List of Contributors; Acknowledgments; List of abbreviations; Sir John Elliott: an appreciation; Introduction; Part I. Power and Propaganda: The World of the Court: 1. Twin souls: monarchs and favourites in early seventeenth-century Spain Antonio Feros; 2. Taxation and political culture in Castile, 1590-1640 Charles J. Jago; 3. Clio and the Crown: writing history in Habsburg Spain Richard L. Kagan; Part II. The Pattern of Society: Community and Identity in Habsburg Spain: 4. Toledanos and their kingdom of Granada, 1492-1560s Linda Martz; 5. Castile, Spain and the monarchy: the political community from Patria natural to Patria nacional I. A. A. Thompson; 6. Aragonese constitutionalism and Habsburg rule: the varying meanings of liberty Xavier Gil; 7. Patriotism in early modern Valencia James G. Casey; 8. The mental world of Jeroni Pujades James Amelang; 9. Centring the periphery: the Cerdanya between France and Spain Peter Sahlins; Part III. Spain and its Empire: 10. David or Goliath?: Philip II and his world in the 1580s Geoffrey Parker; 11. Olivares, the cardinal-infante and Spain's strategy in the Low Countries (1635-1643): the road to Rocroi Jonathan I. Israel; 12. Conquest after conquest: the rise of Spanish domination in America Peter Bakewell; 13. Heeding Heraclides: empire and its discontents, 1619-1812 Anthony Pagden; 14. Why were Spain's 'special overseas laws' never enacted? Josep M. Fradera; Notes on the contributors; Index.