The Empress, the Queen, and the Nun

In the early 17th century, when Spanish interests often competed with those of the House of Austria, three women in the court of Philip III of Spain - Empress Maria, Philip's grandmother; Margaret of Austria, Philip's wife; and Margaret of the Cross, Philip's aunt - worked behind the scenes to win favour for the causes of the Austrian Habsburgs. In this text, historian Magdelana Sanchez offers an examination of the political power wielded by these three women. She explains how each woman used traditional networks within the court and worked within the boundaries of acceptable women's roles to frustrate Philip's favourite, the Duke of Lerma, in his project to keep Spanish Habsberg wealth in the Iberian peninsula instead of allowing it to be siphoned off to support Austrian Habsburg campaigners.