Laura Fernández-González and Fernando Checa Cremades
His Majesty … [was] observing the city with great delight, … in which concurs great natural goodness and fortune, … because of the multitude of its peoples, magnificence of the sacred and lay buildings, the capacity and security of its port, trade and process of the goods, [it] is a universal [trading] centre of the Orb, because of the wealth of their citizens, concurrence of many nationalities, that meet and reside in it, it seems a World Condensed.1
On 29 June 1619, St Peter’s day, Philip III of Spain and II of Portugal (1578–1621) progressed into Lisbon. João Baptista Lavanha, official chronicler of the event and royal engineer and cosmographer, described the capital city as ‘a World Condensed’.2 The vista from the royal vessel was spectacular; the grand riverfront square, the Terreiro do Paço, was crowded with observers, pageants and carriages. The magnificent ephemeral structures displayed in the plaza were of monumental scale. The balconies of the buildings in Lisbon were adorned with colourful fabrics; the music and the sound of the guns for the salute anticipated the grand spectacle prepared for the Habsburg king. The city had invested tremendous funds in the royal reception.3 Lisbon was known as a cosmopolitan centre for trade and a cultural hub for a variety of peoples. The city captured the imagination of writers and travellers as a space where East met West.4 Lavanha in his description of the ceremonial entry encapsulated the notion of the capital city as one of the most cosmopolitan ports in Europe. This ‘World Condensed’ in the Lisbon festival of 1619 not only shows the riches of one of the most important port cities of the composite monarchy of the Spanish Habsburgs at the time5 but might also serve as an analogy for the interdisciplinary nature of the study of Renaissance and early modern festival culture. The diverse material that the study of festival culture provides has attracted the interest of many disciplines, and festivals, rituals and commemorations are being examined anew by scholars across the arts and humanities. There has been a long-standing interest in early modern festivals; this is reflected in the work of scholars such as Jacques Jacquot and Roy Strong among others.6 More recently, digitalization projects of Renaissance festivals books have promoted this field by providing online access to primary sources.7 Scholarship on early modern festivals in Europe is vast and growing. There are significant recent contributions in the form of edited volumes with a comparative approach to regions, cultures and aspects of early modern festival tradition.8 However, the study of early modern Iberian festival culture in Europe and the wider world is surprisingly limited compared to the published works devoted to other kingdoms at the time.
The entry of Philip III of Spain into Lisbon in 1619 is one of the most widely known Habsburg festivals in Iberia. Chronicles of this event were lavishly printed in both Portuguese and Spanish and, in addition, other versions in different languages gave accounts of the entry beyond Iberian frontiers.9 The interest in this festival is not only dominated by contemporary writers but has also received significant scholarly attention.10 George Kubler’s study of this ceremonial entry included in his book Portuguese Plain Architecture had a major impact, for it was groundbreaking in many respects. In addition, the enduring relevance of his study of the 1619 entry in particular, derives, at least in part, from the fact that it is published in English.11 Scholars in our subfields of study are, in general terms, expected – and the majority are able – to read in several languages. However, English is becoming widely accepted as the lingua franca in academe, and research published in this language reaches readers beyond disciplinary boundaries.12 The ‘popularity’ of the ceremonial entry of 1619 into Lisbon in contemporary scholarship is one of a few exceptional cases, as Spanish and Portuguese Renaissance and early modern festival culture has been largely neglected in anglophone scholarship. This ‘pseudo-invisibility’ has helped to perpetuate some assumptions regarding the quality, quantity and, more importantly, the role that festival culture played in Spain, Portugal and their global empires in the period.13
There are, however, important exceptions: Teófilo F. Ruiz’s monograph on medieval and early modern Iberian festivals is a significant contribution to the field.14 In addition, publications centred on cities across the Habsburg empire such as Lima, Naples and Mexico City have examined the instrumental role that festival culture played for the government of major cities located in the ‘peripheries’ of the Spanish Habsburg world.15 Margaret McGowan’s edited volume on Habsburg–Bourbon marriages of 1612/1615 provides a unique perspective on Spanish/French relationships through the study of these wedding contracts and celebrations.16
There are fundamental studies published in Spanish. To mention just two, Vicente Lleó Cañal’s monograph concerning Seville’s Habsburg entries, and the book edited by Krista de Jonge, Bernardo García and Alicia Esteban which explores the influence of Burgundian etiquette on the festivals of the House of Habsburg in Europe are both essential reading.17 There are significant publications on Spanish–European festival traditions, among them the exhibition catalogue edited by Alfredo Morales and, more recently, the conference proceedings edited by Rosario Camacho.18 Habsburg fiestas beyond Europe have attracted the attention of scholars, too, with pioneering works such as Maza’s book on funerary ephemera in colonial Mexico and the book edited by Díez Borque and Alcina Franch on festivals in Spain and viceregal America, among others.19
However, regardless of the chosen language of publication there is a clear need for scholarly publications to examine festivals as a vehicle for the presence of Spanish culture beyond territorial boundaries. Festivals and ceremonials played a major role in the Spanish world; through them local identities as well as a common Spanish culture made their presence manifest within and beyond the peninsula through ephemeral displays, music and print. Local communities often conflated their symbols of identity with religious images and representations of the Spanish monarchy. The fiestas materialized the presence of the Spanish diaspora in European cities such as Rome.20 Royal funerals and proclamations served to establish kingly presence in distant and not-so-distant lands.21 The socio-political, religious and cultural nuances that were an intrinsic part of the territories of the empire were magnified and celebrated in the Spanish fiestas in Europe, Iberia and overseas viceroyalties. This book seeks to explore the manifestations of a common culture through the lens of Habsburg festivals.
