NeFA, funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and led by Katrin Keller, is a cooperation project with the Institute for Habsburg and Balkan Studies (IHB) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The ACDH is an associated research partner.

The project examines the social and political networks of Empress Eleonora Magdalena of Pfalz-Neuburg (1655–1720) and, based on her correspondence, reveals the role that noblewomen played in the dynastic communication structures of the early modern period. As the third wife of Emperor Leopold I, she represented and connected two families. For decades, her correspondence with her father and brother formed an important axis of communication between the imperial house and her family’s dynasty.

The focus is on reconstructing the network of Empress Eleonora Magdalena of Palatinate-Neuburg based on her personal correspondence with her father, Philipp Wilhelm of Palatinate-Neuburg, and her brother, Johann Wilhelm of Palatinate-Neuburg. The letters, dating from 1677 to 1716, comprise approximately 5,300 pages and contain well over 1,000 references to individuals, revealing an extensive network of contacts among the major European royal houses, the diplomatic, courtly, and administrative circles of the imperial and the Palatinate courts, as well as a multitude of church figures of varying ranks and the families of the imperial ecclesiastical nobility.

In addition to the historical analysis, the digital edition of the correspondence – which was established in the preceding project, Family Matters – will be continued and completed. The Empress’s handwritten letters, which have already been edited, will be supplemented by further editorial work, including the transcription and editing of ciphered letters from her brother Johann Wilhelm, as well as the completion of the index of persons and places. The edition’s metadata is already accessible to the international digital editorial community via correspSearch. Another focus of the project is the planned interactive visualization of the Empress’s network of acquaintances.

The ACDH is responsible for the technical implementation of the project as well as the long-term archiving of the data.