Gendered Networks of Power: A Prosopographical and Cultural History of the Habsburg Courts around Maximilian I

Who could exercise political power around 1500—and what did gender have to do with it? How did women and men gain access to rulers, resources, and influential networks? And how could a young princess, an urban merchant, or a courtier shape politics beyond the boundaries of formal office?
Within the cross-disciplinary Special Research Program “Managing Maximilian,” this project investigates how gender shaped power, social networks, and political agency at the court of Maximilian I. Challenging male-centred models of premodern rulership, it understands masculinity and femininity as dynamic, relational constructs. Combining prosopographical and qualitative approaches, it traces how gender, status, skills, wealth, and kinship shaped access to resources, opportunities for action, and participation in governance across dynastic, courtly, intellectual, and urban worlds.
Our research has established a framework for analysing gender and rulership across three generations of Maximilian’s family. It shows how men and women negotiated gendered ideals and how age, education, reproduction, and military performance shaped perceptions of political competence. By reconstructing the childhood networks of Louis and Anna Jagiello in Buda, and the adolescent worlds of Anna Jagiello and Maria of Habsburg in Innsbruck, we have demonstrated how household relations, kinship, and service gave young princesses and their entourages room for manoeuvre. Their connections crossed dynastic and territorial boundaries and remained influential into the 1530s. Our work on Central European urban elites has likewise revealed how women and men mobilised family, business, university, religious, and court connections, establishing a prosopographical basis for tracing interactions between urban society, royal courts, and religious communities.
Building on these findings, we ask how political actors were formed, how networks connected people across generations, and how participation was negotiated, gained, or lost. Comparing Margaret of Austria and Anne de France, we examine how tutors, trusted companions, and everyday household practices shaped gendered competences and future careers. Drawing on correspondence, courtly households, urban registers, and supplication letters, we investigate how kinship, trust, and social capital enabled women and men to gain influence beyond formal office. Case studies of urban families in Innsbruck, Vienna, Wiener Neustadt, and Budapest explore how shifting alliances opened opportunities but could also lead to exclusion and career decline.
Who was included in the exercise of power, who remained at its margins, and why? By connecting gender history, prosopography, and network analysis, this project reveals political participation not as a fixed status but as a dynamic process shaped by relationships, resources, and changing circumstances.

CHRISTINA LUTTER | University of Vienna, Faculty of Historical and Cultural Studies

Scientific coordination:
Irene Fattacciu (FBK-ISIG)
Alessandra Quaranta (FBK-ISIG)
Massimo Rospocher (FBK-ISIG)
Sandra Toffolo (FBK-ISIG)

Cycle of seminars: “Tavola ovale di storia moderna“

ISIG is an accredited or qualified entity to carry out training activities for the staff of Trentino schools.

The talk will be held in English.

The presentation will be in-person in the FBK Aula Piccola while seats last and online.

Registration by December 2, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. is required in order to arrange the connection.

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Image: Albrecht_Dürer_-_Portrait_of_Maximilian_I_-_Google_Art_Project