The arts and cultures of the Renaissance and early modern periods manifested forms of hybridization characteristic of a globalized society. The Spanish and Portuguese monarchies at the time provide excellent models with which to investigate world connections, networks and cultural exchange. In a similar vein, theoretical debates on Atlantic and global studies have been reassessing for some decades now the traditional distinction between Iberian kingdoms and territories in Europe and the Castilian territories overseas.22 The division between European and Hispanic lands elsewhere has persisted in festival scholarship by either limiting its context to European frontiers, or only exploring ‘both sides’ of the Iberian world independently and thereby isolating Iberian culture from European trends. Yet a Eurocentric or Western ‘classification’ of the world should come as no surprise.23 The present book explores Habsburg festivals and manifestations of Spanish culture in the natural continuum that characterized the Spanish polycentric monarchy and its diasporas.24
We believe that the inclusion of subheadings helps the reader better understand the contents of this book. However, we want to highlight the idea that the essays exploring the ‘centre(s)’ of the empire are under the same type of subheading as others examining festivals in the ‘peripheries’, and that the order they have here reflect themes within festival culture rather than ‘traditional’ scholarly perceptions of early modern urban hierarchies within the Iberian global system. The arrangement of the table of contents shows how parts of the empire distant from each other shared festive traditions and symbols of cultural identity. The essays are wide-ranging, and examine the language of triumph and commemorative use of tapestries in the Habsburg court; royal and viceregal entries in the Iberian empire and those staged by the Spanish diaspora elsewhere; funerals and liturgical processions and the use of religious images; and artistic and musical exchange through festivities. Ruiz has recently examined festive typologies in medieval and early modern Iberia and so this book does not intend to discuss every kind of fiesta, or analyse the role of every social group within them.25 Similarly, the territorial vastness of the Spanish empire, especially during its peak, with the incorporation of Portugal and its dominions to the Habsburg composite monarchy (1580–1640) prevented the possibility of including case studies devoted to other important territories such as the Philippines, Brazil and Goa, or every significant urban centre such as Seville, Veracruz, Valladolid or Quito, among others. In addition, festival traditions in the Low Countries and Austria and their relationship with the Spanish Habsburgs have not been examined.26 While obvious constraints prevented us from including a case study on every significant urban centre or kingdom, our proposal is that the global context that conditioned the Iberian system (and the world as a whole) at the time should be studied with a multidisciplinary and geographically expansive approach. Perhaps, in order to achieve major comparative analysis of particular aspects of cultural cross-fertilization in early modern Iberian festivals across the world, we might need to consider the use of digital history methods alongside other traditional mechanisms of historical enquiry.27
In the meantime, while this book is not seeking to study every region in the early modern Spanish world, its chapters explore diverse aspects that give us intimations of what comprised a ‘common cultural identity’ within the study of festivals and commemorations. As Tamar Hergoz has posed recently, the early modern Iberian world was ‘one unified imperial space’.28 In addition, Jorge Cañizares and Benjamin Breen have suggested that ‘for hybridity to work as a useful analytical category, we need to do away with the narrative of “Northwestern Europeanization” as the normative model’.29 Global research has potential pitfalls; a piece of historical inquiry has to be grounded on in-depth research and that, carried out at a local level only, tends to take years to build. Recent scholarship has proved that individual narratives of early modern ‘globetrotters’ provide insightful details of the Iberian world.30 There is also recent excellent research on history and architectural history that has explored one particular topic or theme and examined it globally. This kind of research often takes years to build. For example, Geoffrey Parker spent 15 years researching his Global Crisis and Alex Bremner took a decade to build his Imperial Gothic.31 The present book, which is not as ambitious in scope as the latter publications, nonetheless provides a combination of tightly focused case studies of cities and regions in the Iberian world (and its diaspora) and studies of transnational cultural trends and identities written by experts in each subfield of study. This transnational culture or language of empire was adapted in fiestas to include a – sometimes mediated and often ambivalent – local voice. In the Spanish global system, the blending of local and transnational traditions embodies the empire itself and these hybrid manifestations can be identified in its festival culture. In the end, empires are governed by a series of common parameters which have to be permeable and inclusive of domestic diversity in order to function.32
Habsburg Visual Culture: Tapestries and Festivals at Court
The ephemeral arts displayed in festivals have strong links with their permanent counterparts and are illustrative of the forms of visual and textual communication in the early modern world. For example, the decorative programme covering the building of the Maritime Customs for the entry of Philip I of Portugal (and II of Spain) into Lisbon in 1581 comprised a series of statues on pedestals of classical gods and goddesses. These statues were inscribed with texts in the form of Italian couplets that imitated epigraphic architectural inscriptions.33 The idiomatic choice was unusual, since at this time the majority of texts on ephemeral structures in European festivals were in Latin; inscribed texts could also be found, though to a lesser extent, in Hebrew and Greek. These texts were sometimes translated into other Romance languages, but in general the predominant language of the city hosting the event would be chosen. While the rest of the festival structures in this reception displayed inscriptions in Latin, festival booklets and other accounts included translations in Portuguese and Spanish, depending on the nationality of the author.34 Tapestries were often used in urban festivals and in royal commemorations within the boundaries of the ruler’s premises. The message that tapestries intended to express was also presented textually through simulated epigraphic inscriptions normally found on the extreme edges of the woven scenes. In short, the messages conveyed by tapestries and festival ephemeral displays were governed by similar characteristics. Tapestries formed an intrinsic part of Spanish Renaissance and Baroque festivals, as well as the court of the Spanish Habsburgs.
