Kingship And Favoritism In The Spain Of Philip Iii 1598 1621

A reappraisal of the reign of Philip III of Spain (1598-1621), and the king's favourite, first published in 2000.

Recent studies have shed new light on how Philip III and his favorite, the duke of Lerma, fused art and politics as they ruled, making this an opportune time to ask these questions.".

Portraits have a long history in royal courts as a way of communicating the monarch’s status, rulership, and even piety. This anthology places such art works studied in the context of their commission, production, and display. Artists use different representational strategies to convey important information about the sitter. These aspects combined with patronage, location and use of the work form a departure point from which to address portraits comprehensively. The intersection between artist, the portrayed and audience with the additional layer of formed identity allows the portrait to hold a special place as popular genre of Spanish art. The relationship between the use of the work and its context is key to understanding better the cultural and social norms of Spanish aristocracy and what they reveal about Spanish identity in general. Used to solidify governance, lineage, and marriage, portraits legitimized the negotiation of status, power, and social mobility.

As a whole, this study demonstrates how, in order to examine a mind like Cervantes's, we need to approach his work and his world from a perspective as culturally integrative as his own." "This book includes twenty-eight illustrations."--Jacket.

"How do great countries stay that way? The United States is the most powerful actor in the international system, but it is facing a set of challenges that might lead to its decline as this century unfolds. This book looks to the past for guidance, examining the grand strategy of previous superpowers to see how they maintained, or failed to maintain, their status. Over the course of six cases, from Ancient Rome to the British Empire, it seeks guidance from the past for present U.S. policymakers. How did previous empires, regional hegemons, or simply dominant powers forge grand strategy? How did they define their interests, and then assemble the tools to address them? What did they do right, and where did they err? What - if anything - can current U.S. strategists learn from the experience of earlier superpowers?"--

These essays examine a variety of cultural objects described or alluded to in books from the Golden Age of Spanish literature, including clothing, paintings, tapestries, playing cards, monuments, materials of war, and even enchanted bronze heads.

The youngest son of Emperor Maximilian II, and nephew of Philip II of Spain, Archduke Albert (1559-1621) was originally destined for the church. However, dynastic imperatives decided otherwise and in 1598, upon his marriage to Philip's daughter, the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, he found himself ruler of the Habsburg Netherlands, one of the most dynamic yet politically unstable territories in early-modern Europe. Through an investigation of Albert's reign, this book offers a new and fuller understanding of international events of the time, and the Habsburg role in them. Drawing on a wide range of archival and visual material, the resulting study of Habsburg political culture demonstrates the large degree of autonomy enjoyed by the archducal regime, which allowed Albert and his entourage to exert a decisive influence on several crucial events: preparing the ground for the Anglo-Spanish peace of 1604 by the immediate recognition of King James, clearing the way for the Twelve Years' Truce by conditionally accepting the independence of the United Provinces, reasserting Habsburg influence in the Rhineland by the armed intervention of 1614 and devising the terms of the Oñate Treaty of 1617. In doing so the book shows how they sought to initiate a realistic policy of consolidation benefiting the Spanish Monarchy and the House of Habsburg. Whilst previous work on the subject has tended to concentrate on either the relationship between Spain and the Netherlands or between Spain and the Empire, this book offers a far deeper and much more nuanced insight in how the House of Habsburg functioned as a dynasty during these critical years of increasing religious tensions. Based on extensive research in the archives left by the archducal regime and its diplomatic partners or rivals, it bridges the gap between the reigns of Philip II and Philip IV and puts research into the period onto a fascinating new basis.

Through an investigation of Archduke Albert's (1559-1621) reign as ruler of the Spanish Netherlands, this book offers a new and fuller understanding of international events of the time, and the Habsburg role in them. Drawing on a wide range of archival and visual material, the resulting study of political culture demonstrates how the House of Habsburg functioned as a dynasty during critical years of increasing religious tensions. Based on extensive research in the archives left by the archducal regime and its diplomatic partners or rivals, it bridges the gap between the reigns of Philip II and Philip IV and puts research into the period onto a fascinating new basis.