Drawing on Spanish state papers and diplomatic dispatches, Martin Hume portrays the court of Philip IV, where a pleasure-loving king and his minister Olivares presided over festivals, intrigues and endless wars while the empire’s strength drained away. The Cortes, the English envoys and the royal household all appear in close and often unflattering detail.
A vivid 1907 portrait of a magnificent court in decline, by the editor of the Spanish state papers. Download the free EPUB.