This volume presents a new approach to Spanish Baroque drama, inspired by Foucauldian discourse archeology, whose rare fusion of meticulous philology and ambitious theory will be exciting and fruitful both for the specialist of Spanish literature and for anyone invested in the history of European thought. Detailed readings are dedicated to some of the most prominent plays by Lope de Vega and Calderón de la Barca, both autos sacramentales (El viaje del alma El divino Orfeo La lepra de Constantino) and comedias (El castigo sin venganza, El príncipe constante, El mèdico de su honra). The ""archeological"" perspective cast on the plays implies an integration of their discourse-historical ""foils"", from pagan antiquity through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, as well as a discussion of related discourses, mainly theological, philosophical and historiographical. A separate ""excursus"" suggests a reconsideration of the common manner in which the discursive relation between the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, Mannerism and the Baroque is conceptualized.