Spanish Empire and the Rise of Pre-Baroque Culture

Historical Context of the Spanish Empire

The Reign of Philip II and Foreign Conflicts

Charles I abdicated in 1556 and gave his crown to his son, Philip II. During the reign of Philip II, many wars and conflicts occurred that were bankrupting the Spanish Empire. The major wars against France and the Ottoman Empire resulted in victories for Philip II, specifically at the Battle of San Quintín and the Battle of Lepanto. However, Philip lost the war against England during the defeat of the Invincible Armada.

Internal Wars and Rebellions

• The United Provinces: Philip II faced the uprising of the United Provinces of the North, leading to the loss of Holland.
• The Alpujarras: The rebellion of the Moors in the Alpujarras resulted in the dispersal of the Moriscos.
• Aragon: The revolts in Aragon led to the suppression of local privileges.

Pre-Baroque Society

During the reign of Philip II, the distinction between Old Christians and New Christians was accentuated. Key societal shifts included:

• Converts were vetoed from accessing public office through the generalization of the statutes of purity of blood.
• Society turned away from outside influences for fear of the penetration of Protestantism in Spain.
• Spaniards were prohibited from studying abroad, and the importation of foreign books was banned.

Pre-Baroque Culture

The Thought of the Counter-Reformation

This was a reform of the Catholic Church carried out during the Council of Trent. It reached the following conclusions:

• The assumed authority of Scripture as a source of revelation.
• The establishment of the Church's authority to interpret the Bible.
• The adoption of the Vulgata (Latin translation) as the official text of the Holy Scriptures.
• The declaration of the necessity of performing good works for the salvation of the soul.
• The establishment of the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist as dogma.
• The denial that man was predestined.

Spirituality and Religiosity in Art

The Escorial monastery was created to meet the architectural ideals of Philip II, serving as a church, monastery, royal palace, and pantheon. In the arts, painters stopped focusing on pagan themes to concentrate on religious matters. El Greco stands as the largest representative of this spiritual and religious art.

Characteristics of Pre-Baroque Literature

Mannerism and the Crisis of Classicism

Mannerism is the exaltation of an artistic or technical maniera, an elaborately contrived style that arose from the crisis of Renaissance classicism. The characteristics of Mannerism include:

• Complication of forms.
• Intellectualist hunger.
• A taste for fine art.
• The development of a new language.

Fernando de Herrera and the Path to Góngora

The highest representative of the Mannerist current in Seville was the poet Fernando de Herrera. He possessed a high sense of poetic language, even proposing a spelling reform. His goal was to create a specifically poetic language, breaking the balance between expression and content. The richness of his poetic rhetoric represented a decisive step on the road leading to the complex poetry of Góngora.