Patron saints of central Mexican cities (XVI-XVIII centuries)

Patron saints of central Mexican cities

(XVI-XVIII centuries)

Pierre Ragon IHEAL-University of Paris III

On the threshold of the sixteenth century a good many western European cities and villages

were already placed under the patronage of one or several saints. These patron saints,

voluntarily chosen by the local inhabitants, came to the assistance of the titular parish saints,

already assigned to the general protection of the community as well as to the individual

protection of each of its members. As mentioned by Jean-Michel Sallmann, it seems that this

procedure, still not well-known, became widespread at the very end of antiquity in the cities,

and was then taken up by towns of lesser importance during the early middle ages.1

Several studies attest to its vitality, even to its revival at the very beginning of modern times,

especially within Mediterranean catholicity. In the South of France, Marseille and Avignon

each had several patron saints and the villages of Provence usually had at least one.2 Under

the reign of Philip II, in 538 towns and villages of New-Castile, Spain, William Christian

counted 1,515 vows of devotion made in the name of a saint. A few of these saints were,

1 Jean-Michel Sallmann, Naples et ses saints à l’âge baroque, 1540-1750 (Paris: PUF, 1994 ), 66 who quoted Alba Maria Orselli, L’idea e il culto del santo patrono cittadino nella letteratura latina cristiana (Bologna: Università degli studi di Bologna, 1965) in the case of the city of Nola, where Saint Felix’s cult had been recognized since the 4th century. 2 Noël Coulet, « Dévotions communales : Marseille entre saint Victor, saint Lazare et saint Louis (XIIIe-XVe siècles) » and Marc Venard, « La religion civique exprimée par l’image. Les saints tutélaires et protecteurs de l’ancienne cité d’Avignon », in La religion civique à l’époque moderne (chrétienté et Islam), André Vauchez éd., actes du colloque de Nanterre du 21-23 juin 1993 (Rome: Palais Farnèse, collection de

without a doubt, recently elected and probably half of these cults dated from the year 1500.3

In Italy, especially, in the kingdom of Naples, the number of saints elected multiplied in the

17th and 18th centuries. According to the official register of the congregation of rites, Jean-

Michel Sallmann counted 347 saints that within a little more than a century (1630-1750)

concerned 225 cities and communities in the kingdom. According to him, Southern Italy was

at the epicentre of a movement which, having called more and more upon the saints of the

Catholic Reformation, changed noticeably in nature.

Being of Spanish origin, New Spain, shared this enthusiasm for the demand of collective

protection and, as elsewhere, the election of patron saints multiplied. In a surprising manner,

Mexico even seemed to submit to its European models with particular zeal when in other

circumstances, as a new land without traditional Christian roots, it showed more

independence.4

Traditional Cults

In New Spain, the first elections of patron saints kept within the continuity of European

practices which are today, very well detailed. These elections derived from various

procedures that always, in the face of a serious crisis characterized by the brutal increase of

collective anxiety, corresponded to a quest for celestial recourse or the search of a

supernatural explanation. The election of a patron saint could be destined to ward off ill

fortune or, once the terror had subsided, to thank the saint to whom praise was due. In 16th

l’Ecole Française de Rome n° 213, 1995), 119-133 and 471-479; Marie-Hélène Froeschlé-Chopard, Espace et sacré en Provence, XVIe-XXe siècle. Cultes, images, confréries (Paris: Cerf, 1994), 33. 3 William Christian, La religiosidad local en la España de Felipe II (Barcelona: Nerea, 1991), 26, 45 and 89-91.

century Spain, agricultural crises (notably invasions of parasites) and epidemics, almost

equally important, were at the origin of the vows which municipalities pronounced in the

name of their citizens. In the same way, the alternation of bad and good harvests seemed to

play a role in the rate at which the saints were chosen in the provinces which had the most

contact with the exterior market, such as those belonging to Naples.5

The choice of a saint was the result of diverse reasoning. It was sometimes the saint whose

feast was being celebrated who was elected for his aid, if he stopped the evils which afflicted

the community. It occurred however, that the calamities were interpreted as proof of his

wrath; it was hoped that by promising him special honours he would be appeased. Other

saints were chosen according to the particular functions with which they were attributed. Such

as Saint Gregory, who was known for his effectiveness against grasshoppers.6 Drawing lots

was just as widely used because it had a particular advantage; the community did not choose

its own new saint, but rather allowed itself to be chosen by a saint who was sensitive to its

needs. Drawing lots, thus, was interpreted as a manifestation of supernatural will.7

In Mexico, immediately upon arriving, the Spaniards put to work their ancient logic.

