1 - Perceptions of Kingship: Governing With and Without a Valido

Summary

Regal distinction consists not in fighting but in governing. This has been the superlative talent possessed by the great Philip the Fourth who, despite being universal in his qualities, and endowed with excellent judgment, outstanding ingenuity, and heroic valour, has surpassed himself in his government, sacrificing himself as if to steal himself away from his natural martial inclination. For it is the latter that he reckons to be the pinnacle of royal talents, and the true honour of a perfect king.

Philip IV of Spain was a ruler upon whom unachievable expectations had been placed, and whose failure to live up to those expectations was something he did his utmost to conceal. He was supposed to govern personally after the manner of his grandfather, Philip II. Instead, he handed over power to ministers who were responsible for aggressive and expensive policies that ultimately led to ruin. Historians have tended to concentrate on understanding the actions of these ministers, the so-called validos, and in the process the king has been given less attention – at best acclaimed for his aesthetic discernment, at worst dismissed as a political cipher. To be sure, Philip IV is a difficult person to understand. Sometimes likened to a statue, he was fond of ceremony, and cultivated an inscrutable demeanour towards those who did not know him well. Yet, in the privacy of the royal apartments or on excursions to the countryside he lived informally enough with his family, his personal servants and the dwarfs and buffoons who provided them with company and amusement. Even in public there were many instances of celebration or intense emotional pressure when the king let down his guard, such as in 1623 when the Prince of Wales made an impromptu visit to Madrid, or in 1631 when he had to manage a difficult situation at a bullfight. He was visibly elated on the birth of his children, and prone to dramatic outbursts of anger on hearing of misdemeanours within his household. As the central actor in the forty-four-year drama of his reign, Philip was expected to play many roles. Most comfortable amongst his books and papers at the centre of a court that he was careful to shape to his wishes, the king also had a yearning to see his other possessions outside Castile, and to command his armies in war.