Language Notes
Text: Spanish, English
From the Publisher
Los españoles en Flandes (The Spaniards in Flanders), an obscure historical play by Spain's most beloved dramatist, Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio, provides a valuable matrix by which to gauge his imagination and mastery. The Phoenix strictly adheres to Alonso Vázquez's unique account of Spain's wars in the Netherlands as the foundation for this entertaining literary representation set against the backdrop of Imperial Spain's serious historical reality. Precisely where the playwright deviates from the historian, the modern reader can easily distill the message encoded for the live audience. Now, we can better appreciate the factual military circumstances that informed the real Don John of Austria and Alexander Farnese, as well as the fictional characters who witnessed the events at the Battle of Gembloux on January 30, 1578.
