Women and Political Power in Early Modern Europe 1

In the 1970s two critical works radically opened new theoretical and methodological possibilities for scholars of early modern women in power. Joan Kelly’s essay, ‘Did Women Have A Renaissance?’ provoked reconsiderations of periodization and gender, a critical issue when considering women and politics. Though scholars have since questioned the way Kelly shaped her answer, the question itself was groundbreaking and stimulating. Natalie Davis’s ‘Women on Top’ suggested that women had the opportunity to invert the paradigm of patriarchal politics in the broadest sense during this same time, another groundbreaking work that asked scholars to rethink the range of political actions women might take. Kelly and Davis were the foremothers to a range of significant scholarship about women and politics over the next three decades that is continuing to reshape the field and ask ever sharper and nuanced questions. ²