Calderón de la Barca and Antonio Coello´s El prodigio de Alemania: theater and politica propaganda during the Thirty years´ war

This article examines the origin of El prodigio de Alemania (1634), a theatrical play by Calderón de la Barca and Antonio Coello that brings to the stage the dismissal and subsequent murder of Albrecht von Wallenstein, the generalissimo of the Holy Roman Empire who was accused of conspiracy during t...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor: Rueda, Antonio M.
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:México
Recursos:EL COLEGIO DE MÉXICO
Repositorio:Nueva revista de Filología Hispánica
Idioma:español
OAI Identifier:oai:oai.nrfh.colmex.mx:article/3786
Acesso em linha:https://nrfh.colmex.mx/index.php/nrfh/article/view/3786
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:El prodigio de Alemania
Wallenstein
Count-Duke of Olivares
Calderón de la Barca
Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648)
conde-duque de Olivares
Guerra de los Treinta Años (1618-1648)
Descrição
Resumo:This article examines the origin of El prodigio de Alemania (1634), a theatrical play by Calderón de la Barca and Antonio Coello that brings to the stage the dismissal and subsequent murder of Albrecht von Wallenstein, the generalissimo of the Holy Roman Empire who was accused of conspiracy during the Thirty Years War. The play, performed a few weeks after his murder, takes the form of an explanation of the unexpected events that surrounded the last months of the soldier’s life and that forced King Philip IV and the Count-Duke of Olivares to intervene to avoid losing the good reputation they had acquired over the previous years. The article argues that the play was conceived as a public statement in defense of the foreign policy decisions taken by Olivares. Using theatre as a weapon of propaganda, the play turns a unanimously applauded soldier into an enemy of the empire and a figure whose death will be used to keep alive a struggle that meant the beginning of the end of Spain’s influence as a European power.