Early Modern Madrid: The Cultural Creation of a Court Capital

This seminar explores the role of culture in Madrid's transformation from a secondary town into the epicenter of Spain's global monarchy in the early modern period. We'll study how court-city interactions created synergies and rivalries that made Madrid Spain's cultural, as well as imperial capital. Topics include: global-local negotiations in chronicles and festivities; constructions of insider / outsider status in prose and poetry; theater’s centrality in urban social life; articulations and disarticulations of power through clothing and fashion; etc. We'll analyze works by canonical and lesser-known authors, artists, and artisans, while considering other early modern cities comparatively.