Warnings to the Kings and Advice on Restoring Spain: A Bilingual Edition (The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe)

ISBN: 0226140814

Author: de Guevara, Mar

Condition: New

During a pivotal point in Spanish history, aristocrat María de Guevara (?-1683) produced two extraordinary essays that appealed for strong leadership, protested political corruption, and demanded the inclusion of women in the courts decision making. Treaty gave Philip IV practical suggestions for fighting the war against Portugal and Disenchantments counseled the king-to-be, Charles II, on strategies to raise the countrys status in Europe. This annotated bilingual edition, featuring Nieves Romero-Díazs adroit translation, reproduces Guevaras polemics for the first time.Guevaras provocative writings call on Spanish women to bear the responsibility equally with men for restoring Spains power in Europe and elsewhere. The collection also includes examples of Guevaras shorter writings that exemplify her ability to speak on matters of state, network with dignitaries, and govern family affairs. Witty, ironic, and rhetorically sophisticated, Guevaras essays provide a fresh perspective on the possibilities for women in the public sphere in seventeenth-century Spain.