Latin Political Propaganda in the War of the Spanish Succession and Its Aftermath, 1700-1740 (Bloomsbury Neo-Latin Series: Studies in Early Modern Latin)

Latin Political Propaganda offers the first comprehensive study of the central role played by the Latin language to celebrate or undermine political power during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1715). Waged as much on the printed page as on the battlefield, this worldwide conflict gave rise to an astonishing variety of Latin writing across the Continent - in verse or in prose - on both the pro-Habsburg and pro-Bourbon sides. Ranging from official documents, epic, satirical and panegyric poetry to defamatory pamphlets, letters, historiographical and juridical tracts, medals and ephemeral architecture, this vast textual corpus has gone almost unnoticed. Alejandro Coroleu provides close examination of the literary devices of these texts and shows how imitation of models and figures from classical antiquity was at the heart of the authors' highly refined verse and prose technique. He also pays attention to the historical and social context in which the texts emerged, and connects the Latin political writing produced at the time with more popular forms of propagandistic discourse (literary or visual) which found its expression in the vernacular. This book also reveals how the learned language continued to function - even after the hostilities had come to an end in July 1715 - as an instrument of political discourse and propaganda on both sides of the dynastic feud up until the death of Emperor Charles VI in October 1740. Cover 1 Halftitle page 2 Series page 3 Title page 4 Copyright page 5 Contents 6 Illustrations 7 Preface 8 Abbreviations 9 Introduction 10 1 Praise and Blame: Legitimizing the New Kings’ Old Dynasties 20 Royal proclamations in the early years of the conflict 21 Questions of legitimacy 33 A new emperor, who could not be king of Spain 43 Conclusion 50 2 ‘Bellonae et Martis genitus’: Mapping the Spanish Conflict in Latin Verse and Prose (1701–1712) 52 Initial encounters in Italy 52 Elsewhere in Europe between 1702 and 1704 57 The Peninsular front: Barcelona twice besieged (1705–1706) 60 Divine intervention 61 Queen Anne, a mighty ally in Catalonia 67 Madrid and beyond 71 On European soil 77 Almansa and Toulon 80 Remembering past glories 82 Oudenarde and Malplaquet 85 A crucial year: 1710 89 The road to peace 94 To sum up 96 3 Latin Writing between Court, Church and Academia during the War of the Spanish Succession 98 Tu felix Austria nube: Nuptial poetry in the midst of war 98 An untimely death 107 Peace at last 114 Conclusion 126 4 Latin Propaganda beyond the Dynastic Conflict (1715–1740) 130 Latin political propaganda and exile in the aftermath of the dynastic conflict 131 A new king of Sicily, the Peace of Vienna and the emperor’s final years 141 Conclusion 149 Conclusions 152 Appendix 1 The Spanish Succession: A Dynastic Table 156 Appendix 2 Texts from Chapters 1 and 2 158 Appendix 3 Two Eighteenth-Century Latin Poets at Work 166 Notes 172 Bibliography 208 Index 226