COMMUNICATION

The director of the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation, Juan Carlos Moreno, inaugurated the course “The Culture of Entertainment in the Worlds of Charles V: Social Life, Rituals, Parties, Games and Shows”, which addresses the construction of power and the image of the Spanish monarchy at the time of the emperor. This Campus Yuste course is part of the 24^th edition of the University of Extremadura’s International Summer/Autumn Courses. (4/07/2023)

During the opening, Moreno highlighted the uniqueness of these sessions as they are held at the place where Charles V died. “The emperor lived in Yuste nineteen months and eighteen days of his life; he did not come here to die, but to live”, he said. In this sense, he added that the course “brings all that culture and entertainment means together”.

In turn, American History professor of the Complutense University of Madrid and co-director of the course, Rosa María Martínez de Codes, ran through the different blocks that will be analysed during the course explaining that “a journey through the history of the construction of the Modern State that spans the 16^th and 17^th centuries and in particular on the court understood as a point of contact between the prince and his subjects as a political, social and economic space” will be made.

In addition, Martínez de Codes stated that during the next three days we will also “move to viceregal America in order to understand the meaning of public festivals and ceremonies that were held in the capitals of New Spain and Peru”. According to professor Martínez de Codes, the ritual that encloses each celebration is seen as a tool of power, and they, therefore, “fulfilled several political objectives”.

Finally, the third block of the course will incorporate the artistic manifestations of the festival courts. The different speakers will thus delve into the elements that were part of the courtly festivals, such as the arches and triumphal carts, “true iconographic programmes of capital importance to discover the symbolic meanings of the iconic-literary language used in ephemeral art linked to courtly parties”, Martínez de Codes explained.

To conclude the opening ceremony, the vice-rector of University Extension of the University of Extremadura, María Teresa Terrón Reynolds, stressed that the course will examine the different manifestations included in what is called “culture of entertainment, a tradition where festivals, ceremonies, shows, games, art, literature, thought and religion proliferate”.

During her speech, the vice-rector recalled that the offer of International Summer/Autumn courses this year is composed of eighteen courses that will take place from June to October and that they will address a wide range of topics within the scientific, technological, humanistic and social fields.

Campus Yuste adds an online version to its in-person format and thus opens a window to the world with the live broadcasting of all its courses through its YouTube channel. People from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Nicaragua and Portugal have registered in the course “The Culture of Entertainment in the Worlds of CharlesV: Social Life, Rituals, Parties, Games and Shows”.

This course, which is included in Yuste Foundation’s training programme Campus Yuste, is part of the University of Extremadura’s International Summer Courses and is sponsored by MAFRESA. It counts with the collaboration of the Cooperation Network of the Routes of the Emperor Charles V ¾Cultural Route of the Council of Europe¾, the Regional Government of Extremadura, National Heritage and the Provincial Councils of Cáceres and Badajoz.