The Participation of Women in Rulership in Early Modern Times. Regencies in the Holy Roman Empire in a Western European Perspective

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The rule of a territory by substitution was an established possibility for women in early modern times to obtain a position of political power. Despite contemporary criticism of the practice, female regents can be found in many European states and numerous territories of the Holy Roman Empire. For the latter, the phenomenon has hardly been investigated. The few existing studies concentrate on individual women. For male regents and for groups of men and women exercising a regency collectively, there is practically no specialised research. Comparative studies are lacking entirely. The project aims at investigating regencies in the Holy Roman Empire with a comparative approach, both territorial and gender-specific, and at interpreting them in the context of the western European dynastic state. The territorial comparison allows findings to be understood in terms of their regional particularities as well as their general European significance. In addition, it enables one to determine whether specific structural conditions or the individual regents themselves account for similarities and differences between the territories. The gender-specific comparison will clarify if the political actions of female regents were limited because of their sex or if certain structural conditions, also applicable to male regents, were more relevant. Because of their frequency and often long duration, custodial regencies are the main focus. The results of the project will be published in a monograph (dissertation) based on case studies on the duchies of Württemberg and of Savoy. Both territories saw several custodial regencies between the 15th and the 17h century led by women, men and/or groups of regents. In addition to the monograph, a "Handbook of the Regencies in the Territories of the Holy Roman Empire 1495–1806" will be compiled. It will supply essential information for all regencies that were in place in the territories of the Empire in early modern times, comprise information on literature and archival sources, discuss pivotal aspects of the regencies in question and identify research perspectives.