Mother and wives

gender and family relations in the political rise of D. Vasco de Mascarenhas (1635-1655)

Abstract

Despite studies on gender relations and the numerous revisions and true epistemological revolutions that have taken place in recent years, historical research, in its most diverse methodological approaches, is traditionally centered on male figures. In an effort to think on this finding and in line with the use of the gender category and the concept of “birthplace”, this article intends to show, from a case study, how the service trajectories and experiences of Portuguese governance were crossed by family and gender relationships. It argues the fundamental role played by the women who surrounded D. Vasco de Mascarenhas – Conde de Óbidos, and who contributed to his rise, enabling actions and social and political insertion in the mid-seventeenth century.