Dynastic Marriages 1612/1615

'... a most valuable reference guide for scholars of literature, French studies, art history, history, music, Renaissance studies, theater, and political thought. ... Dynastic Marriages is a rich study that exposes the complexity of early modern festivals and their importance to the ideological fabrication of the state and the ruler.' Sixteenth Century Journal ’This volume examines the Habsburg-Bourbon marriages of 1612/1615 for the first time in depth, drawing both on the wealth of extant documentation of all kinds and on the expertise of a wide range of scholars. Politics, history, equitation, ballet, and music are some of the topics which are discussed in their European context.’ Helen Watanabe-O’Kelly, Exeter College, Oxford University, UK ’This collection of fourteen essays by scholars representing different disciplines illuminates brilliantly and uniquely the multi-faceted significance of dynastic marriages in early seventeenth-century Europe, especially France and Spain.’ Robert Knecht, University of Birmingham, UK 'By bringing together 14 different contributions that analyse the Habsburgs and Bourbons unions from different disciplines, the editor proves that it is essential to discuss dynastic marriages from an interdisciplinary perspective. Only such an approach allows the reader to grasp the diplomatic reasons for the unions, the political and economic consequences of such marriages, along with the popular celebrations that accompanied the events and the theatrical and literary works that followed them.' Reviews in History 'John Elliott provides a masterly summary of the diplomatic and political background to the marriage negotiations. He reminds us that political contemporaries could be as cynical as modern historians about the solid political value of dynastic marriages, but that early modern rulers well understood the value of ’soft power’, and the value of celebrating these dynastic events with all the presentational care, elaboratio