The first two chapters in this section of the book examine the artistic language and use of tapestries in ceremonies at Habsburg courts. In Chapter 1 Fernando Checa Cremades explores the evolution of a triumphal language in the Renaissance and early modern courts through two tapestry series: The Conquest of Asilah and Tangiers by Afonso V of Portugal (c.1475), known as the ‘Pastrana tapestries’, and The Conquest of Tunis (1546–1553). These two series, as we would expect, have explanatory texts. In the case of the Tunis tapestries the inscriptions were woven in more than one language, and refer to diverse aspects, such as the geographical location of the view and so forth. Checa analyses the development of the representation of warfare that preceded the emperor’s rule and how it evolved during his reign through the portrayal of two contemporary battles in the medium of tapestry. In addition, Checa examines how the Habsburg court intended to renew the image of the emperor and the dynasty through artistic propaganda. The commission of The Conquest of Tunis tapestries was significant in the image-making of Charles V. In his analysis, Checa draws attention to the relationship between the martial rhetoric deployed in courtly culture and the themes used in festivals in Iberia. This is particularly relevant with regard to the long-standing Iberian struggle against Islamic forces in the Iberian Peninsula and in the Mediterranean. It is significant, for example, that the victory of Charles V in the Tunis campaign was followed by a number of triumphal entries staged in his honour in Italy.
Tapestries decorating chambers and galleries in royal palaces acted as a backdrop for ceremonies, and evoked the victories of the rulers of the House of Habsburg. Triumphal routes in festivals were designed to celebrate the achievements of the protagonist of the event; there is a clear relationship between these temporary routes and the galleries for princely virtues in palaces at the time. This triumphal language transformed cities into an extension of the court. The martial theme is recurrent in early modern festivals, present through ephemeral depictions, tapestries as well as tournaments, naumachias and other battle re-enactments.35 In Chapter 2, Miguel Ángel Zalama examines the commemorative use of tapestries in the Castilian court in Madrid and the status that tapestries had in the royal collections. Through the study of inventories, festival and ceremonial accounts Zalama argues that the collection of tapestries amassed by the Spanish Habsburgs was significantly appreciated at court and that it was only in the seventeenth century that painting gradually overtook the role of tapestries in the royal collections. Tapestries were ephemeral displays par excellence, and their presence as festival and theatre decorations was common during the period. This is particularly relevant in the Spanish court, when chambers and galleries were regularly lined with rich tapestries for commemorations. Through a detailed study of some of the celebrations at the court in Madrid, Zalama offers insights into the etiquette at court that was reflected in urban festivals in Madrid and beyond, as we see in subsequent chapters. Tapestries from the royal collections were often taken to the streets of Madrid (and elsewhere), and also to the grounds in front of the main gate of the Alcázar (Royal Palace) for display. Rich fabrics and tapestries formed part of the festival decoration of streets in the Spanish world and they contribute significantly to our understanding of early modern festival culture.
Entries, Sojourns and the Wider Triumphal Culture in the Habsburg World
The language of triumph and artistic preferences examined in the first part of the book are reflected in Habsburg ceremonial entries. Festivals had lasting consequences on the urban fabric and spaces for social encounter in cities across the world. The relationship between ceremonial entries and urban and architectural design during the Renaissance and early modern period was significant; cities such as Palermo were redesigned for the ceremonial needs of their populations.36 In Chapter 3, David Sánchez Cano investigates royal receptions in Madrid and their effect on the urban structure of the city during the Habsburg period. Sánchez Cano examines the regulation of ‘public’ festival space in the city; his chapter opens by examining the obligation that citizens in Madrid had to decorate the balconies and buildings along the triumphal route with tapestries and rich fabrics. The city council of the capital of the Spanish Habsburgs aimed to impose a visual decorum that mirrored the etiquette at court. The visual and spatial precedence of the diverse social strata also reflected this etiquette. Philip II of Spain often enjoyed being ‘present but not seen’ in commemorations – he famously observed Mass in the Basilica of El Escorial from his bedroom that overlooks the High Altar.37 As Sánchez discusses in his chapter, the interplay of by whom and how the ‘royal presence’ could be seen or sensed would become an essential part of the spectacle in the festivals in Madrid in the following century.38
In Chapter 4, Laura Fernández-González examines the creation of Philip II of Spain’s image as King of Portugal and worldwide ruler in the ceremonial entry into Lisbon of 1581. Fernández-González argues that the royal reception was a locus for communication between the ruler and the ruled at a delicate time of dynastic change in which both parties were negotiating their place in the new political tableau. The festival in Lisbon is a good example of the use of ad hoc emblems, some of them inspired by the drawings made by Lorenzo de San Pedro,39 and the use of printed books that codified Habsburg iconography (as in the case of the Apollonian imagery created for Philip II of Spain disseminated by books such as Ruscelli’s, Le Imprese Illustri).40 This codification, reflected in a number of printed books, internationalized the image of the rulers of the Spanish House of Habsburg.
