Colonization, Piracy, and Trade in Early Modern Europe: The Roles of Powerful Women and Queens

Queenship and Power

by Estelle Paranque (Editor), Nate Probasco (Editor), Claire Jowitt (Editor)

This collection brings together essays examining the international influence of queens, other female rulers, and their representatives from 1450 through 1700, an era of expanding colonial activity and sea trade. As Europe rose in prominence geopolitically, a number of important women―such as Queen Elizabeth I of England, Catherine de Medici, Caterina Cornaro of Cyprus, and Isabel Clara Eugenia of Austria―exerted influence over foreign affairs. Traditionally male-dominated spheres such as trade, colonization, warfare, and espionage were, sometimes for the first time, under the control of powerful women. This interdisciplinary volume examines how they navigated these activities, and how they are represented in literature. By highlighting the links between female power and foreign affairs, Colonization, Piracy, and Trade in Early Modern Europe contributes to a fuller understanding of early modern queenship.

Genres: History

270 pages, Paperback

Published September 9, 2018

Reviews

[Carolyn Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this collection of scholarly articles about the role of Queens (and other powerful women) in trade, finance and foreign affairs during the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Studies of Early Modern royal women often focus on art patronage, court culture and domestic role with Queen Elizabeth I as an exception, encouraging the piracy of Sir Francis Drake. Colonization, Trade and Piracy in Early Modern Europe demonstrates that Elizabeth's contemporaries, such as Marie de Guise (Regent of Scotland), Catherine de Medici (Regent of France) and the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia (Governor of the Netherlands) were also deeply concerned with the issues of trade and exploration. There is a wide range of historical and literary approaches to these topics in this volume. There are a few distracting formatting choices (Infant and Infanta are used interchangeably) and the introduction led me to expect more analysis of Queen Henrietta Maria. Colonization, Trade and Piracy in Early Modern Europe is a valuable contribution to the study of queenship, revealing the full range of activities undertaken by early modern royal women.

[bela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caterina Cornaro and the Colonization of Cyprus