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In the late autumn of 1563, eleven-year-old Arch-duke Rudolf and his younger brother Ernst jour-neyed to Madrid to the court of their uncle, KingPhilip II of Spain (Fig. 122), to complete theireducation. Rudolf and his brother spent eight years at the Spanish court, and the experience

made an indelible impression on them, markingthe beginning of the future Holy Roman Empe-ror’s scientic schooling.

Rudolf and his brother came to Madrid at Phil-ip’s insistence.1 Their father Maximilian’s ambiva-lent attitude toward the Protestants troubled theSpanish king, who saw himself as the vanguard ofthe Counter-Reformation. Philip’s sense of moralresponsibility for the future of Catholic Europe weighed heavily upon him, and he worried thatMaximilian, who in 1564 would succeed his fatherFerdinand I as Holy Roman Emperor, might ne-

glect to provide his children with a strict Catholicindoctrination. Some historians have suggestedthat Maximilian tried in vain to ignore Philip’sinvitation or to push it aside. Maximilian himselfhad been partially educated in Spain and his ex-perience there had been far from pleasant. In anycase he had little to say about the education of hischildren.2 If he protested his sons’ move to theSpanish court it was to no avail: Ferdinand madeit clear that Rudolf and Ernst would be educatedin the Spanish manner.3

Rudolf and his brother were accompanied to

Spain by Maximilian’s adviser, Count Adam Diet-

1 Chudoba (1952), p. 148.2 Fichtner (2001), p. 25.3 Ibid., p. 51.

richstein, who was to serve as the boys’ tutor.4 Ar-riving in Barcelona in March, 1564, they were metby the king himself, who accompanied the youngarchdukes to Madrid. Historians have traditional-ly viewed Rudolf’s stay in Madrid as having had anegative inuence upon him. Edward Crankshaw

maintained that the “ humourless, proud, unbend-ing Spanish ways made the worst possible impressionon the easygoing German nobles.”5 Similarly, EduardVehse remarked that “the long stay at that gloomy

and ever-suspecting court had a decidedly baneful effecton Rudolf. Whereas formerly he had been gentle, good-

natured, timid, but a lover of justice, he now was un- manageable, moody, gloomy, and at times breaking outinto ts of the ercest passion.”6 However, such asser-tions are completely groundless and exaggerated. Although the lengthy stay in Spain in close prox-imity to the royal court certainly had a profound

effect on Rudolf, the inuence was by no meansentirely negative. Indeed, the experience in Ma-drid laid the foundation for his future scienticinterests.

When Philip II decided to move his courtfrom Toledo to Madrid in 1561, the city was asleepy market town of about 16,000 persons. Thearrival of the court completely transformed theprovincial town. During the years that Rudolf and

4 The most comprehensive treatment of the arch-dukes’ stay in Spain is by Mayer-Löwenschwerdt (1927).Rudolf remained close to Dietrichstein, naming himObersthofmeister after he became emperor.5 Crankshaw (1971), p. 100.6 Vehse (1856), I, p. 221. Philippe Erlanger’s accountis similarly suffused with myths about Philip, the “sa-turnian” king and the “climat fantastique” that Rudolfsupposedly encountered in Spain. Erlanger (1971), p. 45.

The Scientic Education of a Renaissance Prince: Archduke Rudolf at the Spanish Court

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his brother resided in Madrid, the city’s popula-tion surged. By 1572, when the archdukes returnedto Vienna, Madrid’s population had more thandoubled.7 Judging from contemporary accounts itcannot have been a very pleasant place to live. Thedevelopment of the city’s infrastructure could not

keep pace with its explosive growth, as would-be courtiers and those who trailed after themocked to the royal court. Visitors frequentlycomplained about lthy streets and stinking la -trines. A Dutch traveler in the 1570s reported,“ I nd the city of Madrid to be the lthiest in all ofSpain. In all of the streets there are great servidores , asthey call them, which are big urinals full of piss and shitthat are emptied into the streets, giving off an unimagi-

nable and vile stench.”8 Filthy or not, to contempo-raries in Catholic Europe Madrid was the centerof the world (Fig. 123).

