The system of Royal Geographies of the Habsburg Spanish Monarchy (XVI-XVIIth centuries): from the Iberian Peninsula to America

The lecture The system of Royal Geographies of the Habsburg Spanish Monarchy (XVI-XVIIth centuries): from the Iberian Peninsula to America of prof. José Eloy Hortal Muñoz will be held on 24 April 2024 from 14:10 in the room 201 at the Faculty of Arts (nám. Jana Palacha 1/2, Praha 1).

Invitation

In the last three decades, a new approach to the study of medieval and early modern European courts has been developed by applying several new methodologies. No doubt, one of the aspects that is receiving the most attention is court space, entailing an analysis of the existing bonds between space and power. A signifi cant element of this court geography was what we can denominate Royal Geographies. At this point, we can claim that in the early modern period, the term Royal Geographies referred to properties that belonged to the ruling dynasty, where the ruler and other members of the dynasty used to reside or which were occasionally occupied by them, as well as places where other activities associated with the running of the kingdom and the court took place. These sites included not only residences, but also innovative and scientifi c spaces attached to the royal residences – such as gardens, laboratories, zoos, or libraries –, forests and woodlands, agricultural spaces, religious buildings – such as convents or monasterios/monasteries –, other buildings for the economic exploitation of the states, or manufactories.  These spaces set new trends in art, fashion and education, and constituted a diverse, global network that made royal power more visible and effective. At the same time, however, and perhaps more importantly, Royal Geographies served as centres of power that helped to shape early modern European monarchies.

This talk will present the general evolution of the system of Royal Geographies of the Spanish monarchy all over Europe and in other continents, such as America or Asia, from the Late Middle Ages to the end of the 17th century, and the role they played in shaping the image of rulers and dynasties.

José Eloy Hortal Muñoz is Associate Professor of Early Modern History at the University Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, Spain. His main research interests are the political history of the Habsburg Netherlands at the XVIth and XVIIth centuries, the Courts of Brussels and Madrid at both centuries, the royal guards of the Spanish Habsburgs and, lastly, the royal sites and geographies. His major works include the monographs Las guardas reales de los Austrias hispanos (Madrid, 2013); and (with Gijs Versteegen), Las ideas políticas y sociales en la Edad Moderna (Madrid, 2016). He has also edited Politics and Piety at the Royal Sites of the Spanish Monarchy in the Seventeenth Century (Turnhout, 2021); and coedited (with René Vermeir and Dries Raeymaekers), A Constellation of Courts: The Households of Habsburg Europe, 1555–1665 (Leuven, 2014); and (with África Espíldora García and Pierre-François Pirlet), El ceremonial en la Corte de Bruselas del siglo XVII. Los manuscritos de Francisco Alonso Lozano (Brussels, 2016), which was awarded the Henry Pirenne Prize in 2019.

Organisation (Instutite of History of the CAS): doc. PhDr. Dana Dvořáčková-Malá, Ph.D.; Mgr. Bc. Zuzana Vařáková; Mgr. Ondřej Stolička, Ph.D.

Organisation (Institute of Czech History, Faculty of Arts, Charles University): prof. PhDr. Lenka Bobková, CSs.; PhDr. Jan Zdichynec, Ph.D.; Mgr. Jakub Izdný, Ph.D.

Contact: varakova@hiu.cas.cz; Jakub.Izdny@ff.cuni.cz