Beware the Poetry

Political Satire and the Emergence of a Public Sphere in Madrid, 1595–1643

Javier Castro-Ibaseta

• Publisher: Penn State University Press
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9780271099750
• Edition: 0
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Early Modern History
• Index: History

In the early seventeenth century, Spanish rulers were confronted by an avalanche of political satires. Beware the Poetry shows how these poetic libels helped articulate an early form of the public sphere, profoundly transforming political culture.

Exploring a rich trove of mostly anonymous satirical works, together with newsletters, sermons, and plays, Javier Castro-Ibaseta reconstructs the experiences of Madrilenians during the reigns of Philip III and Philip IV. Castro-Ibaseta proposes an original theory of political publics that corrects approaches that assume early modern Spain's public sphere mirrored the politics of England or France. Instead, he shows that in Spain publicness was distinct because the satires—about the king's favorite, and even about the king himself—were consumed for pleasure and entertainment. They did not create political communities or stir rebellious movements. Read diachronically, the long, continuous, evolving collection of satires reveals not just the opinions of the poets but something far more difficult to reconstruct: the shifting demands, interests, uncertainties, and worldviews of the audience—that is, the structure and dynamics of Madrid's emerging public sphere. 

Applying an interdisciplinary approach of literary criticism and historical method, Beware the Poetry presents an exciting new take on politics and poetry during the period often referred to as the Spanish Decadence. It will be of special interest to scholars of early modern politics and Spanish literature and culture.

Table of contents

• COVER Front
• Copyright Page
• Table of CONTENTS
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• Introduction
• Notes to Introduction
• Chapter 1: Admirable Theater Madrid and the Making of a Public, 1561–1618
• Notes to Chapter 1
• Chapter 2: “Courtly War” Satires from the Royal Court to the Mentideros, 1598–1618
• Notes to Chapter 2
• Chapter 3: “The News Are Comedy” Theater, Satire, and News, 1618–1621
• Notes to Chapter 3
• Chapter 4: “Tarabillas” The Politics of Satire, 1621–1630
• Notes to Chapter 4
• Chapter 5: “Zealous and Piquant” Sermon, Satire, and the Public, 1629–1633
• Notes to Chapter 5
• Chapter 6: “Extravagant Clock” The Carnival of Politics, 1633–1642
• Notes to Chapter 6
• Chapter 7: “We Turn Misfortunes Upside Down” Olivares’s Long Carnival, 1642–1643
• Notes to Chapter 7
• NOTES
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• INDEX