However, during the early years, in a context marked by warlike confrontation with

indigenous societies, it was often military victory which prompted the elections of the first

patron saints. In this case, war, the last of the three plagues to desolate Europe, rediscovered

4 Pierre Ragon, « Images miraculeuses, culte des saints et hispanité dans le Mexique colonial, 1648-1737 », in La religion civique, 481-495. 5 William Christian, La religiosidad local en la España de Felipe II, 45 and Jean-Michel Sallmann, Naples et ses saints à l’âge baroque, 72-75. 6 Ángel Aponte Marín, « Conjuros y rogativas contra las plagas de langosta en Jaén (1670-1672) », in La religiosidad popular, C. Álvarez Santaló, M. J. Buxó et S. Rodriguez Becerra éd. (Barcelona: Anthropos, 1989), vol. 2, 556-558. 7 A few saints that were initially celebrated by devotion, or solicited repeatedly without ever having been formally elected, also managed to merge into the group of patron saints.

the importance that it had lost in Spain even before the conquest of the kingdom of Granada,

because the frontier motives against Islam had been depleted.

Thus, the first patron saint of Mexico was Saint Hippolytus whose feast day fell on August

13th, the day in which the last defenders of Tenochtitlan surrendered in combat. The archangel

Michael, who conquered Satan and defended Christianity, was often chosen as protector of

cities. This is what occurred in Puebla, following a vision by Bishop Julian Garcès or in

Guadalajara, where Saint Michael was the first patron saint regularly celebrated.8 Wherever

they existed, these patron saints always held a special place. More so than to the cities

themselves, they were attached to their founding act. They seemed to represent the city’s

identity more than the protection of the urban community.9 Their annual celebrations gave

place to veritable civic celebrations in which the entire community, gathered around to

commemorate its origins, celebrating the stability of its order as well as its place in the

Hispanic world, praying for its durability. In a significant way and without any equivalent

amongst other patron saint celebrations, the course of the ceremonies and processions was in

those days, governed by an unchanging and, it seems, universal order which made the

designated regidor into a sort of symbolic representative of the year, the central character of

the feast.10 In the case of Mexico city, the symbolism within the ritual was particularly

exaggerated since the procession led the cortege as far as Saint Hippolytus’ church, which

was said to have been founded on the spot where conquistadors and their allies were drowned

in masses during the retreat known as the Noche triste.

8 Actas de cabildo de la ciudad de Guadalaxara (Guadalajara: ACG-IJAH-INAH, 1970), vol 1, 25 and passim. 9 In the absence of war , it was the official founding day that served as reference. Therefore, in 1559, Zacatecas put itself under the patronage of the Virgin Mary whose feast was celebrated September 8th, which was the anniversary of the establishment of the first camp of Juan of Tolosa at the foot of the hill of Buffa. See Philip W. Powell, La guerra chichimeca, 1550-1600, (Mexico: SEP, 1977), 26 and Primer libro de actas de cabildo de las minas de los Zacatecas (Zacatecas: Ayuntamiento, 1991), 20.

The importance of military action as a founding act was such, that certain cities identified

their true beginning with a warlike episode that was posterior to their historical beginning.

Such was the case of the city of Manila, situated on the furthest edges of the vice royalty.

Here, the “paseo del pendón”, which fell on Saint Andrew’s feast day, celebrated the

anniversary of the defeat of the Chinese admiral Limahong, who had attempted in vain, to

seize hold of the city a dozen years after its foundation.11

The military nature of the conquest, however, did not totally obliterate the processes which

were distinctive to European agrarian communities. Logically, where Spaniards practiced

agriculture, the range of religious devotion amongst the peasants of Castile also increased.

