Patrick Williams
European Son
The Escorial: Art and Power in the Renaissance
By Henry Kamen
Yale University Press 336pp £25
Few major historical figures have been so despised as Philip II of Spain. In his own day his greatest opponents became revered national icons – Elizabeth of England, Henry IV of France and William of Orange – and the early historians of their countries damned Philip for daring to oppose them. Posterity was even less generous: in the nineteenth century, the Protestant liberal historian J L Motley created a school of history by describing Philip as ‘deficient in manly energy, a pedant, bigot, cold, mediocre, grossly licentious’. The crowning indignity came from within Spain itself when Philip was afflicted with the admiration of General Franco, who claimed him as one of his inspirational icons and created his sepulchre in the shadow of Philip’s great monastery-palace, the Escorial. Philip and his unique building were thereby damned as proto-Catholic, deeply reactionary and symbols of all that was worst in Spanish history, including intolerance and brutality.
Much of this long-term damage to Philip’s reputation has been repaired in the last thirty years, particularly in 1998, when the 400th anniversary of his death brought about a flood of publications by historians and cultural historians reappraising his historical significance. These made Spaniards much more self-confident in
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Knowledge of Sufism increased markedly with the publication in 1964 of The Sufis, by Idries Shah. Nowadays his writings, much like his father’s, are dismissed for their Orientalism and inaccuracy.
@fitzmorrissey investigates who the Shahs really were.
Fitzroy Morrissey - Sufism Goes West
Fitzroy Morrissey: Sufism Goes West - Empire’s Son, Empire’s Orphan: The Fantastical Lives of Ikbal and Idries Shah by Nile Green
literaryreview.co.uk
Rats have plagued cities for centuries. But in Baltimore, researchers alighted on one surprising solution to the problem of rat infestation: more rats.
@WillWiles looks at what lessons can be learned from rat ecosystems – for both rats and humans.
Will Wiles - Puss Gets the Boot
Will Wiles: Puss Gets the Boot - Rat City: Overcrowding and Urban Derangement in the Rodent Universes of John B ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Twisters features destructive tempests and blockbuster action sequences.
@JonathanRomney asks what the real danger is in Lee Isaac Chung's disaster movie.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/eyes-of-the-storm