Valladolid 1605: A Theatre for the Peace

Abstract

For a short period at the beginning of the seventeenth century Valladolid was the capital of Spain, and soon this Castilian city was transformed with the refurbishment of splendid old palaces, the pulling down of others and the erection of many new buildings. Thus, in 1605, the stage was set for the arrival of an English embassy, dispatched from London where a peace treaty had been signed the previous year, in order to ratify the treaty in the presence of Philip III and the Spanish court. This chapter explores the complex interaction between international diplomatic ceremonial and early modern theatricality, focusing on the ways in which Valladolid performed the function of civic and royal stage. Drawing on Spanish, English and Portuguese sources, the chapter examines in particular how the Habsburg monarch choreographed the visit, from the entry into the city to the series of entertainments laid on  which culminated in the baptism ceremony of the future Philip IV.