The Court of Philip IV

by Martin Andrew Sharp Hume

«No nos hallamos ante una novela sino ante un libro de historia. No hay ficción en el libro, sino verdad; una verdad relativa, por supuesto, la verdad de las fuentes tratadas por el autor. Hume condena, reprueba, aplaude, moraliza pero no hallará el lector confusión entre los hechos que sucedieron y los hechos inventados, como ocurre en las novelas llamadas impropiamente históricas. Que sea grave y serio el libro no impide que se lea con placer, porque la capacidad descriptiva y narrativa de su autor es excepcional. Que sea una investigación histórica sobre la base del uso de fuentes documentales de primera importancia y que utilice la cronología como guión fundamental del reinado, no le resta fluidez al relato en el que se distinguen los hechos históricos de los comentarios e interpretaciones que le merecen. Si la historia es narración, el libro de Hume satisface todas nuestras exigencias.» (Del prólogo de F. NÚÑEZ ROLDÁN). MARTIN HUME (1843-1910) fue uno de los historiadores más prolíficos y conocidos en la Inglaterra de finales del siglo XIX y principios del XX. Hispanófilo no sólo por vocación sino porque vivió su infancia en Madrid y allí cursó sus primeros estudios. Fue profesor de literatura y lengua española en las Universidades de Cambridge, Londres y Birmingham. Su actividad historiográfica comenzó con libros sobre Felipe II y el periodo isabelino. En 1898 publicó en Cambridge Spain. Its Greatness and Decay, 1479-1788 y un año más tarde, en Londres, vio la luz Modern Spain (1788-1898). A su iniciativa se debió principalmente la publicación de la copiosa colección «Spanish State Papers» que tanto contribuyó a esclarecer el largo e intrincado proceso de las relaciones hispanobritánicas de los siglos XVI y XVII.

302 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1907

About the author

Martin Andrew Sharp Hume, (1843 -1910) born Martin Andrew Sharp, was an English historian and longtime resident of Spain.

After some practice in journalism, he meanwhile produced his first book, A Chronicle of King Henry VIII of England (1889), a translation from the Spanish. Though this attracted little attention, Hume persevered, and The Courtships of Queen Elizabeth; a History of the Various Negotiations for her Marriage, and The Year after the Armada, and other Historical Studies, both issued in 1896, were received with a degree of popular favour which led him to adopt authorship as a profession. In 1897, he published Sir Walter Ralegh and Philip II of Spain, the latter monograph showing insight and independence of view.

Next year Hume succeeded Pascual de Gayangos at the Public Record Office as editor of the Spanish State Papers, and did sound work in this capacity. However, his official duties did not absorb all his energies. In 1898, he published The Great Lord Burghley, a readable study, and Spain, its Greatness and Decay, 1479–1789, a useful historical outline, which he completed in the following year by the publication of Modern Spain, 1788-1898 (1899 ; new edit. 1906).

Reviews

[Andrew Dockrill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was debating on giving a 4 star rating on this book, but the sheer fact that it was so dated and the writing style while very eloquent and descriptive wore very thin towards the end of the book. The court of Philip IV itself reads as a chronological biography of Philip IV of Spain, where the author tries his best to give a neutral yet sympathetic look at this man. He states almost from the outset that the problems of Spain which Philip inherited not only from his grandfather Philip II but also from his father Philip III were problems in their currency that were not going to be solved in his reign. He made the case that the problems were so complex and deep rooted that it would have taken a man with tremendous diplomatic aptitude, which Hume says that plain and simple, Philip IV did not possess and almost disappointingly sums up Philip as a well meaning man but without the intelligence to think for himself or to act on his own ability.

We are also given tremendous information on Count-Duke Olivares who largely acted entirely for Philip as his minister and would eventually fall from grace, when many of Philips closest loved ones including Isabella of France, to be rid of Olivares as he had been giving poor council. Ultimately Olivares would leave the capital of Madrid quietly in disgrace and would receive a letter from Philip saying that people were demanding his head, much like a case of Marcus Cleander and Commodus.

The book does make Philip out to be a patron of the arts, becoming a patron for Velasquez who would be arguably one of the best things that Philip did during his reign, as his reign would be full of nothing but military disasters and would see the biggest defeat of the Spanish army at Recroy which had such a profound effect on the army that it would be compared to the disaster of the Spanish Armada against the English. It would be from this point on that the Spanish army would never get back to their prestige they had been prior to his reign.

All in all the book wasn't took bad, it was definitely dated, but it is practically the only book on Philip IV that has been published, so perhaps no one has wanted to try and update it or perhaps Martin Hume still holds up, but biographies today would definitely not be written like this. I would recommend this book to only the truly passionate of history lovers, it will definitely separate the passionate from those with a casual interest.

[Mike Kavanagh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author does well to bring the history to life in what can sometimes be a dull topic. He paints a picture of the experience rather than simply listing facts, and he appears to have used a wide range of sources to inform his writing.