Epic and historiography formed part of the representation of power, dynastic legitimation, the construction of the image of the sovereign and the ethical and political acceptance of the military and imperial projects of the Habsburgs.
This line of research is interested in the writing of historical and epic narratives in the territories of the Empire and the Hispanic Monarchy, the conventions and clichés of both genres and their contribution to shaping the identity of social groups and political and religious communities. It studies the creation of a new culture of war in the environment of Charles V and Philip II, the ways of narrating and assimilating conflict, and the creation of cultural fictions about religious or political adversaries, in America as well as in Europe and the Mediterranean. In short, it analyses the contribution of epic and historical narrative to Habsburg political propaganda, and the similarities with other media and forms of representation in painting, iconography, armoury, music and the ephemeral arts.
