 

Christina of Denmark, duchess (and regent) of Lorraine, remained a very desirable marriage prospect, though she never married again. She was eventually reunited with her son, and in 1560 she once again stepped in as regent of Lorraine, this time for her son. 

After the death of her father in 1559, Christina's childless sister ceded her claim to the Danish throne to her younger sister, and Christina styled herself as "Christina, by the grace of God Queen of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway." She also thought to arrange the marriage of her daughter, Renata, to Frederick II of Denmark (despite Christina's claims to be the rightful queen, he was the reigning monarch of Denmark). 

But none of these plans were to succeed. In 1578, Christina of Denmark left Lorraine for Tortona, a small territory in the duchy of Milan where she had been granted sovereign rights by her first husband, Francesco Sforza. There she "ruled" until 1584, when the Spanish decided she could stay but her role as "sovereign" had to go. 

Christina of Denmark, regent of Lorraine (among many other titles), died in Tortona on 10 December 1590. 

It's hard to believe that there is not a recent biography of Christina of Denmark, but Julia Cartwright's massive 1913 Christina of Denmark, Duchess of Milan and Lorraine, 1522-1590 is available from Internet Archive (click here).

*Christian II of Denmark's efforts failed; he surrendered to his uncle and rival in 1531 and was held in captivity until his death twenty-seven years later, in 1559. Christina and her older sister, Dorotea, petitioned their uncle, Charles V, to negotiate their father's release, but the emperor declined.

Laura Cereta: Italian Humanist

Laura Cereta (letter to Giovanni Olivieri, 1 August 1485)

Laura Cereta's "portrait,"
from the 1640 edition of her work

We know that the Italian humanist Laura Cereta was born in September of 1469 and that she died in 1499, just thirty years old. But I am using the date of one of her letters written to the scholar Giovanni Olivieri (her brothers' teacher) as the reason for today's post--it's not a significant letter, but it'll do as a reason for writing today.

Like her predecessor Isotta Nogarola, Laura Cereta is an extraordinarily well educated Italian humanist.* Born in Brescia, Cereta was the daughter of Silvestro Cereto, who was a lawyer and a magistrate in Brescia. Her mother was Veronica di Leno, a member of an old Brescian family--we know little about her, and in Cereta's surviving correspondence, only one letter to her mother is included. 

We know when Cereta was born only because she gives that information in a letter--"I was born in the fourth month before the coming of the seventieth year in the century one thousand four-hundred of our Savior." (She also says that she was named for a laurel tree growing in the family's "burgeoning garden.")

Cereta was sent first to a convent to be educated; she tells us that she was seven years old, and that the woman who taught her there was "highly esteemed both for her counsel and sanctity." She was "entrusted" to this nun "whose learning, habits, and discipline I, who was to be educated, intently absorbed." 

This esteemed woman taught Cereta embroidery--a useful remedy for her "nights of insomnia." After two years, when Cereta was nine, she left the convent and returned home. Her father, she says, was "fearful" that she might "slip into indolent habits," but she did not--as she writes, she "immersed" herself "night and day . . . in long vigils of study." 

At home, she learned Latin and Greek from her father, studied Seneca and Cicero, "attended lectures on mathematics," and "devoured the mellifluous-voiced prophets of the Old Testament and figures from the New Testament." 

But at age fifteen or sixteen, she was married to a young merchant from Venice, Pietro Serina; a handful of letters written to him, from 1485, survive. The marriage is not without its stresses--in one letter, dated 22 July 1485, the young Cereta writes that her husband seems to "pick arguments" with her whether she is silent, as a wife should be, or speaks when she feels "impelled to." "Apparently neither option is permitted," she observes tartly.