It is true however, that this aspect is not as well known. An exceptionally informative

document from Atlisco’s election of Saint Felix, which is stored in Puebla’s Episcopal

archives, illustrates this event in a spectacular way.12 The Spanish village of Atlisco was

founded at the foot of the eastern slopes of Popocatapetl, only approximately 30 years after

the conquest. An auditor’s brother, a certain Monte-Alegre, was said to have initiated, in this

location, a movement toward Spanish colonization which dates back to the time of the

viceroy Mendoza. He is said to have come to this place to take possession of land that had

been given to him by special royal favor before his departure to Europe. In fact, Spaniards

were attracted to this land because it was mild, fertile and had been relatively abandoned by

the indigenous populations. It was situated in the heart of a zone, which at the time of the

conquest was a sort of no man’s land because it had been the subject of dispute between two

10 One may find descriptions of these feasts in Luis Gonzalez Obregón, México viejo (Mexico: Editorial Patria, 1959), 47-56 and, for Puebla, in AHCMP, Libro de patronatos n° 13, ff° 24v°-29v°, for example. 11 G. J. H. J.-B. Le Gentil de la Gelaisière, Voyages dans les mers de l’Inde (Paris : Imprimerie Royale, 1781), vol 2, 127-128. 12 We have consulted a copy of this document in AMINAH, AHCCP, rollos 8 and 9.

ancient Nahua domains.13 Once launched, the movement toward Spanish colonization quickly

increased in scale. Even before the end of viceroy Velasco’s government (1550-1564), the

inhabitants of this place had asked that it be granted the title of villa. In 1570, they obtained a

priest and 9 years later, Atlisco became “villa de Carreón” as well as the center of a new

alcaldia mayor. The city had already more than 200 Spanish families who for the most part

cultivated wheat.14

It was in the midst of these events that in 1580 this new establishment trusted it’s fate to the

goodwill of Saint Felix. In October of that year, a parasite, “una plaga de gusanos” invaded

the wheat fields, threatening the young sprouts. The community gathered together behind

their priest and monks and chose, amongst all possible symbolic responses, to draw lots for a

new protector by following the customary procedures. In the presence of the principal

inhabitants and ecclesiastics of the city, two urns were set up. One contained small tickets

inscribed with the names of different saints from the liturgical calendar and the other held as

many blank tickets, with the exception of one, which was inscribed with the Latin expression

“ te accipimus in tutelam”. Following a well run scenario, the name of Saint Felix was drawn

three times from the urn at the same time as the ticket designating the chosen one. Saint Felix

was hardly known as an intercessor susceptible to protecting the farmers’ crops. Thus the

workers demanded a second, and a third drawing “for all believed the result to be aberrant”.

The repetition of the drawing, an almost obligatory episode increased the evidence of a

supernatural revelation, thus giving it credibility. But in this case, the identity of the new

patron, surprising for the contemporaries, reinforced the value of the election. It justified the

fact that lots had been drawn and paradoxically constituted a promise of protection

13 Juan de Torquemada, Monarquia indiana (Mexico: Porrua, 1975), vol 1, 315-322 and Carlos Salvador Paredes Martinez, La región de Atlixco, Huaquechula y Tochimilco. La sociedad y la agricultura en el siglo XVI (Mexico: FCE, 1991), 49-51. 14 Peter Gerhard, Geografía histórica de la Nueva España (Mexico: UNAM, 1986), 57-58.

particularly efficient, because in a certain way, the neglected saint offered his protection

threefold.15

The election of a saint responded to a major preoccupation of farming communities, and in

this particular context, had a political dimension; it provided la villa de Carreón with a

designated protector who came to reinforce his new autonomy against Puebla whose rapid

development constituted both a model and a danger. Actually, until then, the land in the

Altisco Valley belonged to the grazing land attributed to the Mesta de Puebla. Particularly

fertile, this land in fact, bore two annual harvests and was never left long enough to be open to

the herds. By placing their wheat crops under the protection of Saint Felix, the local farmers,

reunited in a new municipality, added a strong symbolic dimension to the political identity

that they had just acquired.

