The Politics of Privacy: Examining Influence and Personal Relationships at the English and Holy Roman Imperial Courts

This chapter of fers two contrasting, yet nevertheless complementary, case studies to demonstrate the vital connection between personal relationships and political privacy that not only blurred the boundaries between the public and private spheres, but also enabled individuals to move between the spheres, to informally exert control, to inf luence politics, and to negotiate the limits of power. Dustin M. Neighbors examines how degrees of privacy emerged from the hunt arranged for Maximilian’s visit to the Dresden court of August of Saxony in 1564; this hunt created an important opportunity for political privacy in which the two men could deepen their connection and reinforce their political bonds. In contrast, Elena Woodacre focuses on a plethora of interpersonal relationships in the household and private sphere of Joan of Navarre, queen of England during the early f ifteenth century; these relationships prompted intense suspicion of foreigners, who might be able to use their access to the queen to gain political inf luence at court.