Malcolm, A

2006 Unknown

Rhetoric and Reality in Early Modern Spain, ed. by Richard J. Pym (London: Tamesis, 2006)

'Public Morality and the Closure of the Theatres in the Mid-Seventeenth Century: Philip IV, the Council of Castile and the Arrival of Mariana of Austria'

Tamesis

London

Published

1

Theatre Golden-Age Spain Philip IV Calderón de la Barca Count of la Roca Don Luis de Haro Mariana of Austria

This chapter considers the period of Godly rule that prevailed during the four or five years that followed the retirement of the count-duke of Olivares in 1643. It was a time associated with the political ascendancy of the new president of the Council of Castile, don Juan Chumacero, and what I present here is based on evidence from his papers. It relates to the decision made to prohibit the performance of comedias in 1644-5, and to Philip IV's own views on the legitimacy of theatre as a source of entertainment for his subjects. The chapter also considers the roles of don Lorenzo Ramírez de Prado and of don Luis de Haro in the organisation of the festivities that awaited the arrival of the new queen, Mariana of Austria, in 1649. Her love of the theatre would in turn play an important part in the reopening of the corrales in 1651, and in the revival of a more festive court culture that took place during that decade.

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