The Daily Prudent

would be able to start buil-

ding it

TDP: Thank you for this

time, Philip

Ph: You are welcome

TDP: Good bye

Ph: Good Bye

Some friends of Your High-

ness Philip II claimed so-

me days before that he is

thinking about the cons-

truction of a monastery in

Spain. As soon as he has

come from Ghent, we met

him and he let us ask him

some questions.

TDP: Good morning, it’s a

pleasure to talk with you.

Ph: The pleasure is mine.

TDP: Well, lets talk about

the new monastery. Why

have you decide to build

this monastery?

Ph: You mean the monas-

tery of “San Lorenzo de El

Escorial”? I decided to

build this monastery for

two different reasons: to

commemorate the triumph

in the Battle of St. Quentin

against the French and to

build a great monastery to

God for all the things that

he has given us.

TDP: So you said the mo-

nastery of “San Lorenzo de

El Escorial”?

Ph: Yes. This monastery is

dedicated to St. Lorenzo.

TDP: What is the reason to

the shape of the monas-

tery?

Ph: As you have noticed,

the monastery has the

shape of a gridiron. This is

because, St. Lorenzo, as

you may know, was marty-

red by being roasted to

death on a grill. So we ha-

ve decided (me and the

architect Juan Bautista of

Toledo) to use that shape

in the monastery.

TDP: Accordingly to what

you said, you have already

hired an architect, haven´t

you?

Ph: Yes, I have. He is ca-

lled Juan Bautista and he

is from Toledo so everyone

calls him Juan Bautista of

Toledo. I chose him from

Ghent as the things people

said about him were very

good.

TDP: Finally, how is the

work going?

Ph: I think everything is all

right. We have already cho-

se the place and I have

gave him the measure-

ments for the monastery

so the only thing that is left

is that the architect finis-

hes his design and we

“The only thing that is left is that the architect finishes his

design”- Says Your Highness Philip II

The ONLY newspaper

which ONLY focuses in

ONLY one person:

Your Majesty Philip II

28 November 1560 Nº 1527

The Monastery of

“El Escorial”

Measurements of the mo-

nastery:

735 castilian foots of

length. (205 m)

580 castilian foots of

width. (162 m)

341 castilian foots of

height. (95 m)

This measurements were

given to the architect so

that he would be able to

adapt his design to them.

Other articles of

this newspaper:

Marriage with María

Manuela

Page

1543

Birth of Charles,

Prince of Asturias

Page

1545

Marriage with Mary

of England

Page

1554

Reception of the

Kingdom of England

Page

1554

Inheritance of the

kingdom of Naples

Page

1554

The future location of the

monastery

I decided to build this

monastery to commemo-

rate the triumph in the

Battle of St. Quentin and

to build a great monas-

tery to God.

Juan Bautista of Toledo,

architect of the monastery

of “San Lorenzo de El Esco-

The Daily Prudent

Page 2 The Monastery of “El Escorial”

Other articles of

this newspaper:

Abdication of Char-

les I

Page

1556

Inheritance of Spain Page

1556

Marriage with Isabel

of Valois

Page

1559

Birth of Isabel Clara

Eugenia

Page

1566

Birth of Catalina Mi-

caela

Page

1567

Allies Hispanic

Monarchy

Allies Kingdom

of France

-Hispanic Mo-

narchy

-Kingdom of

France

Duchy of Savoy

Kingdom of

England

The symbolism of its construction.

Your Majesty Philip II hasn’t ordered the construction of this monastery for no reason. Ins-

tead, he ordered its construction to commemorate the triumph in the Battle of St. Quentin

(1557). This battle took place in St. Quentin, France the 10th of August of 1557. The king-

doms involved in this battle were The Kingdom of France and The Hispanic Monarchy, sup-

ported by the Duchy of Savoy and the Kingdom of England (as Philip was married with Mary

I at that time). The 10th August 1557, day of St. Lorenzo, the Spanish side, commanded by

Julián Romero, the Duke of Savoy, the Count of Egmont and many others, defeated the

French in the surrounding areas of Quentin. As we can see in some documents, Philip II

wanted to go to the battle, but he couldn´t. For further information, read the article in pa-

ge 17 (http://www.myetymology.com/encyclopedia/Battle_of_San_Quint%C3%ADn_%

281557%29.html).

Hispanic Monarchy Kingdom of France

Infrantry 7.000 men 22.000 men

Cavalry 5.000 men 8.000 men

Artillery 80 cannons 18 cannons

Dead or hurt 900 men 25.000 men (also imprisio-

ned)

Majors -Duke de Savoy

-Count of Egmont

-Julián Romero

-Alonso of Cáceres

-Alonso of Navarrete

-Duke Filiberto

-Mansfeld

-Horne

-Aremberg

-Brunswick

-Duke of Montmorency

- Louis Gonzaga

-Almirant Gaspar de

Coligny

- Andelot

Battle of St. Quentin