ABSTRACT
The patronage of women who acted as regents or rulers has, therefore, been highlighted while female influence in the more customary position of spouse has been neglected. While the clientelismo of court women was a vital part of the Quattrocento political system, it was a fragile form of patronage, dependent on goodwill and mutual benefit rather than on their determined independence. Bianca Maria was able to argue that her patronage was for the wider benefit of her family and for the glory of the observant order rather than for personal prestige. When the wife became a widow, the tensions, which had always existed between the male and female courts of a ruling family, became explicit. The women mentioned were all connected by either marriage or blood; mothers, daughters, daughters-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law, aunts and cousins were spread across the peninsula creating a constant exchange of gifts and letters of recommendation.