Most of what is known about Archduke Ru-dolf’s education we learn from the reports that Adam Dietrichstein sent back to Vienna to thechildren’s father, Emperor Maximilian II.9 Ac-cording to Dietrichstein, Rudolf’s educationconsisted mainly of humanistic studies, as wascustomary for a future Renaissance prince: his-tory, ethics, politics, languages, and theology. Ru-dolf also received instruction in courtly subjectssuch as music, dance, martial arts, hunting, and weaponry. Although Rudolf had daily lessonsin arithmetic, Dietrichstein mentions nothing

about formal instruction in the natural sciences.10 Yet though Rudolf may not have been provided with a formal science curriculum, while residingin Madrid he would have been exposed to the fullrange of scientic subjects that later ourished inhis court at Prague.11

Contrary to the prevailing opinion amongnon-Spanish historians of science, the royal court

7 Alvar Ezquerra (1989), p. 19.8 Ibid., pp. 62—74. The traveler was Lamberto Wyts, who accompanied Queen Ann of Austria on her Spanishsojourn in 1570–72.9 The correspondence (for the years 1563—1565) hasbeen published by Edelmeyer (1997); see also Mayer--Löwenschwerdt (1927), pp. 45—53.10 Ibid., p. 61.11 On science in Rudolf’s court, see Evans (1997).

in Madrid was alive with scientic activity. KingPhilip was deeply interested in the sciences of theday and spent lavishly on scientic enterprises.12 His motives were political and economic ratherthan purely scientic. As the ruler of the world’slargest empire, he needed science and technologyto realize his “grand strategy” of world empire.13 To that end, he patronized royal institutions forthe advancement of science and nanced voyagesof scientic discovery. Motivated by a desire to

realize the economic potential of his vast Ameri-can possessions, the king solicited information

12 Portuondo (2009); Goodman (1988); López Piñero(1979)13 Parker (1998).

122. Alonso Sánchez-Coello, King of Spain Philip II, 1566.

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about the geography and natural history of theNew World. In 1570, he commissioned one of hiscourt physicians, Francisco Hernández, to makean extensive survey of the medicinal plants of the Americas and ordered his Portuguese viceroy ofIndia to gather information about the medicinalplants of that region.14 In 1571, he appointed JuanLópez de Velasco to the newly created post ofcosmographer-chronicler of the Indies, instruct-ing him to compile maps, cosmographic tables,

records of tides and eclipses, and a natural historyof the Indies, making the Spanish royal court acenter of news and research about America. In

14 López Piñero – Pardo Tomás (1996).

addition, Philip built extensive botanical gardensat the Royal Palaces in Aranjuez and Madrid, where species from distant parts of the empire were cultivated.15

The Spanish monarchs also established formalinstitutions for the advancement of science. Sincethe beginning of the sixteenth century, Spainhad been a center for the study of navigationand cosmography, subjects of immediate practi-cal interest in maintaining the overseas empire.

The House of Trade ( Casa de la Contratación ) in

15 Representative new scholarship on science in ear-ly modern Spain may be found in Navarro Brotòns –Eamon (2007).

123. Anton van den Wyngaerde, Panoramic view of Madrid from the time of the arrival of Archduke Rudolf in Spain, 1562.

124 Depiction of Philip II as the ruler of the world. A miniature from the manuscript by Johann Holzhammer,

Beschreibung des Portugalesischen Krieges, ca. 1585, Wien, ÖNB, sign. Cod. 9865, fol. IVr.

