The empress and the humanist: profit and politics in the correspondence of Anne of Świdnica and Petrarch

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article presents a reassessment of Anne of Świdnica (1339–62), Holy Roman Empress and queen of Bohemia, based on a reading of Petrarch's De laudibus feminarum. By reinterpreting their correspondence as an act of gift-giving within a framework of court patronage, it makes a case for her calculated effort to benefit her public image by corresponding with Petrarch, while he, in turn, benefited by representing himself as an intimate of the imperial family. It also situates his letter within the context of the ongoing political exchanges between Petrarch and the Prague court, and suggests that he sought to harness Anne's influence for his political agenda. What emerges is a new vision of Anne, one with greater learning and agency.