ABSTRACT
The visit of the Prince of Wales to Madrid was marked by a series of entertainments, from hunting expeditions, bull fights and jousting, to banquets, dances and masques. The prince's visit was also celebrated, commemorated and execrated in an impressive number of occasional poems. Various poems celebrate Charles' potentially dangerous journey from England through France to Spain, making much of the fact that this journey was undertaken in disguise. Charles certainly played the role of courtly lover to perfection, his actions and behaviour coming straight from the pages of a sentimental romance. Charles and Philip are also portrayed in terms of classical mythology. Charles' visit was both entirely unexpected for the Spanish and highly unusual in early modern Europe. Charles is the 'royal bird', the eagle, the only bird which can look directly at the sun, who flies from the frozen north to seek the Sun – which is the 'august splendour of the Infanta Maria'.