And yet, Cereta is not silent. In fact, in a letter from 13 August 1485, she says exactly what she thinks when her husband says that she does not love him:

Do you want me to believe that you expect me to comb my hair in a stylish fashion for your homecoming? Or to feign adoring looks with a painted face? Let women without means, who worry and have no confidence in their own virtue, flutter their eyelashes and play games to gain favor with their husbands. This is the admiration of a fox and the birdlime of deceitful birdhunting. I don't want to have to buy you at such a price.

Within a year, however, Serina was dead. Cereta did not marry again.

After her husband's death, Cereta returned to her study. Her surviving work includes autobiographical letters, letters on marriage and education, exchanges with other women, texts prepared for public lecture, and a literary dialogue. Although her letters circulated in manuscript among humanist scholars in the late fifteenth century, they were not published until 1640. 

In her work, Cereta addresses a number of feminist themes. Like Christine de Pizan, whose Book of the City of Ladies she most probably did not know, Cereta argues against misogynistic attitudes even while she accepts women’s traditional place in society. As her editor Diana Robin indicates, "Though . . . Cereta does see women as an oppressed class, she neither focuses her anger on ills within the culture as a whole that perpetuate gender and class inequities nor calls for the overthrow of the patriarchal state."

In Cereta's letter to Bibolo Semproni, which takes the form of a "defense of liberal education for women," she challenges the notion of the "exceptional woman." Semproni has clearly praised Cereta as unique among women, singling out for praise an individual woman whose accomplishments distinguish her from other women.

But Cereta rejects Semproni’s praise. The gifted and powerful woman is not extraordinary, she argues; rather, she comes from "a noble lineage . . . legitimate and sure." She has descended from "an enduring race," a "republic of women." Having dispensed with Semproni’s praise, Cereta then launches into a "history of women."

Following her abbreviated history, Cereta returns to her point that all women have ability, not just an exceptional few: "Nature has granted to all enough of her bounty; she opens to all the gates. . . ." Cereta also suggests that, while men may occupy positions of power, women have their own abilities, which may challenge, perhaps even frighten, men:

I shall make a bold summary of the matter. Yours is the authority, ours is the inborn ability. But instead of manly strength, we women are naturally endowed with cunning; instead of a sense of security, we are suspicious. Down deep we women are content with our lot. But you, enraged and maddened . . . are like someone who has been frightened. . . . Look, do you tremble from fear alone of my name? I am savage neither in mind nor hand. What is it you fear?

Finally, we might read Cereta’s correspondence with women as, in itself, a kind of history of women and an acknowledgement of their "monstrous regiment." Among her many letters are those addressed to Isabella of Castile, queen regnant of Spain; Beatrice of Aragon, queen consort of Hungary; Eleanor of Aragon, duchess and regent of Ferrara; and Beatrice d’Este, duchess of Bari and Milan.

(Isabella of Spain [1451-1504] married Ferdinand II of Aragon. Ferdinand was the nephew of Alfonso V and an uncle of Alfonso’s son Ferrante; Ferrante was the father of both Eleanor of Aragon [1450-93] and of Beatrice of Aragon [1457-1508]. Beatrice d’Este [1475-97] was Eleanor of Aragon’s daughter.)

Two manuscript collections of her work survive, one from the fifteenth century and one from the sixteenth. In 1640, a collection of her work is published in Padua by Jacopo Filippo Tommasini: Laurae Ceretae Brixiensis Feminae Clarissimae Epistolae iam primum e MS in lucem productae (available on Google Books, which you can access by clicking here).

A brief essay on Cereta's life is available at Italian Women Writers. There is an excellent introduction, one that includes biographical material, in Diana Robin's English translation of Cereta's work: Collected Letters of a Renaissance Feminist.

*Portions of this post are adapted from Debating Women, Politics, and Power in Early Modern Europe.

Beatrice d'Este: "Happy by Nature and Very Pleasing"

Beatrice d'Este (born 29 June 1475)

By and large in the posts I'm making this year, I'm focusing on women who do rather than women who simply are--but today I am noting the birth of Beatrice d'Este, the younger sister of Isabella d'Este, whom we've met before.

