Centred on a dozen texts in Spanish or Latin composed by Spaniards - both laymen and clergy - in the Spanish Netherlands as well as Spain, this study follows the debate during Philip II's reign concerning the principles, purposes and values - both secular and religious - relevant to rulers and to society at large.
Part I examines three treatises produced in the Spanish Netherlands in the 1550s; Parts II and III respectively study works from the Kingdoms of Castile and the Crown of Aragon in the 1570s and 1580s; Part IV considers three Jesuit treatises of the 1590s.
The resultant picture...