Witches' Sabbath (The Great He-Goat) There is no record of Goya's thoughts during this period. He completed the series during a period recuperating from illness, possibly lead poisoning, when he was in considerable mental and physical pain, and withdrew from public life. "Witches' Sabbath" is believed to be a rather bitter, but silent, protest against the royalists and clergy who had retaken control of Spain after the Peninsular War of 1807–14. Advocates of the Enlightenment had sought to redistribute land to the peasants, to educate women, publish a vernacular Bible and, by replacing superstition with reason, put an end to the Inquisition. Witch hunting, seen
House of Alba city of Granada. During the 16th century, Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, was given the title of governor general of the Spanish Netherlands. The third duke's first cousin was Doña Eleonor de Toledo, who married Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Through her granddaughter Marie de' Medici, Queen of France, she became the ancestor of many crowned heads and heirs apparent of Europe. Her descendants include Juan Carlos I of Spain, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. In 1802, María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba, died without