While the family enjoyed their peace in New Granada, the situation on the other side of the world was very different. Europe was slowly becoming a chaotic whole. Spain, in particular, had entered a deeply complicated situation. After the defeats in the colonies, the empire had been forced to shift from aggression to defense. The humiliation still lingered in every council meeting, every military report, every whisper in the corridors of power.
And at the center of the storm was a single name.
Carlos Gómez.
The King could not ignore it any longer.
Worried about the growing instability—and about the man responsible for much of it—King Carlos ordered the representative of the House of Lerma to appear before him: Luis María de Fernández de Córdoba y Gonzaga, the future Duke of Lerma.
Winter had settled harshly over Castile.
