Spain

Royal Favourites in Spain

Douglas Hilt describes how Privados - favoured courtiers in early modern Spain - often became figures of strength for the monarch and agents of stability in the peninsula.

St Teresa and the Visionary Nuns

Stephen Clissold describes how, after twenty years of life as a nun, St Teresa began to experience visions and ecstasies which led her to found, in Avila, a reformed Carmelite convent.

Gibraltar: A Rock and a Hard Place

Since ownership passed from Spain to Britain in 1713, the Rock of Gibraltar has played an ambiguous – sometimes unwelcome role – in British history.

Peace with Spain, 1605

Robert W. Kenny describes how, on the death of Elizabeth I, an appeasing spirit entered British diplomacy.