Readings for Felipe II: Pedro de Salazar and his collection of novels as treatises of government

The aim of this paper is to cast light on the role of the novels by Pedro de Salazar (ca. 1560-1565), recently published, as treatises of government. The paper is organized as follows. First, I will discuss the links between this collection of novels and the medieval tradition. Second, I will highlight several strategies followed by the author (which build on his own expertise as historian) to dignify a narrative genre that was greatly discredited at his time. Third, I will delve into three of such strategies: he dedicates his collection of novels to the king Philip II; he builds the narrative frame around the character of the king Ervigio; and finally, for many of his novels he uses arguments that are close to the topics of the Byzantine novels. Finally, I will consider in some detail the links between this literary program and the printing activities, the nature of the noble libraries, and the reading habits of the Spanish Golden Age, in order to conclude some important facts about the status of the fictional prose among the literary genres of this time.