Die Räume der Witwe : Architektur und Funktion fürstlicher Witwensitze in der Frühen Neuzeit, 1450–1650

Abstract

Dowagers played an active role in politics and culture at the courts of the Holy Roman Empire. They were mothers, advisers and patrons of the arts. The rulers had to provide them with an appropriate dowry and a residence. For the first time, the book describes the architecture and the ceremonial use of dower residences from the 15th to the 17th century from an art historical point of view. Focusing on functional changes and conversion of the castles, the author shows how the dowagers expressed their new independence in an architectural and spatial way.