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Seville, founded by the Catholic Monarchs (Fer-dinand and Isabella) in 1503, was charged withthe responsibility of training seafarers in the artand theory of navigation. The English navigatorStephen Borough, who visited the Casa in 1558,so admired the union of theory and practice ex-

hibited there that he pressed for the founding ofa similar institution in England.16 In 1582 Philipfounded the Royal Mathematics Academy ( Aca-

demia Real Matemática ) at Madrid, where courseson military engineering, navigation, and architec-ture were taught.17 In 1569, the king directed hisadvisor Juan de Ovando to redesign the Consejo

de Indias, codifying the Council’s procedures forcollecting information about the New World andmaking the Consejo a well-oiled fact-gatheringmachine.18 Historians have sometimes portrayedPhilip II as an intransigent obstacle to new sci-

entic ideas. In reality, from the standpoint ofscientic patronage he was one of Europe’s mostenlightened monarchs. Indeed, Spain under Phil-ip II ushered in the beginning of modern, state-sponsored “big science.”

The foundations of these impressive scienticinstitutions, many of which came to fruition dur-ing Philip’s reign, were already being laid when Archduke Rudolf arrived in Spain. After a brief visit to the Benedictine monastery at Monserrat,he and his brother traveled with Philip to visitthe royal gardens at Aranjuez, where they spent

the summer. It must have been there that Rudolfbecame acquainted for the rst time with the artfor which he exhibited such a passion later in life:alchemy. The gardens at Aranjuez were an impor-tant part of King Philip’s scientic program. Hefounded an extensive medicinal garden there, andas early as 1564 established a distillation labora-tory at the royal residence, appointing a Flemishnational, Francis Holbeeck, as royal distiller; it was the rst step in a project designed to providethe royal court with distilled essences for cos-metic and therapeutic uses.19 During his visits to

16 Goodman (1988), pp. 74—78.17 Maroto – Piñeiro (1991); Goodman (1988), pp. 73—74.18 Portuondo (2009), ch. 3; Barrera-Osorio (2006), p. 119.19 Andrés Turrión – Yébenes Torres (2001); ReyBueno (2002), pp. 33—35.

Aranjuez the future emperor may have observed,and perhaps even assisted in, the experimentsconducted there.

King Philip was an avid devotee of alchemy.Like many Renaissance princes, he saw alchemyas a practical science that might be used to in-crease the wealth and well-being of the realm.20 He rst became involved in alchemical experi-

ments in 1555—1559 during a visit to the Nether-lands. Chronically short of money to nance hisempire, he sought an alchemical remedy for hisnancial problems.21 He rst engaged an Italianalchemist, Tiberio della Roca, to make preciousmetals alchemically, then hired a German alche-mist to continue the experiments. The Venetianambassador reported that Philip himself waspresent at some of the experiments.22 It was notlong before other foreigners learned of Philip’salchemical interests and began making their wayto Madrid in the hope of securing the king’s pa-

tronage. In 1569, the Roman adept Marco An-tonio Bufale came to Madrid offering Philip his

20 Marín (1927); Ruiz (1977).21 Marín (1927), pp. 17ff.22 Goodman (1988), p. 12.

125. Martin Rota, Rudolf II, engraving, 1574.

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alchemical secret to transmute base metals into gold. He later complained that he was kept wait-ing for three months without ever hearing wheth-er the king was interested.23

He probably wasn’t. Philip’s condence inthe possibility of making precious metals al-chemically was shaken by the results of a seriesof failed experiments conducted in the 1560s

under the supervision of his optimistic secre-tary, Pedro de Hoyo.24 Time and again the king would turn away alchemists with similar prom-ises. Philip’s concerns were certainly justied:the utopian dream of alchemically transmutingbase metals into silver and gold was everywherealive in early modern Europe. But fraud was ram-pant. Though counterfeiting silver and gold wasa capital crime in Spain, that didn’t deter adeptsfrom convincing themselves they had the secretof the philosopher’s stone, the alchemical elixirthat could transmute base metals into silver. So

concerned was Philip about alchemical fraud thatone of his court alchemists, the Irish exile Rich-ard Stanihurst, prepared a work to help the king

23 Puerto Sarmiento (1997), p. 116.24 Goodman (1988) 12–13; Rey Bueno (2002).

distinguish between authentic and fraudulent al-chemy. Stanihurst’s Toque de Alquimia, dedicatedto King Philip, while providing a “touchstone” torecognize false alchemists, was in fact a vigorousdefense of true alchemy.25

Yet Philip did not lose faith in alchemy en-tirely. Only by then he had his eyes on a differ-ent kind of Philosophers’ Stone: the panacea to

cure all illnesses. Philip’s health had never been good, and it began to deteriorate even more inthe 1560s, when he suffered his rst attacks of gout. But it was not just his own health that con-cerned him. The infante Fernando, male heir tothe throne, was also unwell, as were other mem-bers of the royal family. Attending to the physicalhealth and well-being of the royal family was an urgent state concern.

