The Year 1588 and San Diego de Alcalá

 
"Don Carlos", by Alonso Sanchez Coello. Son of Philip II, his miraculous recovery from a head injury was attributed to the Spanish Friar San Diego and sparked renewed petitions to the Vatican for his canonization. Courtesy The Prado Museum.

 
San Diego de Alcalá and the miracle of the Flowers, by Francisco Zurbarán. Courtesy Museo Lázaro Galdiano.

 
House in San Nicolás del Puerto where San Diego reportedly was born and raised.

 
A view of the ruins of the Franciscan Convent of San Buenaventura on the Canary Island of Fuerteventura, where San Diego lived from 1441-1449.

 
King Philip II of Spain, by Alonso Sánchez Coello. Brother-in-law to Elizabeth 1 of England, he aspired to invade England in the summer of 1588. This portrait shows him at the peak of his power just before the debacle of the Armada. Courtesy The Prado Museum.

 
Queen Elizabeth I of England at the time of the Spanish Armada.

 
Pope Sixtus V (1585-1590). While beset by struggles in England, France, and Spain, he presided over the canonization of San Diego in 1588. Courtesy Pinacoteca Vaticana.

 
Tower of the Iglesia Magistral in Alcalá de Henares where the remains of San Diego rest in a side chapel.

 
Back cover : a title page of Pietro Galesino's Sancti Didaci Complutensis, one of the first and most authoritative of the early biographies of San Diego.

THE PHOTOGRAPHS, unless otherwise noted, are from the author's collection.