Resumen de Patronage and Politics in the Court of the Catholic Monarchs: The "Cancionero de Pedro Marcuello"
An essay adapted from one presented at the International Medieval Congress in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in May 2001. A lavishly illustrated 15th-century Spanish manuscript (Musée Condé, Chantilly, France) known variously as Cancionero de Pedro Marcello, Devocionario de Juana la Loca, and Rimado de la conquista de Granada, proves the effectiveness of the propaganda of the Catholic Monarchs, Queen Isabel and King Fernando of Spain. The manuscript was commissioned by Pedro Marcuello, an Aragonese nobleman of the lower ranks, not only to cheer the Catholic Monarchs on in their endeavors, but also to secure a position at court for his young daughter. It demonstrates how eagerly the images, symbols, and slogans through which the monarchs disseminated their political vision were adopted by the artists and writers associated with their court, or those who wished to be associated with it. Both the text written by Marcuello and the illuminations he commissioned produce conjoined visual/verbal propaganda for the monarch's providential mission and, at the same time, unashamed advertisements for himself and his daughter.
