Between Narration and Medicine: On Disease and Death of Philip II According to the Writing of Antonio Cervera De La Torre
Between Narration and Medicine: On Disease and Death of Philip II According to the Writing of Antonio Cervera De La Torre

Summary/Abstract: The paper is based on data from the work History of the Death of Philip II written by Antonio Cervera de la Torre and published in Spanish in Madrid, a year after the king’s death. After Cervera’s death in 1606, the idea came up to publish his work in Latin and thus make it available to the European public. The idea of organizing the work was for the purpose of the classic Habsburg propaganda dictated from the center, whose head was Archduke Maximilian III. This work was entrusted to Franz Guillimann, the official historian of the Habsburg dynasty, who translated the work into Latin and prepared it with minor modifications. The article discusses the segment that refers to the description of the disease and the last days of Philip II’s life. The idea was to present Philip II as a ruler who dedicated his entire physical and mental potential to Christianity, that is, Catholicism, and the state. A special aspect of the work is the king’s enduring and suffering from diseases that tormented him and tied him to his bed for the last fifty days of his life. Cervera drew data on the king’s illnesses from the oral testimonies of doctors, but also from official records of treatment and death. Through the description of the illness and torment from which he died, an image of the king’s martyrdom and strong faith was created, which portrayed him as a true Christian.

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