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2. Explaining Monarchy in Early Modern Puebla
- University of Arizona Press
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23 chapter two Explaining Monarchy in Early Modern Puebla Between 1695 and 1775, poblanos knew of the crowning of four monarchs: Philip V, Luis I (1724), Ferdinand VI (1747–59), and Charles III. Puebla’s oath ceremonies, or juras del rey, resembled those held throughout the empire and began with councilmen, indigenous leaders, musicians, and the city’s leading gentlemen riding on horseback to the home of the alférez mayor, or royal standard bearer. Like all municipal council offices, that of alférez mayor was a purchasable position, but it was also the most expensive and prestigious. Poised on horseback in front of his home ostentatiously decorated with tapestries and luminaries, the alférez waited with standard in hand to lead the cavalcade into the main plaza. Preceded by two heralds , or kings-at-arms, he dismounted his horse and rose upon an enormous platform to declare Puebla’s allegiance to Spain’s new ruling monarch. At the onset of this phase of the ceremony, one herald would call out “Silence ! Silence! Silence!” and the other “Listen! Listen! Listen!” at which time the alférez raised the royal standard and declared, “Castile—New Spain for the King Our Lord . . . !”1 The ceremony continued with the unveiling of the king’s portrait and the roaring of countless “Vivas.” As two small boys threw coins to eager spectators, militiamen discharged their weapons. The ceremony continued with the alférez, councilmen, and members of the city’s nobility moving on horseback to other locations designated for a repetition of the oath and the tossing of more silver coins. The councilmen then moved to the main plaza to join members of the cathedral chapter and together enter the cathedral for a thanksgiving mass.2 24 · Chapter 2 In addition to four oath ceremonies, poblanos witnessed the spectacle that accompanied the deaths of Charles II, Philip V, Luis I, and Ferdinand VI—rituals known as exequias reales, or royal funerary honors. While a large platform in the central plaza served as the stage for the oath ceremonies , enormous catafalques under the central dome of the cathedral served as the “tombs” of the kings and the primary stage for the funerary honors. The exequias reales consisted of a mass on the eve of the event, a procession on the morning of the honors, masses by the city’s religious orders, and a requiem mass and sermon in honor of the deceased king. In Spanish America, royal ceremonies helped to encourage allegiance to the monarch and to invest subjects in the gains of the empire. Primary among these were oaths of loyalty and funerary honors, but commemorations of births of princes, saint days of kings, and thanksgiving masses for Spanish military victories also worked to increase the legitimacy of the Crown and to forge a sense of community that spanned the Atlantic Ocean. Puebla’s councilmen acted as agents of the king, and in order to cement imperial unity, worked to translate monarchy to its citizenry. Local leaders presented the king as a conqueror, a benefactor, and as a semidivine leader throughout the entire early modern period. What distinguished eighteenth-century royal spectacles from those of earlier periods was their increased size and grandeur, and in the case of Puebla, the sheer number of occasions that celebrated the royal house. By 1775, the Spanish Crown had attempted to curtail the amount that municipal councils could spend on public spectacles that emphasized the local, while royal ceremonies such as oath ceremonies and funerary honors continued to grow in importance . While most of Puebla’s oath ceremonies usually took place over two days, Charles III’s jura extended over an unprecedented eight days.3 During the eighteenth century the Crown edged toward gradual centralization , fiscal streamlining, and imperial reforms that culminated with drastic changes instituted during the reign of Charles III. But despite changing imperatives, administrators continued to recognize the importance of ceremony for maintaining imperial legitimacy and expanded the cult of the king. In doing so, Bourbon officials did not fashion a royal image out of whole cloth but built on traditions established under the Habsburgs. Public rituals worked to create shared understandings regarding the power of the beneficent king and the transcendence of the Spanish monarchy. [44.221.46.132] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 02:59 GMT) Explaining Monarchy in Puebla · 25 The Habsburg Origin Myth and the Mystique of Universal Empire Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, oath ceremonies and royal funerary honors glorified...