Rule, gender and legitimacy in the regencies of Isabel of Bourbon and Mariana of Austria

Abstract

This article analyzes the rule and legitimacy of two regent queens in Seventeenth Century: Isabel of Bourbon and Mariana of Austria, first and second wife of Philip the IV, respectively. Each regency was different because the two queens reached the power in different situations: Isabel during the absence of the king during the Catalonian war, and Mariana during the minority of her son Charles II. Both regents were legalized by Castilian laws and, in the case of Mariana, also by the Philip’s IV testament. Nevertheless, their gender and the difficult circumstances in which they acceded to the regency brought in risk the legitimacy established by the legislation. Firstly, I will analyze the exercise of government of both queens. After, I will deal with the peculiar relations established between gender an legitimacy in their regencies.