Beatrice d'Este,
a detail from the
Sforza altarpiece, , 1495

Unlike her elder sister, Beatrice did not live long enough to become a formidable political actor. In 1491, she was married to Ludovico Sforza, then regent of Milan for his nephew Gian Galeazzo, but, by then, equally well on his way to replacing his nephew as duke. (His nephew conveniently died in 1494.)

Beatrice's marriage festivities were designed and directed by Leonardo da Vinci. The fifteen-year-old bride became the center of lavish court life in Milan, noted for her beauty, her fashion, her taste, and her zest for life.

An important part of this courtly life were the poets, intellectuals, and artists with whom she associated, including the courtier, diplomat, and writer Baldassare Castiglione, the poet and courtier Niccolò da Correggio, the architect Donato Bramante, and, of course, Leonardo. In her husband's words, she was "lieta di natura et molto piacevolina"--or, as I have translated above, "happy by nature and very pleasing." 

What she might have become, had she lived longer, is glimpsed in 1492, when she acted as an ambassador to Venice on her husband's behalf, and again in 1495, when she attended a peace conference at Vercelli between the French king, Charles VIII, and notable Italian political figures, including her husband. 

But those glimpses are all we have. Beatrice d'Este died in childbirth on 3 January 1497, just twenty-one years old. Her two sons, Massimiliano (b. 1493) and Francesco II (b. 1495) each took a turn in a precarious role of duke of Milan. 

Tomb effigy of Beatrice d'Este

There is only one biography of Beatrice d'Este, Julia Carthwright's 1907 Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475-1497. You can buy this in a variety of print-on-demand reprints, and you can also download a free Kindle version. You will also find it in a variety of formats at Project Gutenberg.

Isabella d'Este, "la prima donna del mondo"

Isabella d'Este, marchesa of Mantua (died 13 February 1539)

Let Your Highness, I beg of you, keep a tranquil mind and attend wholly to military affairs, for I intend to govern the state with the help of these magnificent gentlemen and officials in such a manner that you will suffer no wrong, and all that is possible will be done for the good of your subjects. And if anyone should write or tell you of disorders of which you have not heard from me, you may be certain that it is a lie, because, since I not only give audience to officials but allow all your subjects to speak to me whenever they choose, no disturbance can arise without my knowledge.

--Isabella d'Este, marchioness of Mantua, to her husband,
Francesco Gonzaga, 30 June 1495

Isabella d'Este was widely praised by her contemporaries--for the poet Niccolò da Corréggio, she was, quite simply, "the first lady of the world" (la prima donna del mondo).

Isabella d'Este was the daughter of Eleanor of Naples and Ercole d'Este, duke of Ferrara.* Today, she may be best known for Karen Essex's historical novel, Leonardo's Swans, or for her dealings with Leonardo da Vinci--details of which appear in many Leonardo biographies. Although her life provides ample material for fiction, and although she was one of the most acquisitive collectors of art and artists, Isabella is also an impressive politician, diplomat, and ruler.

Titian's portrait of Isabella d'Este,
c. 1534-36
(painted when Isabella was in her 60s--
Titian offered a flattering, idealized image)

In 1480 Isabella, not yet six years old, was betrothed to Francesco Gonzaga, son and heir of the marquis of Mantua, strategically located between the rival cities of Milan and Venice. She was married to Gonzaga in 1490, and just a year later, Isabella found herself entrusted with the government of Mantua during her husband's absence.

Among the responsibilities she assumed was maintaining good relationships with both of her powerful neighbors. She also faced the usual task of producing an heir; by the end of 1492, in addition to her administration of Mantua, she had given birth to a child--unfortunately, rather than the desired son, the baby was a girl. 

