Carlos V, Felipe II, y el fin de los tiemposEl uso político de la historia bíblica de Gedeón, la profecía del último emperador romano y el símbolo de la torre

Abstract

The biblical story of Gideon, the prophecy of the Last Roman Emperor and the symbol of the tower were an important part of the communicative policies of Charles V and Philip II. These imperial discourses that appropriated religious contents came from political and cultural environments located in the city of Augsburg, the Netherlands and Italy. They were transmitted through speeches, texts, images, objects and representations. They aimed to generate hope for a better future after what was supposed to be the imminent defeat of the Ottoman Empire. This prophesied triumph legitimized the position of the house of Austria as the defending monarchy of Catholicism, and made its sovereign, by divine design, the shepherd of a single flock in the period immediately preceding the end of time. The main theological-political response to this persuasive rhetoric of the Habsburgs came from their own territories, with the destruction of Eucharistic towers during the iconoclastic rebellion in the Low Countries.