Perilous Performances: Gender and Regency in Early Modern France

Even more, in representative works of the new French history the periods of regency are either completely ignored or registered under the name of the significant political figure who was chancellor or prime minister to the queen: Only at the death of a king did the opportunity to exercise power and authority present itself in unanticipated ways as widows and mothers of underage kings. All three regents politically used the familiarly defined picture of a true widow and concerned mother. [...]they tried to screen their time-limited rule on behalf of the king so that it was not clear when the regency ended and when the reign of the king began.