Through a selection of diplomats of various nationalities (the Holy Roman Empire, the Holy See, France, England, Venice, Tuscany, Genova, the small Italian states, Sweden, Denmark, Poland and the Ottoman Empire), this book describes the experiences of the foreign ambassadors posted to Spain during the long reign of Philip IV (1621−65). Their broad variety of testimonies provides a fascinating insight into the court of Madrid and life in the capital of a universal monarchy at pains to defend its hegemonic role amid a number of allied and enemy powers.

The twenty or so – necessarily international – specialist contributors survey the history of diplomacy using complementary approaches and methods. The resulting thirteen chapters – based on many unpublished sources and illustrated with more than 280 plates – reflect how foreign agents viewed Spain and the Spaniards depending on their own origins and personal interests, offering readers an original chronicle of the period.

Jorge Fernández-Santos is a member of the History faculty at the Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid. Educated at Cornell University, he subsequently earned a PhD in History from the University of Cambridge. He is the author of Juan Caramuel y la probable arquitectura (Madrid, 2014). Several publications delve on cultural exchange between Italy and Spain in the early modern period.

José Luis Colomer has a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Bologna and a degree in Art History from the Sorbonne (Paris). He currently directs the CEEH (Madrid) and the CSA (New York). His research addresses cultural relations between Spain and Italy in the seventeenth century through diplomatic agents and the exchange of gifts of artworks.

“Un trabajo de edición pensado y coordinado hasta el más mínimo detalle. [El hilo conductor] está claro y atraviesa todas las contribuciones. Nuestra felicitación a los autores y editores porque el libro compone un panorama fascinante sobre la corte madrileña y la vida en la capital”, Fernando Negredo del Cerro, Tiempos Modernos

“Firsthand experience lies at the heart of Ambassadors in Golden-Age Madrid, a collection of historical accounts demonstrating the frustrations as well as successes of foreigners who made their way through the halls and chambers of Madrid’s royal palace and the larger ambit of the Spanish court city”, Jesús Escobar, The Court Historian

“This book has all the artistic lustre, deft political analysis and gossipy biographic detail that an ambassador at the court of Phillip IV might hope to find. It is also an excellent starting point for anyone wanting to familiarise themselves with seventeenth-century diplomatic culture and Spanish court life”, Kerrewin van Blanken, Renaissance Studies

“This important and interesting book is a major achievement, forming a significant contribution to Spanish and wider European diplomatic studies, court interactions, and art patronage, both through the scopе and rich use of sources, manuscript and printed. It is very beautifully produced”, Jean Michel Massing, Hispanic Research Journal

“Un elenco de valiosos trabajos que permitirán hacerse una idea cabal de lo que significó la Corte de Felipe IV, vista desde la perspectiva de observadores de toda Europa. Hemos de destacar, en fin, la cuidadosa edición del libro”, Manuel Campos Campayo, Metahistoria

“La obra más ambiciosa y completa publicada hasta la fecha sobre el fenómeno”, Desperta Ferro