This is the first biography of the last major unknown figure in European history. The Duke of Lerma was the first and greatest of the royal favourites of the European seventeenth century. He was the greatest art patron of his generation and the greatest lay builder in Spanish history. This study is profoundly well researched and fluently written. -- .
Introduction - Valladolid, Pentecost Sunday, 29 May 1605: 'Protector general and advocate of all the world' 1. The Sandoval family and the crown of Castile 2. The accession of Philip III 3. The establishment of the valimiento, 1598-1601 4. The court in Valladolid, 1601-1606 : The years of the golden keys 5. Government and policymaking 6. Humiliation, 1606-1607 7. Flight : The Journeys of 1608-1610 8. Survival : The death of the Queen and Lerma's 'other course' 1611-1613 9. Retreat 10. Cardinal-Duke 11. The end of the Sandoval hegemony 12. Lerma and Uceda : Decline, testaments and death Conclusion Index -- .
Patrick Williams is Professor of Spanish History at the University of Portsmouth