Maria Ines Aliverti and Franca Varallo examine diverse aspects of Margaret of Austria’s Italian sojourn through the study of ceremonial entries in the Duchy of Milan. Margaret’s Italian sojourn is a crowded one in scholarship. However, both contributions are novel within the field and in addition they bring insights to other themes explored in the volume. In Chapter 5 Aliverti focuses on Cremona and the magnificent festival decorations designed for the entry of the Habsburg consort of Philip III of Spain, and examines a festival booklet and allied set of drawings which would never be printed. She also examines how Habsburg iconography for this festival took inspiration from the Austriacae Gentis Imagines engraved by Gaspare Osello from original drawings by Francesco Terzi, a book that was regularly used as a reference for Habsburg entries. In addition, Aliverti explores the festival of Cremona and the city’s status as città nobilissima. This is a recurrent theme replicated by other cities in the Habsburg world, as in the case of Madrid and Lisbon, that had to negotiate their place and relationship with the Spanish monarchy. In a similar vein, in Chapter 6 Varallo exposes the competition between neighbor cities in her analysis of Margaret’s entries into Pavia and Milan. Varallo focuses especially on the way local authorities dealt with the complex art of festival organization and funding and the races in which they engaged to surpass their competitors’ apparati. The tension between the ruling elites and the citizens to establish who was to cover some expenses and host the royal visitors and their entourage exposed fine dialectics of power and negotiation among them.41
The globalization of Habsburg iconography through print and emblematic culture would be instrumental not only in festival decorations in Portugal and Lombardy, as we have seen, but also and significantly in American viceroyalties. Víctor Mínguez’s chapter offers an overview of the development of triumphal culture in American viceroyalties. Mínguez analyses the iconography displayed in ephemeral structures and focuses on the function and development of emblematic culture in viceregal Mexico. Emblems and allegories borrowed from the classical pantheon were present in America from the start of the Spanish settlement – and both developed in parallel terms on both sides of the Atlantic. The sources of inspiration for this iconography would be similar to the ones used in the Iberian peninsula, thanks to the codification of Habsburg imagery. In addition, the prolific production of printed books in both Spain and America helped the spread of transnational cultural trends and imagery. Triumphal culture in America, as Mínguez explores in chapter 7, promoted novel forms of hybridization at many levels and of particular significance is the gradual integration of the Aztec imperial dynasty in Mexican festivals and their decorations.42 This adaptation of royal genealogy responds to the same interest shown in European ephemeral displays.43
Religion and Royal Power: Processions and Funerals
The monarchs of the Spanish House of Habsburg and their predecessors saw themselves as leaders of Christendom and defenders of the Catholic faith. This was exemplified in the crusade led by the Catholic Monarchs44 against Granada in the late fifteenth century and the religious persecution and expulsion that Jewish communities endured during their reign.45 Religious processions, and especially royal funerals, were a celebration of royal power. The mourning for the royal body in the world of the Spanish Habsburgs was also a way to celebrate the continuity of the dynasty through the proclamation of the heir to the throne. Ruling powers competed to stage the most magnificent funeral to glorify and demonstrate the status of their families. For example, a recently published book explores royal funerals staged in the eternal city to honour Spanish rulers and argues that the funeral apparati staged for the Spanish monarchy eclipsed the funeral celebrations of popes and cardinals in Rome.46 Through case studies and comparative analysis Part III of the book explores topics ranging from funerals and hagiography to the Corpus Christi, the latter being among the most significant calendric festivals in the Spanish world.
While in triumphal culture we witness a transnational imagery based on the classical pantheon and heroes, the pious lives of the members of the Spanish House of Habsburg were elevated in their funerals and exequies across the world through the use of imagery of the lives of saints and the ‘sanctification’ of the monarch’s deeds. Alejandra B. Osorio examines in Chapter 8 the celebration of royal exequies in viceregal America during Habsburg rule. While funerals did not occur as often as viceregal entries, the funeral and then proclamation of the king were an essential part of royal rule. Funerals focused on the body of the Spanish king; the royal presence was created though a sophisticated theatrical idiom that, in Osorio’s words, ‘could be seen, heard and touched’. The impact of this ceremonial culture seems to have fostered the fidelities that the Spanish kings enjoyed from the body politic in viceregal America. As we have seen, cities across the Iberian world (and beyond) used festivals to compete for status among their neighbours and in the Spanish empire as a whole. As Osorio illustrates, major urban centres such as Lima and Mexico City, and cities such as Tlaxcala, vigorously worked toward gaining a place in the Courts of Castile in Spain. Osorio analyses the manner in which the organization, apparatus and etiquette of the festival, as well as the written culture, contributed to the creation of an urban imperial geography of power within the larger Spanish empire. The deployment of the king’s simulacrum across the Habsburg Iberian empire, which, as we see, became crucial in the ‘peripheries’ of the Habsburg world, reproduced the technologies used by the Church for the dissemination of religious imagery, including the lives of martyrs and saints. These images became crucial not only in royal funerals but also in calendric festivals across the Spanish Catholic monarchy.
Festivities in honour of saints were a significant part of religious life in Madrid and the wider Iberian world as a whole. Juan Luis Gonzalez García examines in Chapter 9 religiosity in Habsburg Madrid through a study of the royal presence in these religious solemnities in the capital city. The author examines the renewal of the image of saints during the reign of Philip II and the lasting effects of the Counter-Reformation. The function played by hagiographical festivities (and imagery) during the reign of the Spanish House of Habsburg is fundamental for an understanding of the way the monarchy employed the lives of saints to spread Catholic ideals and a particular moral code in the Iberian world. Gonzalez García argues that the cult of saints and their relics became one of the most notable features of the Pietas Austriaca. The images of saints were codified through print for their dissemination, and its promulgation was associated with the monarchy.
Calendric religious festivals played a significant part of Spanish early modern society. In the world of the viceroyalties major funeral celebrations happened less often than viceregal entries. However, the repetition and replication of calendric festivities across the Iberian world provides a unique opportunity to examine the interaction between local and transnational cultural trends and how these were linked to the Spanish monarchy. Sabina de Cavi’s Chapter 10 is a contribution to the studies devoted to the Corpus Christi in the Spanish Habsburg Empire. Cavi explores Palermo, head city of the Sicilian crown, at the end of the seventeenth century. Cavi focuses especially on the role played by the viceroy Juan Francisco Pacheco (1649–1718), Fourth Duke of Uceda, in fostering the workshop of the artist Giacomo Amato (1642–1732). Cavi analyses Amato’s production for the festival under the patronage of the Spanish monarchy and uncovers evidence of cultural exchange between Spain, Sicily and the wider late baroque artistic trends.
