The English Reformation in the Spanish Imagination

Book excerpt: The English Reformation in the Spanish Imagination examines early modern Spanish literary works that represent English Catholics and figures from the English Reformation, including Henry and Elizabeth Tudor, Anne Boleyn, Catherine of Aragon, Sir Francis Drake, and Mary Stuart. Deborah R. Forteza compares these texts to assess how rhetorical and genre distinctions open and constrain the Spanish representations and how these exchanges inform Anglo-Spanish perceptions and relations. The book focuses on the literary representation of characters as classical and biblical monsters and saints and considers how these images were transformed and deployed in lesser-known poems, plays, and novels in order to capture the Spanish imagination. Through these sources, Forteza reveals the complex fraternal and antagonistic links between England and Spain, including Black Legend and Counter-Reformation exchanges. In examining the works that shaped Spain’s view of England at the time, The English Reformation in the Spanish Imagination demonstrates the importance of transnational study and why it is essential for a more nuanced understanding of Spanish literature.