The Image of Elizabeth I in Early Modern Spain

"This collection of essays presents historical information in an appealing way, enjoyable for readers who are either professionally or casually interested in learning about the fascinating icon of Queen Elizabeth I."—Rocio Corral Garcia, Early Modern Women

"The Image of Elizabeth I in Early Modern Spain offers compelling new insights into the different ways Elizabeth and England were viewed, and how her representations were used in Spain, opening up new ways to study Elizabeth I, queenship and international relations."—Sonja Kleij, Bulletin of Spanish Studies

"These kinds of international and interdisciplinary projects have much to recommend them, and as the editors explain in their introduction, this volume will hopefully spur new and innovative transnational studies into topics previously believed exhausted."—Aidan Norrie, Royal Studies Journal

“During the sixteenth century, northern Protestants successfully propagated an image of Spain that would eventually become known as the Black Legend. Ruled by a wicked king (Philip II) accused of murdering his own son so that he might marry his niece and a bigoted bureaucracy (the Inquisition), Spain became a byword for cruelty and religious zealotry. The essays collected in this remarkable volume uncover a Spanish counter-narrative: an image of England as a country overrun by pirates and governed by a Jezebel born of incest (Elizabeth I) who persecuted loyal subjects for their allegiance to the true Catholic faith. Covering everything from images to plays, from works of political theory to popular poetry, these accessibly written and illuminating essays reveal the ways this alternative Black Legend was constructed and disseminated. Elizabeth’s gender emerges as a topic that proved particularly difficult to navigate for many who contributed to this legend. Those who attempt to separate the entwined histories of early modern England and Spain that this volume has so successfully brought together will do so at their peril.”—Jan Machielsen, author of The Lion, the Witch, and the King and Martin Delrio: Demonology and Scholarship in the Counter-Reformation