Music and Art in the Service of the Spanish Habsburgs
Cultural and artistic exchange was characteristic of the early modern globalized world and, in particular, of the Iberian global system. This has been one of the most recurrent themes examined by the authors of the present book. As is seen in the case of the Corpus Christi celebrations in seventeenth-century Palermo, in triumphal culture in viceregal America and in Portugal under the Spanish Habsburgs, artistic and cultural hybridization flourished. The last part of the book explores specifically artistic exchange in music and art in Naples and Rome. Noel O’Regan explores in Chapter 11 the role of music in the promotion of Spanish culture through calendric festivals in Rome. O’Regan examines some of the ways in which music was pressed into the service of the Spanish propaganda machine, focusing particularly on the confraternities of SS Resurrecion and SS Crocifisso in S. Marcello; the latter functioned as a proxy Spanish institution and was one of the major promoters of sacred and devotional music in early modern Rome. The presence of Spanish culture through its diaspora provides insights into the societal role of confraternities of foreigners and the development of identities in a globalized world. Ida Mauro, in the last chapter of the book, explores artistic exchange through an examination of the role of Spanish and Neapolitan artists in the decoration of festivals in Habsburg Naples during the seventeenth century. Mauro suggests a fresh view of ideas of artistic collaboration that invigorated the image of the Spanish monarchy in Neapolitan festivals. Mauro examines how Naples’ citizens were loyal to the Spanish Habsburg monarchs even in times of revolt against the ruler’s authority, the viceroy. In this context, the exploit of the king’s simulacrum in royal celebrations in Naples becomes significant and reminiscent of its deployment in the American viceroyalties, for example. In the end, festivals in the Iberian system voiced local idiosyncrasy and also replicated and adapted theatrical techniques and visual decorum.
In his definition of the term ‘fiesta’ in Tesoro de la Lengua Castellana, Sebastián de Covarrubias Orozco explores the Greco-Latin etymology of the word and the festivals and rituals that formed part of pre-Catholic society. As the author explained, in these societies there were calendrical and non-calendrical festivities, the former for the veneration of their pagan gods and the latter to celebrate other events. Significantly, Covarrubias continued his definition of the word by outlining the Catholic liturgical calendar of festivities.47 The term ‘fiesta’ appears in the definitions of ‘wedding’ and ‘rider’, this latter noting a reference to the moros y cristianos (generally used to refer to parades and re-enactments of battles between Muslim and Christian forces).48 In the definition of ‘bonfire’, Covarrubias again makes reference to Ancient Rome and to religious festivities, with a mention of Roman funerary traditions and the celebration of the hogueras de San Juan, days of saints, as well as non-calendrical festivals such as royal births.49 ‘Fiesta’ appears also in the definition of ‘panegyric’ for funerals and the coronation of a ruler and other ceremonial occasions. Covarrubias thus links the term ‘fiesta’ with laughter, joy and celebration, which explains the multiple uses of the term and its ability to define very different situations and events.50 This adaptability and inclusivity was crucial for festivals to become part of the dialogue between local communities and ruling powers in the Spanish world. In his definition, Covarrubias gave special emphasis to calendric festivities, and, in the end, these fiestas happened on a regular basis, whereas festivals directly ascribed to the crown – such as royal and viceregal entries, funerals and so on – did not happen as often. The essays in this book explore the propagation of a common cultural code through the lens of ephemeral art, festivals and solemnities in the early modern Iberian world. Through them we can see how the presence of Spanish Habsburgs pervaded both calendric and non-calendric festivals within and beyond the frontiers of their empire.
Notes
1 J. B. Lavanha, Viage de la Catolica Magestad del Rey Don Felipe III … a su Reino de Portugal y Relación del Solemne Recibimiento … (Madrid, 1619), fol. 8 r. ‘Venia su Magestad … mirando con gran contento la ciudad, … en la qual concurre mas bienes de la naturaleza i fortuna, … por la multitud de su pueblo, magestad de los edificios sacros i profanos, capacidad i seguridad de su puerto, comercio i trato de las mercaderias, de las quales es una plaça universal de todo el Orbe, por la riqueza de sus ciudadanos, frecuencia de naciones varias, que en ella se juntan, i en ella residen, que parece un Mundo Abreviado’.
2 Lavanha, Viage, fol. 8 r.
3 G. Kubler, Portuguese Plain Architecture. Between Species and Diamonds, 1521–1706 (Middletown, CT, 1972), p. 107.
4 For example, Damião de Góis (1502–1574) in his description of Lisbon of 1554 emphasized the cosmopolitan character of the city, see D. de Góis, Urbis Olisiponis Descriptio (Évora, 1554), p. 3. For an annotated English translation see J. S. Ruth, Lisbon in the Renaissance. Damião de Góis a New Translation of the Urbis Olisiponis Descriptio (New York, 1996).
5 Lisbon was the capital of the Kingdom of Portugal and had signed at the Cortes of Tomar (1580) a number of privileges that granted a degree of independence from Castile. At that time it formed part of the composite monarchy ruled by the Spanish Habsburgs. This is the period known in historiography as the Iberian Union (1580–1640).