Isabella was called upon again in Mantua when her husband, as captain-general of the Venetian army, joined the combined forces of Spain, England, and the Holy Roman Empire determined to drive the invading French out of Naples. According to her biographer Julia Cartwright, "she took up the reigns of government . . . and administered affairs with a prudence and sagacity which excited the wonders of grey-haired councillors." 

After Charles VIII retreated from Naples, Francesco returned briefly to Mantua, but by January of 1496 he was once more in command of the Venetian army, leaving Isabella again in control.

To improve her understanding of affairs of state, she added architecture, agriculture, and industry to her on-going humanist studies. During her husband's absence she also gave birth to her second child, another daughter, in July; again, she was disappointed, more disappointed than her husband, who assured her that "if ever a father had reason to be satisfied with his daughters, it was he." 

Despite his eight years of service to Venice, Francesco Gonzaga was dismissed from his position as captain-general in 1497, ostensibly for his French sympathies. In an effort to regain his position, he offered to surrender his wife and children to Venice as hostages, but his offer was rejected.

Aside from the insult to her husband, Isabella suffered another loss as well, with the death of her young sister Beatrice, the wife of Milan's Ludovico Sforza. Isabella set about reconciling her husband and her brother-in-law, and when Charles VIII died in 1498 and Louis XII announced his intention of pursuing his claim to the duchy of Milan, their reconciliation seemed inevitable.

Under this threat, Ludovico Sforza renewed his alliance with the Holy Roman Empire, and Francesco Gonzaga was offered military command of their combined forces, a post he ultimately accepted despite his hope to regain his position of captain-general of Venice, which had allied itself with the French. In 1499 the French invaded, and Lodovico Sforza was forced out of Milan. Francesco Gonzaga immediately offered his services to Louis XII, though Isabella persisted in her allegiance to her sister's husband and offered refuge to Milanese fleeing the French. But after Ludovico's capture by the French in 1500 at the battle of Novara, she turned her attention to cultivating the victors. 

Within a month of Ludovico's defeat, Isabella gave birth to a son, Federico, and his birth gave the marchioness and her husband an opportunity to make a conciliatory gesture to the French. Accordingly, Isabella solicited Cesare Borgia to act as one of her son's godfathers.

As Cesare continued his conquests in Italy, Isabella grudgingly welcomed his sister Lucrezia as her brother's bride and, once more governing Mantua on her husband's behalf, negotiated with Cesare over the betrothal of her son Federico to Cesare's daughter. Through a continuing series of detailed letters, she also kept her husband advised about political matters.  

The situation in Italy shifted radically after the death of Pope Alexander VI in August of 1503, and his son Cesare Borgia lost his Italian conquests almost as quickly as he had gained them. Isabella, meanwhile, remained in Mantua, still acting as regent for Francesco, who fought first for Julius II, leading the papal army against Bologna, and then for Louis XII, helping conduct the siege of Genoa. Isabella herself was invited to France in 1507 by Louis and Anne of Brittany; despite her renowned love of travel, it was a trip she could not take.

As Cartwright notes, Isabella's continued presence in Mantua was "urgently required" during Francesco's absences. Her role became even more critical when the pope and the French king combined forces in 1508 to attack Venice. Francesco was part of the defeat of Venice at the battle of Cannæ on 14 May, but on 9 August he was taken prisoner. Louis XII and Maximilian demanded her son, Federico, be sent to them as a hostage, in exchange for her husband's freedom. 

Isabella objected strongly, calling the demand "a cruel and almost inhuman thing for any one who knows the meaning of a mother's love," but despite his mother's "deliberate and unchanging" opposition, Federico became a hostage for his father's good behavior after all. Julius II eventually negotiated Francesco Gonzaga's release on 10 July 1510 on the condition that Federico be sent Rome where he would be the hostage of the pope instead of the Republic of Venice. Isabella's son became a papal favorite, accompanying Julius II everywhere; "O Madonna!" one of Isabella's correspondents wrote from Rome, "you have indeed a rare son, and I think you will find more comfort in him than in anything else in the world."

