The Court of the Spanish Habsburgs: Results and Prospects of Researches (Appendix. Interview with Professor Manuel Rivero Rodríguez

Abstract

The article examines the activities of a group of Spanish researchers from the Autonomous University of Madrid (José Martínez Millán, Manuel Rivero Rodríguez and others) who began to study the court of the Spanish Habsburgs in the early 1990s. On its basis, in 2006, the University Institute “The Court in Europe” (Instituto Universitario “La Corte en Europa”, hereinafter — IULCE) was established, which unites efforts of many scientists in different countries, combining scientific research, teaching and popularization of knowledge about the court in its activities. The purpose of this article is to analyze the structure and main activities of IULCE, such as the organization of international congresses and publication of their materials, publication of the electronic scientific journal “Libros de Corte”, assistance to the authorities in the development of cultural tourism, creation of databases on the court of the Spanish Habsburgs, but above all — a large-scale ongoing project of a comprehensive study of the royal court during the reign of each monarch of the Habsburg dynasty in Spain. The article traces the changes in the structure of these works, corresponding to the dynamics of studying the peculiarities of the development of the court of the Spanish Habsburgs, which found themselves in the orbit of IULCE's research interests. The distinctive features of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the court are examined. An interview with the director of IULCE, professor Manuel Rivero Rodríguez, taken by the author of this article, is published as an appendix, which allows us to better understand the peculiarities of the functioning of the Institute and the prospects for its development.