6 The pioneering collection of essays edited by Jean Jacquot and published in three volumes: J. Jacquot, Les Fêtes de la Renaissance (Paris, 1956–1975). The book by Roy Strong focused on royal propaganda: Roy C. Strong, Art and Power: Renaissance Festivals 1450–1650 (Woodbridge, 1984). Other important contributions: J. R. Mulryne, E. Goldring (eds), Court Festivals of the European Renaissance: Art, Politics, and Performance (Aldershot, 2002); P. Béhar, H. Watanabe-O’Kelly (eds), Spectaculum Europaeum: Theatre and Spectacle in Europe (1580–1750) (Wiesbaden, 1999); Marie Viallon-Schoneveld (ed.), La Fête au Xvie Siècle: Actes du Xe Colloque du Puy-en-Velay (Saint-Étienne, 2003).
7 The Renaissance Festival Book project of the British Library was a major contribution in the field (www.bl.uk/treasures/festivalbooks/homepage.html), and is one of the outputs of Europa Triumphans project, together with the publication of J. R. Mulryne, H. Watanabe-O’Kelly, M. Shewring, E. Goldring, S. Knight (eds), Europa Triumphans: Court and Civic Festivals in Early Modern Europe (Aldershot, 2004).
8 See, for instance, the monograph series on iconographical representation on Spanish Habsburg festival culture authored by Víctor Mínguez, Inmaculada Rodríguez, Pablo González y Juan Chiva, and the edited volumes of the European Festival research series published by Ashgate whose general editors are Ronnie Mulryne, Margaret Shewring and Margaret McGowan.
9 There are two versions of the official chronicle by Lavanha printed in 1619 and in 1622. In addition, there are other contemporary chronicles of the event, Kubler counted over 33 booklets and accounts of this entry; see Kubler, Portuguese Plain Architecture, p. 108. However, the large majority copied and translated Lavanha’s official chronicle, for example a partial translation is kept at the British Library. The booklet was printed by Henry Seile in London in 1619 and titled The triumphant and sumtuous arch erected by the Company of English marchants residing in Lisbone, vpon the Spanish Kings entry made thereunto… (see http://special-1.bl.uk/treasures/festivalbooks/BookDetails.aspx?strFest=0144).
10 The bibliography on this event is too vast to cite all published works here. However, to illustrate the interest in this festival a whole doctoral thesis completed in 2008 focused on the theatrical aspects of this entry, M. Benatti, Simulacri Imperiali Porthoghese: La Entrada Real« di Lisbona del 1619 e la Monarchia Duale Dottorato di Ricerca in Iberistica, Università degli Studi di Bologna, 2008. See also, A. P. Torres Megiani, O Rei Ausente. Festa e Cultura Política nas Visitas dos Filipes a Portugal, 1581 e 1619 (São Paulo, 2004); E. M. Vetter, ‘Der Einzug Philipps III in Lissabon 1619’, Spanische Forschungen der Görresgesellschft’, VII (1962), pp. 187–263; M. Soromenho, ‘Ingegnosi Ornamenti: Arquitecturas efémeras em Lisboa no Tempo dos Primeiros Filipes’, in J. Castel Branco, Arte Efémera em Portugal (Lisbon, 2001), pp. 21–38.
11 The piece written by Kubler is excellent. However, since its publication some scholars have authored groundbreaking studies that have not attracted much attention outside circles of experts in early modern Iberian culture. In this respect the work of Pedro Cardim, Miguel Soromenho, Fernando Bouza, Ramada Curto and Torres Megiani published in the Portuguese and Spanish languages is not cited as often as it should be.
12 For example, the aim of the Art in Translation (AIT) journal funded by the Getty and edited by Iain Boyd-White and Claudia Hopkins from the University of Edinburgh is to publish high-quality English language translations of groundbreaking research into art history from around the world that is only available in the original languages. This is the first journal in the field that addresses the problem of seminal scholarship that reaches only a limited audience due to language barriers.
13 These assumptions are related to the general perception of Iberia and the wider world, which have not attained the prestige of the Italian States or attracted the attention that Northern Renaissance and Baroque has accomplished in scholarship. Iberian festivals are for example largely omitted in the widely cited Strong’s Art and Power.
14 T. F. Ruiz, A King Travels. Festive Traditions in Late Medieval and Early Modern Spain (Princeton, 2012). This publication is the first study published in English that offers an overview of late medieval and early modern Iberian festival culture. There are other publications on Iberian festivities, for example, Susan V. Webster’s major contribution on the sculpture displayed in confraternities’ processions during Seville’s Holy Week in the Golden Age is essential reading: S. V. Webster, Art and Ritual in Golden-Age Spain: Sevillian Confraternities and the Processional Sculpture of Holy Week (Princeton, 1998).
15 For viceregal America see A. B. Osorio, Inventing Lima: Baroque Modernity in Peru’s South Sea Metropolis (New York, 2008), L. A. Curcio-Nagy, Great Festivals of Colonial Mexico City: Performing Power and Identity (Albuquerque, 2004) and A. Cañeque, The King’s Living Image: The Culture and Politics of Viceregal Power in Colonial Mexico (New York, 2004). On Naples see for instance: G. Guarino, Representing the King’s Splendour: Communication and Reception of Symbolic Forms of Power in Viceregal Naples (Manchester, 2010) and J. A. Marino, Becoming Neapolitan: Civic Culture in Baroque Naples (Baltimore, 2011).