Leonardo da Vinci's chalk drawing
of Isabella d'Este, c. 1519
(an oil portrait was never completed)

His imprisonment had taken a toll on Francesco Gonzaga's health, and he was forced to give up his military career, retiring to Mantua where, as Cartwright indicates, "he depended more and more on his wife" who had an increasingly large part "in the management of public affairs." Isabella's Latin teacher, Mario Equicola, wrote to her brother that "everything is referred to Madonna, and not a leaf is allowed to stir without her knowledge and consent."

Beyond Mantua, Isabella attempted to effect the reconciliation of her brother, the duke of Ferrara, to Julius II. When that effort failed and the threat of war loomed again, a "congress" met in Mantua in 1512, where Isabella "displayed her usual tact and ability in the conduct of negotiations"; she knew, "above all, how to govern others without ever allowing her influence to appear." 

While her husband remained in Mantua over the course of the next few years, Isabella travelled widely throughout Italy, visiting Milan, Rome, and Naples. She was back in Mantua by the end of 1518, however, as Francesco grew increasingly ill. On the morning of 29 March 1519, he drew up a will naming Federico as his successor, with Isabella to act as his "guardian and advisor" until the young man reached the age of twenty-two; he died late the same day.

When Pope Leo X considered making the twenty-year-old Federico his captain-general in 1520, he hesitated, wondering how Mantua could be governed in the young man's absence. The answer, of course, was Isabella, who was once more to guide Mantua after her son took up his new position. But once Federico returned to Mantua and took up the administration of his state "in his own right," he "rarely referred things to her or asked her advice."

No longer needed in Mantua, Isabella decided to travel; she was in Rome, for instance, when it was sacked by imperial troops in 1527. She had fortified the Palazza Colonna, where she was in residence, offering shelter and protection to ambassadors from Mantua, Ferrara, Urbino, and Venice. It was, one biographer notes, "almost the only building in all of Rome to escape serious damage in the terrible sack." In 1528 she was in Ferrara for the marriage of her nephew Ercole to Renée of France, Louis XII's daughter, and in 1529 she travelled to Bologna for the meeting between Pope Clement and the newly elected Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V.

She was there for more than the spectacle of the emperor's coronation, however: she intended "to promote the interests of the Gonzaga family," "to help her brother Alfonso in his effort to keep Ferrara an Este duchy," and to "use her influence to have her nephew Francesco Sforza confirmed in his Milan duchy." Her efforts were successful, and the new emperor traveled to Mantua immediately following the events in Bologna; there, on 8 April, he changed the status of Mantua, creating a new duchy, and Isabella d'Este's son became the first duke of Mantua. 

With this success, mother and son were reunited, and when Federico travelled to Montferrat in 1531, where his marriage to Margherita di Montferrat was celebrated, Isabella "once more administered the State in her son's absence." This was the last occasion she took "any active part in public affairs," her biographer Julia Cartwright notes. Isabella continued to travel, as her health permitted, with one last visit to Ferrara in 1538, her birthplace, before her death on 13 February 1539. 

There is an excellent account of Isabella d'Este in Leonie Frieda's The Deadly Sisterhood: A Story of Women, Power, and Intrigue in the Italian Renaissance, 1427-1527. But for a detailed, full-length biography, I recommend Julia Cartwright's two-volume Isabella d'Este, Marchioness of Mantua, 1474-1539: A Study of the Renaissance, first published in 1903. You can read the book through Google Books: for volume 1, click here; for volume 2, click here. You can also purchase print-on-demand copies via Amazon. 

For an analysis of Isabella d'Este's political role, see Sarah D. P. Cockram's recent Isabella d'Este and Francesco Gonzaga: Power Sharing at the Italian Renaissance Court.

*This post has been adapted from The Monstrous Regiment of Women: Female Rulers in Early Modern Europe (Palgrave Macmillan).