El prodigio de Alemania

El prodigio de Alemania (1634), a collaboration between the legendary Pedro Calderón de la Barca and Antonio Coello, is a compelling historical drama that captures a pivotal moment of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). The play dramatizes the rise and sudden, violent downfall of the Imperial Generalissimo Albrecht von Wallenstein.

Opening with the news of the Battle of Lützen (1632) and the death of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, the narrative plunges into the intricate web of conspiracies at the court of Philip IV and the Count-Duke of Olivares. The work is a masterclass in Baroque political strategy, reflecting how the Spanish Crown and the Holy Roman Empire navigated the ambitions of a general who had become as powerful as the Emperor himself.

This Stockcero edition is of exceptional scholarly importance: it represents the first modern publication of the play since the original 17th-century suelta was rediscovered in the National Library of Madrid just over a decade ago. The edition provides an essential tool for Calderonian studies, revealing how theater was actively used as an instrument of state propaganda to justify political assassinations and maintain imperial authority.

Edited and introduced by Antonio M. Rueda, this volume includes an extensive analysis that situates the action within its precise historical context. It is an indispensable resource for advanced courses in Spanish Golden Age Literature, Early Modern European History, Theater as Propaganda, and Baroque Aesthetics.