Article: Possessing the sacred: monarchy and identity in Philip II's relic collection at the Escorial.

1. INTRODUCTION

The most famous anecdote about King Philip II (1527-98) and his passion for relics is the one told by the Hieronymite friar Jose de Siguenza (1544-1606) in his famous history of the foundation of the Escorial, included in his monumental Historia de la Orden de San Jeronimo (1605). (1) Sitting up day and night at her father's bedside during his never-ending agony, the Infanta Isabela Clara Eugenia had devised a trick to keep him awake and lucid so he could fight off the forces of evil and welcome death with open eyes and a cleansed soul. Knowing his love for relics, whenever she sensed that pain was overtaking him and saw that he was losing ...

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