ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the Spanish Habsburg crypt at the Escorial and the dynamics that caused it to become increasingly inclusive. Two main dynamics are identified: family heads exercising increased authority in mandating burials in the Escorial, including for individuals who had indicated other wishes, like siblings and adult children. And peripheral relatives who previously would not have expected to be buried in the dynastic crypt (cousins, widowed sisters, illegitimate children) actively pushing for burial in the Escorial, by making testamentary stipulations handing control of their place of burial to the family head. Together these ‘pull’ and ‘push’ dynamics gave family heads much more authority in arranging for their relatives’ post-mortem destinies and shaping a Habsburg community of the dead.