Philip’s belief in the possibility of making thepanacea was fueled by what he and his contem-poraries believed were the alchemical doctrines

of thirteenth-century Mallorcan philosopher andmystic Ramon Lull. Although we do not knowexactly when Philip’s curiosity about Lull’s doc-

25 Rodrìguez Guerrero – Rojas García (2001); Good-man (1988), p. 15.

126. View of El Escorial, engraving, end of the 16th century.



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trines originated, it was certainly before 1576, when he already had a sizeable collection Lull’sbooks in the library at El Escorial (Fig. 126).26 By1580, he was consulting with the Mallorcan schol-ar Juan Seguí about establishing colleges dedica-ted to Lullist philosophy throughout the king-dom. Whether the king saw Lull’s doctrine as thekey to universal knowledge, as a means of con- verting the indels, or as providing the secret tothe Philosophers’ Stone is not known. Yet by the

1570s his court was a center of Lullist philosophi-cal activity and his library had a sizeable collec-

26 López Pérez (2002), p. 349; idem (2003), p. 119. Theinventory of Philip’s library at El Escorial is published inde Andrés (1964).

tion of pseudo-Lullian alchemical treatises.27 Al-though there is no positive evidence of Rudolf’sextracurricular scientic reading, one can imag-ine the young archduke pouring over the Lullistphilosophical and alchemical works in his uncle’s vast library. Rudolf would later have many Lullisttracts, including the mysterious De secretis naturae,in his own library in Prague.28

No one in the sixteenth century doubted thatthe recondite alchemical doctrine attributed Ra-

mon Lull was genuine. Yet, as we now know, allthe alchemical works attributed to him are spu-rious. The alchemical treatises ascribed to Lull

27 Puerto Sarmiento – Folch Jou (1979); Taylor (1969).28 Evans (1997), p. 126.

127.–128. Schemata inspired by Lull’s Ars Magna. A commonplace book of Jáchym Nostic from 1586 documents that there

was interest in Lull’s work even in Rudolfine Prague, both the philosophical and mystic and the alchemical, which were only

attributed to Lull. Library of the Royal Canonry of Premonstratensians at Strahov, manuscript sign. DB V 12, fol. 114v–115r.

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actually began to appear only around 1332, morethan a decade after the Mallorcan’s death. By theend of the century, the full-blown legend of Lullthe alchemist had taken shape.29 Several factorscontributed to the appeal of Pseudo-Lullian alche-my to Philip and his contemporaries. First of all,pseudo-Lull’s doctrine was an alchemical expres-sion of the age-old dream of prolonging humanlife. Its centerpiece was the medical elixir, a “quin-tessence” produced by distillation.30 Although the

theory of the elixir originated in Hellenistic alche-my, it underwent a major transformation in thefourteenth century, rst in the works of the Fran-

29 Pereira (1987).30 For the doctrine of the elixir, see idem (1995).

ciscan friar and prophet Johannes de Rupescissa,and then in the Pseudo-Lullian corpus. John sta-ted that because the four elements are subject todecay, no medicine made of them can serve thepurpose of preserving the body.31 Therefore, onemust seek something that that bears the samerelation to the four bodily humors as the heav-ens bear to the four elements. This “heavenly”medicine is called the quintessence, after the fthelement of which the heavens are composed. For Johannes, it was spirit of wine, alcohol, which he

regarded as miraculous in its faculty of preserv-ing matter from corruption and in treating dis-eases characterized by corruption of the wholebody, such as plague. In Pseudo-Lull’s alchemical

31 Halleux (1981).

129. “La Tour Philosophale” (Philosophical Tower),distillation apparatus built in El Escorial at the orderof Philip II. A drawing from the journal of Flemishtraveler Jehan L’Hermite (Le Passe-temps, Antwerpen

1890–1896).

