ABSTRACT
On the afternoon of September 18, 1665 “we went up to kiss the hand of our new king, who has not yet reached his fourth birthday,” the president of the Council of Aragon, Christobal Crespí de Valdaura, recalled in his diary. “When we reached the royal chamber,” he noted, “we could not enter because the king began to cry; the [attendants] took him inside to console him, but he did not come out until much later. After that, the ministers entered the chamber quickly without waiting for the previous person to leave.” 1 This event, which took place at the commencement of the reign of Carlos II (1661–1700), presented the first of many practical difficulties the Spanish Habsburg court faced when the ceremonies associated with kingship rested on a young child’s shoulders, or, more accurately in this case, depended on his stomach. The traditional hand-kissing ritual had been interrupted because the three-year-old king was hungry. Although courtiers were inconvenienced for only one hour and the young king resumed his duties after he was fed, this charming anecdote suggests the unease the court felt as it confronted the daunting task of adapting its rituals and customary functions to the whims and needs of childhood.