16 M. M. McGowan, Dynastic Marriages 1612/1615. A Celebration of the Habsburg and Bourbon Unions (Aldershot, 2013).
17 The recently reprinted V. Lleó Cañal, Nueva Roma: Mitología y Humanismo en el Renacimiento Sevillano (Madrid, 2012) and K. De Jonge, B. J. García García, A. Esteban Estríngana (eds), El Legado de Borgoña. Fiesta y Ceremonia Cortesana en la Europa de los Austrias (Madrid, 2010). In addition, there are other publications devoted to festivals in Iberia, see: J. J. García Bernal, El fasto público en la España de los Austrias (Seville, 2006); A. González Enciso, J. M. Usunáriz Garayoa (eds), Imagen del rey, imagen de los reinos. Las ceremonias públicas en la España Moderna (1500–1814) (Pamplona, 1999); and with particular attention to Madrid and Valladolid see M. L. Lobato, B. J. García García (eds), La fiesta cortesana en la época de los Austrias (Valladolid, 2003).
18 A. J. Morales (ed.), La fiesta en la Europa de Carlos V (Seville, 2002). R. Camacho Martínez, E. Asenjo Rubio, B. Calderón Roca, Fiestas y mecenazgo en las relaciones culturales del Mediterráneo en la Edad Moderna (Málaga, 2012).
19 J. M. Díez Borque, J. Alcina Franch (eds), Teatro y fiesta en el Barroco. España e Iberoamérica (Barcelona, 1986). F. de la Maza, Las piras funerarias en la historia y en el arte de México (México, 1946).
20 See, for instance, T. J. Dandelet, Spanish Rome, 1500–1700 (New Haven and London, 2001).
21 The notion of the ‘absent king’ has been examined in many publications; for some insights in Iberia see for example González Enciso, Usunáriz Garayoa, Imagen del rey. For viceregal America see publications cited above.
22 See, among many others, J. H. Elliot, Spain and the Wider World 1500–1800 (New Haven and London, 2009).
23 An interesting example is the reassessment of global architectural history education made in M. Jarzombek, V. Prakash, F. D. K. Ching, A Global History of Architecture (Hoboken, NJ, 2011). Regarding cultural exchange and globalization in the early modern Iberian world there is some excellent scholarship. To mention just a few publications, see, S. Gruzunski, Les Quatre parties du monde. Historie d’une mondialisation (Paris, 2004); S. Subrahmanyam, Explorations in Connected History: From the Tagus to the Ganges (Oxford, 2004); S. Subrahmanyam, Courtly Encounters. Translating Courtliness and Violence in Early Modern Eurasia (Boston, 2012).
24 On the polycentric nature of the Iberian empires see: P. Cardim, T. Herzog, J. J. Ruiz Ibáñez, G. Sabatini (eds), Polycentric Monarchies. How did Early Modern Spain and Portugal Achieve and Maintain a Global Hegemony? (Eastbourne, 2012).
25 Ruiz, The King Travels, pp. 34–67.
26 There is a significant number of publications devoted to festivals in the Low Countries, see an overview in J. Landwehr, Splendid Ceremonies, State Entries and Royal Funerals in the Low Countries, 1515–1791 (Sijthoff, 1971). In addition, the wider Burgundian influence on the ritual and commemorative etiquette of the Spanish House of Habsburg cannot be underestimated, see for example: De Jonge, García García, Esteban Estríngana (eds), El Legado de Borgoña; J. E. Hortal Muñoz, F. Labrador Arroyo (eds), La Casa de Borgoña: la Casa del rey de España (Leuven, 2014). On the Holy Roman Empire see for instance: H. Watanabe-O’Kelly, Triumphal Shews. Tournaments at German-Speaking Courts in their European Context 1560–1730 (Berlin, 1992); ‘Festivals in the Empire’, in P. Béhar, H. Watanabe-O’Kelly (eds), Spectaculum Europaeum. Theatre and Spectacle in Europe, Histoire du Spectacle en Europe (1580–1750) (Wiesbaden, 1999), pp. 721–41; S. Smart, ‘Ballet in the Empire’, in Béhar and Watanabe-O’Kelly (eds), Spectaculum Europaeum, pp. 547–70. A. Sommer-Matthis, ‘Admirables efectos de la providencia … Fiesta y poder con motivo de coronaciones en el Sacro Imperio Romano’, Stvdia Histórica. Historia Moderna 31 (2009): pp. 53–94 and in particular the exhibition catalogue on theatre and festivals of the Spanish and Austrian branches of the House of Habsburg: J. M. Díez Borque, Karl F. Rudolf, Barroco español y austriaco: fiesta y teatro en la corte de los Habsburgo y los Austrias (Madrid, 1994).
27 This has been suggested by Ana Crespo and Jack B. Owens in A. Crespo Solana (ed.), Spatio-Temporal Narratives: Historical GIS and the Study of Global Trading Networks (1500–1800) (Cambridge, 2014) and J. B. Owens, ‘Towards a Geographically-Integrated, Connected World History: Employing Geographic Information Systems (GIS)’, History Compass, 5(6), pp. 2014–40.
28 This is one of Herzog’s core arguments, which she demonstrates through a methodological research into the creation and modification of frontiers in the early modern Iberian world: T. Herzog, Frontiers of Possession. Spain and Portugal in Europe and the Americas (Cambridge MA, 2014).
29 J. Cañizares-Esguerra, B. Breen, ‘Hybrid Atlantics: Future Directions for the History of the Atlantic World’, History Compass 11(8) (2013), pp. 597–609.
30 See, for instance, Liam Brockey’s The Visitor: André Palmeiro and the Jesuits in Asia (Cambridge MA, 2014).
31 G. Parker, The Global Crisis: War, Climate, and Catastrophe in the 17th Century (New Haven and London, 2013) and G. A. Bremner, Imperial Gothic: Religious Architecture and High Anglican Culture in the British Empire, 1840–1870 (New Haven and London, 2013).
