The Death of the King as Sacred Ritual of the Colonial Body
James Flaks
History Department
University of Nevada Reno
In colonial Mexico, the main sites for Death iconography, rituals, performances, and other artistic applications were called exequias, tumulos, duelos and the desfiles funebres (funeral processions). There exist primary documents, related to the Death iconography and discourses, which come from the Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico (National Library of Mexico) and they can be divided between the descriptions of the funeral rites and catafalques, religious sermons, funeral orations and eulogies for the deceased. They are all written in Castilian Spanish and all represent, and are written by colonial elites. The funerals represented refer to the deaths of Spanish kings, high imperial and colonial officials.
The main primary account under analysis represents the document: …Sermón fúnebre en las Exequias que el Santo Tribunal de la Inquisición celebro’ en la Iglesia del imperial convento de Santo Domingo, de la Cesárea y Nobilísima Ciudad de México… México (1747) which gives a short oration on the virtues of the deceased, while some of the text written in Latin. However, another document a death tome titled, El Rey de Las Luces, Luz de Los Reyes… (1747) which is on the death of Philip V, written by a Jesuit professor, Francisco Xavier de Molina, introduces a long funeral oration on the king’s virtues; the second tome goes further into a sermon, with many allegorical moves to Greco-Roman antiquity. Later, an epitaph for the dead king is written and then sonnets are composed. Between the sonnets is a copy of an engraving describing Philip V’s catafalque.
The paper will mention other related primary sources on the death of King Philip V from the National Library. The thesis of the paper will show that the death of the King signified the theatrical representation of the colonial body in good working order. For the general consciousness of the colonial project in Mexico, the right performance counted for a great deal. The ideal was similar to the Counterreformation Baroque concept concerning the right way to conduct the sacraments.
The methodology will examine the archival texts through their written descriptions, all in relation to cultural works on death, such as Francisco de la Maza. The specific areas regard the sermon texts, sonnets, iconographic descriptions and the narrated rituals. The first part of the paper will place the documents in their historical context. The historical context surrounds the medieval ideal of the ‘the good death,’ which became popular through the republishing of the work Ars Moriendi.
This art of dying, popularized in the late Medieval period took on newer meanings and practices, through the colonial Spanish colonial elite adaptations. These practices began in the late 16th century under the colonial system of New Spain. The latter part of the paper examines the how and why of the discursive constructions. The essay looks at subtexts, silences, audience, and subjectivity/objectivity from the colonial discourses. Theoretical interpretations will refer to the works of Jose Maravall, Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, and Phillippe Aries.
About James Flaks
CONFERENCE PAPERS 2006 The Consciousness and Art of the Good Death in Colonial Mexico Language, Histories, Cultural Identities Univ. of Nevada Graduate History Conference In colonial Mexico, the main sites for Death iconography, rituals, performances, and other artistic applications were called exequias, tumulos, duelos and the desfiles funebres (funeral processions). The análisis of these primary documents, related to the Death iconography and discourses, come from the Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico (National Library of Mexico). EXPERIENCE 2004 – 2006 Teaching Assistant History Department University of Nevada Reno Reno, Nevada, U.S.A. Lectures, Group discussion leader, reading of primary texts, general course research, test prep, webct outlines, exam/paper grading and syllabus review and construction; Introduction to Mexican History, UNR Core Humanities courses: American Experience and Constitutional Change, Ancient and Medieval Cultures, Modern World: European and Global Civilizations. History courses taught alone: History 105: European Civilization I, Greco-Roman Foundations to the Renaissance EDUCATION 1992 Masters of Arts Degree History Temple University Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.