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Raul Garcia Hemonnet
On the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the death of the monarch of the Habsburg house (1621-2021), the Rey Juan Carlos University has participated in the organization and direction of the congress 'IV Centenary of the death of Philip III. Privacy and political culture in the Hispanic Monarchy: ideas, images, scenarios (Reflections from the work of Antonio Feros)'.
The Congress has the objective, based on the reflection on the work of Antonio Feros, a historian who 20 years ago offered a new interpretation of the figure of Felipe III and the importance of the 'valido', to offer renewed visions on issues such as Monarchy, Political Culture or Privanza (according to the RAE, preference in favor and trust of a prince or other person of high status), or the concept of Court, among many others.
"We want to bring new visions from the work of Feros, studies that speak of the reign of Felipe III as a period of full development of the Court, first in Valladolid and then in Madrid, with authors such as Góngora, Quevedo, Cervantes or Lope or the access of the High Nobility to power, through Privanza or valimiento”, explains Isabel Enciso Alonso-Muñumer, professor of Modern History at the URJC and co-director of the Congress.
To this end, the Congress has the world's leading specialists on the reign of Philip III, such as Richard L. Kagan, from 'John Hopkins University', John H. Elliot, from 'Oxford University', Jean Fréderic Schaub, from the 'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales', Pedro Cardim, from the 'Universidade Nova de Lisboa', or Antonio Feros himself, as well as up to 25 specialists.
“The topics that we are going to address have to do with the most worked on topics in the work of Antonio Feros”. Thus, issues such as the Monarchy, Privanza and the Court will be dealt with, and others such as corruption and control of the crown, the role of women in the court, the images and artistic and literary representations of power, or the situation of minorities in this period of the Modern History of Spain.
reform period
Isabel Enciso explains that the congress wants to value those historiographical visions that flee from the general idea that the reign of Felipe III was a time of decline, "it is a period of reforms in politics and in other matters that are going to extend by the courts of the entire Spanish Empire, in which new alliances are explored, such as the one forged with France, through marriage policy, Peace is signed with the Netherlands and large bankruptcies inherited from the reign of Felipe are faced II, although it is also a period in which the expulsion of the Moriscos takes place”, he points out.
The congress is aimed at academics, but also at students, "there are already more than 100 registered online," says Enciso. The event will take place in a hybrid format. On December 3, the Madrid-Quintana headquarters of the URJC will host the presentations of the congress.
The inauguration takes place today, December 2, and will feature the Vice-Minister for Universities, Science and Innovation of the Community of Madrid, Félix Rodríguez Batalla and, on behalf of the Rey Juan Carlos University, the Vice-Rector for University Extension Mercedes del Hoyo, together with different authorities from the other organizing universities.
The congress constitutes an opportunity to approach this period from a different perspective that shows that "Felipe III and the Duke of Lerma continue to be a very important object of study and that it attracts many historians from all over the world". A space for reflection on an important period in the history of Spain from the best specialists.