Representing the Kings Splendour Communication and reception of symbolic forms of power in Viceregal Naples

by Guarino, Gabriel

• ISBN13: 9780719078224
• ISBN10: 0719078229
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-12-17
• Publisher: MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS

Summary

Compensating for a general neglect of Iberian civilization in Southern Italy, this book seeks to shed light on the viceregal court of Spanish Naples in the seventeenth century, a time when this European metropolis reached the zenith of its splendor. It looks at the cultural projection of Spain and its values, either via the direct visual representations of power of the viceregal court, or the public policies and actions that fostered Spanish attitudes. It explores cultural and social manifestations as court ceremonial, state festivities, and fashion. Each of these issues also takes into account the social and political structure of the city, and the various pressure groups that interacted with the Spanish government. Aimed at students and scholars of early modern Europe, the Spanish Empire, and the princely courts of Europe, this study will also be of interest to scholars of communication and cultural studies, and to readers interested in cultural history during the Baroque era.

Author Biography

Gabriel Guarino is Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Ulster

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements * List of figures * List of abbreviations * List of Spanish viceroys of Naples * Introduction * The ritual power of viceroys *  The viceregal institution * Court ceremonial *  The viceregal public image * The power of precedence: social and political hierarchies of civic processions * The hierarchical structure of cavalcades in early modern Naples * Extraordinary cavalcades and conflicts of precedence * State celebrations * The festive system of early modern Naples * Management, patronage, and reception of civic celebrations * Spanish tournaments in Neapolitan state festivities * Spanish fashion and the governance of appearances in viceregal Naples * Regulating appearances: Spanish fashion and the Catholic Reformation, 1517-1648 * Successes and limitations of Spanish fashion * Governing appearances and luxury * Political utilisation of imprese in viceregal Naples * The uses of imprese in tournaments * Neapolitan imprese for the obsequies of the Habsburg monarchs * Conclusions * Bibliography