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The Escorial
Few buildings have played so central a role in Spain's history as the monastery-palace of San Lorenzo del Escorial. Colossal in size and imposing-even forbidding-in appearance, the Escorial has invited and defied description for four centuries. Part palace, part monastery, part mausoleum, it has also served as a shrine, a school, a repository for thousands of relics, and one of the greatest libraries of its time. Constructed over the course of more than twenty years, the Escorial challenged and provoked, becoming for some a symbol of superstition and oppression, for others a \"wonder of the world.\" Now a World Heritage Site, it is visited by thousands of travelers every year.
In this intriguing study, Henry Kamen looks at the circumstances that brought the young Philip II to commission construction of the Escorial in 1563. He explores Philip's motivation, the influence of his travels, the meaning of the design, and its place in Spanish culture. It represents a highly engaging narrative of the high point of Spanish imperial dominance, in which contemporary preoccupations with art, religion, and power are analyzed in the context of this remarkable building.
eBook
Who's Who in Europe 1450-1750
Between 1450 and 1750 Europe underwent tremendous political, religious and cultural change - change which laid the foundations for the Europe we know today. Henry Kamen has compiled an accessible biographical guide to Europe in this most exciting of periods - the time of the Renaissance and the Reformation, the time of da Vinci and Erasmus, Elizabeth I and Oliver Cromwell. In over a thousand entries, which cover the whole of Europe and include politics, culture, religion and science, Professor Kamen and his international contributors, all experts in their field, shed new light on the key players in this extraordinarily rich and formative period of history.
eBook
INVENTING THE ESCORIAL
Foreigners who visited Spain in the century after Philip II were invariably full of praise for the extraordinary structure that the king had built in the hills of the Guadarrama. One of the earliest reports came from the Englishman John Eliot, who stated in 1593 that the ‘Esquireal’ was
the most magnificent palace of all Europe, . . . and ’tis the fairest building that I ever saw in my life . . . the most goodly, stateliest and sumptuous building that a man can imagine, a place enriched with great gardens, closes and orchards, and with the rarest fruits
Book Chapter
POWERHOUSE OF FAITH
The overwhelming, gaunt lines of the monastery leave the viewer in no doubt of the building’s immense spiritual power. An unbeliever has the option of pushing the idea away, but the feeling remains hauntingly present. The problem has always been how to identify that power. Does it represent the traditional spirit of Catholicism? Is it a reflection of the obsessions of the king? One of the most widely prevalent ideas about the structure is that it epitomises the religion of Spain. Its solid, challenging profile is seen as a mirror of Spain’s religious orthodoxy, its firm confidence in God, the
Book Chapter
FOUNDATION
The king’s intention to build the Escorial may have taken shape at any time after the mid-sixteenth century, when he completed his travels through the continent. He would later attach specific importance to the circumstances of the victory at St Quentin, as we shall see below, but the battle was not necessarily a reason for his decision to build, merely a trigger. There were many other events and inspirations (the fruits of his stay in the Netherlands and northern Europe) that also shaped the way in which his idea of the foundation developed. Every influence drawn from Europe was closely
Book Chapter
THE HALL OF BATTLES
Early descriptions of the palace-monastery refer to it as San Lorenzo de la Victoria,¹ but the friars persuaded the king that the title ‘Royal’ would be more appropriate than the warlike ‘Victory’. The name therefore became San Lorenzo el Real. The entire concept of the Escorial – the monastery, the secluded environment, the concern for prayer and commemoration of the royal dead, the tranquillity of the gardens – betokened peace. For the king too it became a haven of retirement, where he could work unmolested as well as devote himself to his family. Unlike some later royal palaces in Europe,
Book Chapter
THE BATTLE
In his Letter of Foundation for the Escorial, issued by Philip II on 22 April 1567, four years after work on it had commenced, the king stated that the building would be dedicated to St Lawrence (in Spanish, San Lorenzo), on whose feast day, 10 August 1557, his forces had won a famous victory.¹ The church of the Escorial was accordingly dedicated to San Lorenzo, and the first important relic deposited inside the altar was a limb of the saint. The military event in question seserves attention for at least three compelling reasons. First, it took place far from Spain,
Book Chapter