32 Obvious space constraints prevent us from discussing at length the term ‘empire’ as a way to define the global system that emerged during the Habsburg rule of the Spanish Monarchy. For a recent introduction to historiographical trends on the topic see: A. Crespo Solana (ed.), Empires: Concepts and New Research on the Hispanic World, 16th–18th centuries, Culture & History Digital Journal, 3(1), Special Issue (2014).
33 See a discussion on this ephemeral display in L. Fernández-González, ‘La Representación de las Naciones en las Entradas Triunfales de Felipe II y Felipe III en Lisboa (1581–1619)’, in B. J. García-García, O. Recio Morales (eds), Las Corporaciones de Nación en la Monarquía Hispánica (1580–1750). Identidad, Patronazgo y Redes de Sociabilidad (Madrid, 2014), pp. 413–50.
34 Although there are other printed and archival materials describing the entry, the most detailed account of the festival in Spanish is to be found in: I. Velázquez Salmantino, La Entrada que en el Reino de Portugal hizo la S.C.R.M. de Don Philippe, Invistissimo Rey de las Españas, Segundo de este nombre, Primero de Portugal […] (Madrid, 1581). The Portuguese version of the event is: A. Guerreiro, Das Festas que se Fizeram na Cidade de Lisboa, na Entrada de el-rei D. Filipe, Primeiro de Portugal (Lisbon, 1581). See a discussion of the idiomatic choice in the Lisbon ephemera of 1581 in Fernández-González, ‘La Representación de las Naciones’.
35 On the relevance of the tournament and Renaissance and early modern warfare see: H. Watanabe-O’Kelly, ‘Tournaments and their Relevance for Warfare in the Early Modern Period’, European History Quarterly 20 (1990), pp. 451–63.
36 For an overview of the case of Palermo’s urban and architectural adaptation to its ceremonial needs see M. Fagiolio, M. L. Madonna, Il Teatro del Sole. La rifondazione di Palermo nel Cinquecento e l’idea della citta barocca (Rome, 1981). C. Da Seta, L. Di Mauro, Palermo (Rome, 2002). G. Blandi, Gaetano, Palermo. Storia dello sviluppo urbanistico della città dalle origini all’età contemporanea (Palermo, 1998).
37 To use a couple of instances discussed in the present book: during a ceremony of the Order of the Golden Fleece in the Alcázar in Madrid in 1593, studied by Zalama, Philip, then Herald of the order, left the ceremony before its conclusion. However, the ruler followed the progress of the ceremony from a concealed place during the Mass and the meal. In Laura Fernández Gonzalez’s chapter we see how Philip II visited Lisbon incognito before he was received the following day, 29 June 1581. This is not to say Philip II did not participate in events closer or more visible to the public. One obvious example is his interaction with the audience in the aforementioned entry into Lisbon.
38 This interplay would become more sophisticated in the American viceroyalties, as Alejandra Osorio illustrates in her chapter through an analysis of the simulacra and the royal body in Habsburg funerals.
39 Fernando Bouza studied the relationship between Lorenzo de San Pedro’s imagery and the entry of Philip II of Spain into Lisbon in 1581, in F. J. Bouza Álvarez, Imagen y propaganda. Capítulos de la historia cultural del reinado de Felipe II (Akal, 1998).
40 G. Ruscelli, Le Imprese Illustri (Venice, 1566).
41 David Sánchez and Laura Fernández also examine tensions rising for the funding of ceremonial entries in their respective studies on Madrid and Lisbon.
42 See, for instance, Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora, Theatro de virtudes políticas, qve constituyen á vn Principe: advertidas en los Monarchas antiguos del Mexicano Imperio, con cuyas efigies se hermoseó el Arco Trivmphal, que la muy Noble, muy Leal, Imperial Ciudad de Mexico erigiò para el digno recivimiento en ella del Excelentissimo Señor Virrey Conde de Paredes (Mexico, 1680).
43 The display of ‘local’ genealogy in ephemeral structures as a way to link the place (city, kingdom, etc.) to the Spanish monarchy is replicated practically everywhere in Europe. See an interesting study for the use of genealogy as a way to legitimize royal authority in Spanish Naples in the second chapter of S. De Cabi, Architecture and the Royal Presence: Domenico and Giulio Cesare Fontana in Spanish Naples (1592–1627) (Newcastle upon Tyne, 2009). For the display of genealogical studies in festivals there plentiful examples, see, for instance, how foreign diaspora settled in Lisbon displayed their identity in relation to the Spanish Habsburgs on the festivals of 1581 and 1619 in Fernández-González, ‘La Representación de las Naciones’.
44 ‘Catholic Monarchs’ (House of Trastámara) is the historiographical term used for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon.
45 The Catholic Monarchs issued the Alhambra Decree in 1492 expelling Jewish communities. This had become a European trend as many other kingdoms had issued similar legislation by this time. See for instance, J. Pérez, Los judíos en España (Madrid, 2005). Philip III of Spain issued an order in 1609 expelling Morisco communities from Spain and its imperial dominions.
46 See M. Schraven, Festive Funerals in Early Modern Italy. The Art and Culture of Conspicuous Commemoration (Aldershot, 2014).
47 S. de Covarrubias Orozco, Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española (Madrid, 1611), fol. 403 r.
48 Covarrubias Orozco, Tesoro, fol. 143 v. and 436 r.
49 Covarrubias Orozco, Tesoro, fol. 474 v.
50 Covarrubias Orozco, Tesoro, fol., 403 r.