The Influence of Rome on Spirituality in the Royal Convents of the Habsburg Netherlands: The Foundation of the Capuchin Convent at Tervuren (1621-33)

La relación de amistad y apoyo entre los archiduques Alberto de Austria e Isabel Clara Eugenia con Juan Bautista Vives culminaba con el nombramiento del mismo como embajador ante la Santa Sede en 1618. La vinculación de Vives con la naciente Congregación de Propaganda Fide tuvo una incidencia directa en la labor misional desarrollada en los Países Bajos. En el análisis de estas cuestiones, pondremos especial interés en la fundación de conventos y en el mecenazgo religioso de Isabel Clara Eugenia como gobernadora de dichos territorios.

The close relation of friendship between the archdukes Albert and Isabel Clara Eugenia with Juan Bautista Vives reached to its peak with the appointment of the last one as ambassador of the Archdukes at the Holy See in 1618. The close ties that Vives maintained with the recently created Congregation of Propaganda Fide had then a direct impact at the missionary labour developed at the Habsburg Netherlands and the Dutch Republic. Great relevance in this field had the foundation of royal convents and the religious patronage that Isabel Clara Eugenia exerted as governorness of these territories after Albert´s death in 1621. In this chapter, it will be analyzed the impact of Rome in the spirituality developed at those convents, through the influence of a relevant figure as Vives.