Skip to main content

Warnings to the Kings and Advice on Restoring Spain

A Bilingual Edition

Bilingual edition

Edited and Translated by Nieves Romero-Díaz
During a pivotal point in Spanish history, aristocrat María de Guevara (?–1683) produced two extraordinary essays that appealed for strong leadership, protested political corruption, and demanded the inclusion of women in the court’s decision making. “Treaty” gave Philip IV practical suggestions for fighting the war against Portugal and “Disenchantments” counseled the king-to-be, Charles II, on strategies to raise the country’s status in Europe. This annotated bilingual edition, featuring Nieves Romero-Díaz’s adroit translation, reproduces Guevara’s polemics for the first time.

Guevara’s provocative writings call on Spanish women to bear the responsibility equally with men for restoring Spain’s power in Europe and elsewhere. The collection also includes examples of Guevara’s shorter writings that exemplify her ability to speak on matters of state, network with dignitaries, and govern family affairs.  Witty, ironic, and rhetorically sophisticated, Guevara’s essays provide a fresh perspective on the possibilities for women in the public sphere in seventeenth-century Spain.

180 pages | 6 x 9 | © 2007

The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe

History: European History

Literature and Literary Criticism: Romance Languages

Reviews

"It is wonderful to have Guevara’s works in translation and, inasmuch as there is no other modern edition of them in the original Spanish, it is extremely useful that [the] translation contains the facing Spanish original."

Ronald E. Surtz | Bulletin of Hispanic Studies

"The combination of education, autonomy and chutzpah make the two texts containing her written advice for royalty . . . a fascinating read."

Dian Fox | Bulletin of Spanish Studies

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Series Editors’ Introduction
Abbreviations
Volume Editor’s Introduction
Volume Editor’s Bibliography

I Tratado y advertencias hechas por una mujer celosa del bien de su Rey

y corrida de parte de España (1663) Treatise and Warnings by a Woman, Concerned for the Good of Her King, and Affronted by Part of Spain (1663)

II Desengaños de la corte, y mujeres valerosas Disenchantments at the Court and Valorous Women

 
Appendix A Memorial de la Casa de Escalante . . . Memorial of the House of Escalante . . .  

Appendix B Relación de la Jornada que la Condesa de Escalante hizo a la ciudad de vitoria a besar la mano a Su Majestad Report on the Day’s Journey That the Countess of Escalante Made to the City of Vitoria to Kiss Her Majesty’s Hand


Notes

Series Editors’ Bibliography
Index

Awards

Society for the Study of Early Modern Women: EMW-Translation and Teaching Edition Award
Won

Be the first to know

Get the latest updates on new releases, special offers, and media highlights when you subscribe to our email lists!

Sign up here for updates about the Press