ABSTRACT
Elisabetta Farnese — princess of Parma, born and educated in Italy, queen of Spain — lived in Madrid, La Granja de San Ildefonso, El Escorial, Aranjuez, Seville, and Granada for half a century. She was queen of Spain for more than 30 years, exercising great influence over her husband, Philip V. A skilled political and cultural mediator, her ideas, tastes, and actions had enormous influence in the royal family, at court, and throughout Spanish society. Moreover, her influence extended to her birthplace, Parma, and to other Italian territories, especially Naples and Sicily, where her son Charles reigned. As an Italian princess who married the Bourbon king of Spain, she lived at the intersection of three worlds — Italy, Spain, and France — and thus she provides an excellent example of how a royal woman adapted to a new setting and helped shape cultural practices. Elisabetta was a political and cultural mediator of the highest order.
