Queen Bona Sforza of Poland

Bona Sforza (1494–1557) was a key figure in the political, diplomatic, and economic life of early modern Europe. This volume explores Bona Sforza’s political life and the ways she exercised power, integrating research on artistic, literary, and other forms of cultural patronage exercised by elite women with analysis of the economic forms of power.

Bona Sforza (1494–1557) was a key figure in the political, diplomatic, and economic life of early modern Europe. The niece of Lucrezia Borgia, she was an economic innovator and reformer and patron of architecture and the arts. Bona was the legitimate heir to the Sforza throne of Milan, Queen Consort of Poland, Duchess of Bari, and Princess of Rossano, and claimant to the crown of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, the latter Italian possessions inherited from her mother in 1524. This volume brings together studies of diverse aspects of the Queen’s activity. The authors examine Bona’s immediate economic, political, and cultural impact, the resentment expressed by Poland’s oligarchs, and a heavily gendered yet appreciative popular response. This collection of studies will contribute to the consideration of women’s dynamic and relational concept of agency from a historical perspective by exploring the circumstances under which women rise above their restrictive situations and illuminate the factors (age, political or economic climate) that determined their ability to manage their own lives.

• Edited by Darius von Güttner-Sporzyński
• Edited by Agnieszka Januszek-Sieradzka