130. Distillation furnace for multiple distillations, in:Pietro Giovanni Mattioli, Herbáø jinak Bylináø [Herbarium

otherwise a Herbalist], Praha 1562



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doctrine, however, that unique alchemical panacea was transformed into essences that could be thedistilled from any substance. This new, reformed version of the doctrine of quintessences providedan erudite and powerful argument for the supe-riority of alchemically-prepared drugs versus Ga-

lenic remedies made from the same substances.Pseudo-Lull’s alchemical doctrine gave rise toan entirely new pharmacopoeia, driven partly byscience and partly by fashion.32

Philip enthusiastically promoted the manu-facture of Lullian quintessences. Although hehad grown skeptical of gold-making, he retainedhis faith in the medicinal possibilities of alche-my. He expanded the laboratory facilities at theroyal palace in Aranjuez, and in 1572 constructeda distillation laboratory designed specically formanufacturing quintessences at the royal pa-

lace in Madrid. In 1579, he invited a Neapolitan,Giovanni Vincenzo Forte, to the court, providedhim with a house and distillation laboratory, andordered him “to make a simple quintessence accordingto the order of Ramon Lull ” (“ fare una quinta essential

simple, secondo l’ordine de Raymundo Lulio”).33 SoonItalian alchemists and distillers, particularly fromthe Kingdom of Naples, one of Europe’s leadingcenters of Lullism, began migrating to the court.34 Even as Philip ramped up the alchemical activi-ties at the royal palace and gardens in Aranjuez,he was planning an even more ambitious alchemi-cal facility at his retreat in El Escorial. In 1585,

construction began on an immense distillationlaboratory at his palace there, which would be-come the center of the court’s alchemical work.35 The laboratory, consisting of eleven rooms ontwo oors, was equipped with a gigantic “philo-sophical tower” ( torre losofal ) over twenty feethigh capable of producing two hundred poundsof distilled medicinal waters and essential oils perday. 36 If you were interested in the spagyrical arts,Philip’s court at El Escorial was the place to be.

32 For the popularity of quintessences after the BlackDeath, see Crisciani – Pereira (1998). For the sixteenthcentury, see Eamon (2003).33 Rey Bueno (2002), p. 51.34 Rey Bueno (2002); Puerto Sarmiento (1997).35 Rey Bueno (2009), pp. 26–39.36 Rey Bueno, Los señores del fuego, 69; López Piñero(1979), pp. 274-8.

In addition to its practical application inmedicine, alchemy appealed to early modern Eu-ropean princes, including Rudolf, for philosophi-cal and religious reasons. In an age of intensereligious conict, alchemy reinforced hopes ofnding some means of reconciliation between

Protestant and Catholic extremes. By providing amaterial demonstration of a superior power thatcould unite a multitude of particulars into a uni-ed whole, alchemy offered a powerful metaphorsymbolizing the redemption, which separatedGod’s essence from the material dross that re-sulted from the Fall. As historian Pamela Smith writes, “ Alchemy, as the imitator of nature, demon- strated the processes by which the dross of matter couldbe separated from pure essence and the redemption of hu-

mankind could come about ”.37 Moreover, alchemy’stransmutational power and its bold, ambitious

claim that art could perfect nature, symbolizeda degree of control over the natural world thatmatched and complimented the political powerand might of an absolute ruler.38

