Book Description

This book examines the cultural relations between the Spanish and Austrian Habsburg monarchies in the seventeenth century and explores the central role of transnational aristocratic networks in cultural transfer processes between Spain and Central Europe. It tells the story of Central European aristocrats who embraced new foreign fashions, commodities, and practices to demonstrate their wealth and superior social position, thereby contributing significantly to the emergence of a cosmopolitan aristocratic Baroque culture. It shows that a new type of aristocrat emerged during this period: the cultured and educated aristocratic connoisseur, who knew how to use cultural imports and practices for his own strategic ends. However, the book also shows that not everyone was equally enthusiastic about the growing cultural imports, but that the boundaries between acceptance and rejection were often fluid. Covering a wide range of topics that span from early modern luxury consumption and food culture to collecting painting and the emergence of early modern aristocratic libraries, the book will appeal to a broad academic audience, including social and cultural historians, art historians, and cultural anthropologists alike. With its transnational scope, the book will be relevant to scholars interested in exploring the cosmopolitan nature of the early modern aristocracy also beyond the Austrian Habsburg monarchy.