Abstract
In pre-modern court settings the ideal mother-in-law was a woman with considerable life experience gained from first getting married and moving to another court, then by becoming a mother herself, before her child or children married and secured the success of the dynasty for the next generation. Departing from these basic considerations, this article examines the case of the Russian Empress Maria Fedorovna, her daughter Maria Pavlovna, and the Duchess Louise of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, who became the latter's mother-in-law in 1804. The analysis in particular of personal letters shows that Maria Fedorovna was able to use her skills in her role as mother-in-law, but also that choosing a court — and thus also a complementary belle-mère — to connect with via a marriage alliance could also determine the development of the relationship with one’s own child, and often reflects larger political developments.
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