Rudolf’s interest in Lullist doctrines was notlimited to alchemical pursuits. He saw Lull’steachings as a way of transcending the conten-tious arguments of warring religious sects, andachieving a comprehensive, unied knowledge ofthe world. Lull’s “Great Art” ( Ars magna ), or “com-binatory art,” an elaborate mnemonic system, hada higher purpose than merely serving as an aid tomemory. Lull’s Great Art sought to reveal the

hidden structure of the universe, leading to a true understanding of God. One of the most famousLullist philosophers of the sixteenth century,the Neapolitan friar Giordano Bruno, made his way to Prague in 1588 and stayed for six months.Bruno dedicated to the Emperor a treatise on his“art,” for which Rudolf paid him 300 thalers.39 In the preface to the work, Bruno proposed hisphilosophy as a means of reconciling quarrellingreligious sects and achieving true Christian reli- gion. Lull’s philosophy was a central componentof the quest for universal knowledge – panso-

phy – that found great favor in Rudolne Prague

37 Smith (1994), p. 198.38 Newman (2004).39 Articuli adversus mathematicos (Prague, 1588); Yates(1964), pp. 311—313.

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(cf. Figs. 127—128).40 Rudolf would have rst en-countered Lull’s Great Art in the court of Phi-lip II, and the memory of it stayed with him.

Astrology was another of Philip II’s scienticinterests, although he approached the subject witha certain skepticism. The seventeenth-centurySpanish chronicler Baltasar Porreño, who por-trayed Philip as a second Solomon whose prudenceand pure Catholic faith kept him free from all

types of superstition, told how Philip suppo-sedlyordered the publication of an astrologer’s prognos-tication for 1579 suppressed because its dire pre-dictions had not come to pass. The king “wantedto demonstrate the vanity of the author and to admonish

and embarrass him,” Porreño writes, in order to ex-pose the futility of astrology.41

Porreño’s hagiographical account notwith-standing, Philip was intensely curious aboutastrology and other occult sciences – although whether or not that made him “superstitious”is debatable. Like most monarchs of the day,

he turned to experts for astrological advice onforeign and domestic policy. Although his curios-ity may have been more restrained than that of

40 Evans (1997), pp. 231—233 and 252—254.41 Porreño (1748), p. 92.

his nephew, whose court at Prague would laterbecome a haven for astrologers and natural magi-cians, Philip consulted astrologers as he did otherministers, sometimes taking their advice, some-times not.42 One of his servants, the Neapolitanastrologer Giovanni Battista Gesio, frequently

supplied the king with advice on foreign policymatters, in addition to serving Philip as an experton cosmography and mathematics.43 Philip’s at-titude toward astrology was by no means excep-tional among contemporary rulers, nor was it “su-perstitious.” The German astronomer JohannesKepler, whose discovery of the laws of planetarymotion ranks him among the greatest astrono-mers of all time, was a passionate adept of astro-logy and one of Rudolf II’s leading advisers.

As Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf was re-nowned for his Kunstkammer , or collection of

natural and articial objects housed in the long galleries of the Hradčany castle in Prague. In-deed, of all the great princely collections amassedin Europe during the sixteenth century, Ru-dolf II’s was the greatest.44 Although the collec-tion was not open to the public, it was well knownby reputation. The display of rare and preciousobjects exhibited in the collection at projectedthe ruler’s majesty and promoted the prestige ofhis rule by expressing his magnicence.45 It wasa privileged site that allowed visitors, symboli-cally at least, access to arcana imperii [secrets of

state] that derived from arcana naturae [secrets ofnature].46 As his collection and the many bookson the Americas in his library attest, Rudolf wasfascinated by the novel ora and fauna cominginto Europe from the New World. His collec-tion included drawings and prints as well as driedspecimens of countless plants and animals fromdistant parts of the world.

Although we don’t know the source of Ru-dolf’s fascination with the New World, his sojourn in Spain may have planted the seeds of hisenthusiasm. A leisurely journey through the south,

42 Goodman (1988), pp. 8—9.43 Goodman (1988), p. 6; Portuondo (2009), pp. 197—207.44 Fučíková (1985).45 DaCosta Kaufman (1993), pp. 174—194.46 On secrets of nature, see Eamon (1994).

