ABSTRACT
Margaret of Austria’s long journey as the betrothed of Philip III of Spain has been the subject matter of numerous studies aimed at reconstructing visits and ceremonies which took place in the different towns, especially those in Italy. 1 Nonetheless, in this essay I return to Margaret of Austria’s Italian progress to examine in detail the celebrations in Spanish Lombardy. In fact, the condition of this territory, subject to a foreign state, created particular dynamics between the central power and local realities, both on a cultural and on economic and social levels, thus offering an interesting margin of analysis. In order to avoid pointless generalizations, I shall narrow the field to two moments in Margaret’s journey: the sovereign’s entrance to Milan, with some clarifications on the matter of apparati; and her passage into Pavia to which I shall devote a more detailed analysis, due to the specific conditions and the richness of documentary material. 2
