Felipe II

Departing from the traditional biographies of great men, Manuel Rivero Rodríguez offers a fresh perspective on Philip II. The so-called "prudent king" was not a servant of a state nor the architect of a nation, but rather lord of a collection of territories that he could acquire, exchange, or bequeath according to the dynastic logic of the 16th century. In a world without a modern state or national identity, governed by patriarchy and religious intransigence, the public and private spheres blurred in the figure of the monarch, whose decisions reflected the interests of his lineage. Beyond the Black Legend and hagiography, this book portrays a complex king: a devout religious man yet a collector of Titian nudes; a tireless worker yet a lover of Renaissance refinement and cultivated leisure; impenetrable and enigmatic, of whom it was said that "between his laughter and a knife there are only two fingers' breadth."