131. Mexican feather fan, middle of the 16th century.



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including stops at Cordoba and Seville, which Ru-dolf and his brother took with their tutor AdamDietrichstein, would have acquainted the youngprince with the wealth of information about natu-ral history from the New World.47 A visitor to theport of Seville on the Guadalquivir River in the

mid-sixteenth century would have encountereda luxuriant array of commodities being unloadedfrom cargo ships arriving from America: armadil-los, avocadoes, tobacco, cacao, parrots, monkeys,hummingbirds, birds of paradise ( manucodiata ),and dragons that grew inside fruits (dragon tree).48 The menagerie in the dockyards of Seville wouldhave made a profound impression on the youngarchduke, and would imprint on his memory alasting fascination with New World natural histo-ry.49 That fascination led to his own feverish col-lecting and manifested itself later in his massive

Kunstkammer , which exhibited shells, fossils, be-zoar stones, carved objects, a “unicorn’s horn” (ac-tually a narwhal tusk), and a preserved specimen of“a bird of paradise with its natural wings and feet”the rst ever seen in Europe with its feet attached,refuting the fable that the bird ew continuouslyand could not land because it had no feet.50

Young Rudolf could not have received muchof the king’s attention during his sojourn in Spain.In the 1560s Philip was preoccupied with govern-ing his vast empire, responding to the revolt of theNetherlands and the Turkish threat, and building

the great monastery of San Lorenzo in the villageof El Escorial, 40 kilometers northwest of Ma-drid.51 The rst stone of that imposing edice waslaid the same year that Rudolf and his brother ar-rived, and the visiting archdukes would very likelyhave accompanied their uncle on the king’s fre-quent trips to El Escorial to oversee the buildingof the monastery. While King Philip would havemade Rudolf’s religious instruction paramount,the young archduke would have been able to ex-plore for himself the scientic treasures of Spain.

47 Mayer-Löwenschwerdt (1927), p. 60.48 Many are described by Nicolás Monardes inhis treatise of 1574 on New World ora and fauna:Monardes (1994).49 For perspective, see Pimentel (2009).50 Bauer – Haupt (1976).51 Kamen (1997), p. 79—144.

By the 1570s, relations between Philip and hisbrother Maximilian soured. Maximilian’s moder-ate religious views concerned the Spanish monarch,

who saw himself as the political leader of CatholicEurope.52 The emperor employed Protestants athis court, confessed to a married priest, and autho-

rized the Confession of Augsburg. Then, in April1571, without consulting Maximilian, Philip senta Spanish garrison to invade the tiny imperial efof Finale Ligure in northern Italy.53 Whether that

was what nally motivated Maximilian to suddenlycall his sons back to Vienna is not certain, but to-

ward the end of May 1571, after eight years at Phi-lip’s court, Rudolf and his brother bade farewell totheir uncle and returned to Vienna.54

Rudolf II’s fascination with alchemy, the oc-cult arts, and the wonders of nature is legendary,and was visible to anyone fortunate enough to be

admitted to his court. His zoological gardens onthe slopes of the imperial palace in Prague dis-played exotic species of plants and animals fromdistant places: lions and tigers, a cassowary (nativeto Australia and New Guinea), a dodo, and NewWorld animals such as skunks, armadillos, a coati-mundi, and a llama. Rudolf assembled a universein microcosm, a theater of the world as contem-poraries called it. He also had a well-stocked al-chemical laboratory, where the emperor himselfoccasionally engaged in experiments. All thesedisplays of wonder and power served as visual dem-

onstrations of the emperor’s mastery of the worldand everything in it.55

Rudolf’s passionate and eclectic scientic in-terests had many sources, but one of the deepestand most enduring was his eight-year sojourn inSpain. The hoary mysteries of alchemy, the won-ders of the New World, and the exotic fullnessof nature were all on display in Philip’s court. Inexotic Spain, eleven-year-old Archduke Rudolf, whose curiosity was insatiable, had his rst en-counter with the Age of the New.56

52 Philip revealed as much to Dietrichstein in 1573:Chudoba (1952), p. 150.53 Parker (1998), p. 80; Chudoba (1952), p. 146.54 Erlanger (1971), p. 58.55 Findlen (1997), p. 216.56 Eamon (2016).

WILLIAM E AMON

the scientific education of a renaissanc

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