Dec VSS - Patronage and Power

Patronage and Power: Eleonora d’Aragona and Female Networks in Renaissance Italy

Rebecca I. Arnheim

Leibniz-Instituts für Europäische Geschichte (IEG), Mainz 

Centre for Privacy Studies, University of Copenhagen

This presentation examines Eleonora d’Aragona’s central role in the feminine networks that shaped Italian courtly life during the Quattrocento. As a daughter of the Aragonese dynasty of Naples and wife to Ercole I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, Eleonora linked the Neapolitan and Ferrarese courts, with her children further connecting to the Sforza and Gonzaga families.

As Duchess, Eleonora was an active patron of the arts and architecture, differentiating Eleonora from her predecessors and influencing her daughter Isabella d’Este’s renowned patronage in Mantua. As regent during her husband’s absences, Eleonora demonstrated notable political acumen, with her correspondence revealing strategic governance and maternal wisdom shaped by her upbringing in Naples.

This lecture, a work-in-progress, explores Eleonora’s intentional agency and the broader impact of Aragonese women, highlighting how familial ties and shared identity enabled women to shape diplomacy, education, and cultural production across Renaissance Italy’s political and regional boundaries.