Saint Felix had been elected to ward off an agricultural calamity but also to prevent possible

epidemics; for according to witnesses, the meaning of such a calamity was clear. By

permitting the destruction of the crops, God was preparing the irruption of sickness which

would punish the sinners. Thus, patron saints were elected in New Spain as well as in Spain,

who were destined to ward off epidemics. Not as well known as the drawing of lots of Saint

Felix of Atlisco, was the example of the election of Saint Sebastian of Veracruz. The large

port of the viceroyalty was just as strategic a place as it was insalubrious. The only

justification to maintain such an important establishment in such a hot climate as that of the

Gulf of Mexico, was the need to maintain a maritime link with Spain and to assume coastal

protection. But its development was difficult, notably due to its endemic aspect of yellow

fever, “el vómito Negro”. It was during one of these epidemics in 1648 that Saint Sebastian,

15 « Elección y nombramiento de patrón en esta villa de Carión… », in AMINAH, AHCCP, rollo 8, ff° 1-25 of the document.

one of the great anti-pestilent saints, was chosen to protect the city. The illness appeared in

August. For four months it decimated the local inhabitants as well as travellers and sailors

who reached land in mid-September. The evil was incurable and it was said that its victims

died within three or four days.16

Although initially founded under the protection of the True Cross, the port was then passed on

to Saint Sebastian, who, henceforth, was its only protector. At the end of the colonial period

the city did not seem to have another protector, therefore he was also called upon in the case

of public misfortune. As in 1757 and in 1762 for an epidemic “enfermedades al parecer

pestilentes”, in 1777 for an undetermined epidemic, in 1779 against small pox, and in 1802,

again, during a yellow fever epidemic. Thus Saint Sebastian then became a general protector,

for in 1777 he was called upon for a grasshopper invasion.17 The city associated itself entirely

with him and at the beginning of the year, before any new deliberation, the municipal council

successively invoked the Immaculate Conception (protector of the Spanish territories), the

Virgin of Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico, and Saint Sebastian, its patron saint.

THE PROLIFERATION OF PATRONS IN THE CITIES

In small cities and villages, the elections of patron saints do not seem to have been too

common. On the contrary, the municipal representatives of large cities tended toward

multiplying them, so much so, that in the middle of the 18th century, municipalities such as

San Luis Potosí, Mexico or Puebla found themselves with 9, 13, and 17 patron saints,

16 Gregorio M. de Guijo, Diario (Mexico: Porrúa, 1984), vol 1, 22. 17 AHCMV, Actas de cabildo, caja 6, vol. 6, ff° 198-199, caja 8, vol. 8, f° 51, caja 14, vol. 14, ff° 180-187, caja 17, vol. 17, ff° 310-311, caja 70, vol. 80, f° 486 and caja 20, vol. 37, f° 78.

respectively.18 This process of accumulation, equally described for the municipalities of

Southern Italy, was not an attribute to large colonial cities in New Spain which even seemed

to be in the background in relation to certain urban centers of the Mediterranean. Let us be

reminded that according to Jean Michel Sallman in 1731 Naples had 35 elected protectors.19

At least 2 factors favored the increase in the number of elections, the diversity of threats

which were susceptible to questioning the fragile urban balance, and the variety of people

interested in promoting new patron saints.

Without a doubt, due to the relative efficiency of their supply networks, cities were not as

directly exposed to dearth as was the countryside. However, weakened by population increase

and “urban density”, they lost out on all other levels as they were faced with epidemics, and

also the risk of fire or earthquakes. Cities also strived to protect themselves against the blows

of nature. San Luis Potosí seemed to succeed in a rather systematic manner by associating

itself with a protector who was particularly susceptible to remedying the unbalances of each

of nature’s elements. While the titular parish saint, Saint Louis of France, protected the land

(?), in 1629, Saint Nicolas of Tolentino was chosen to ward off drought, and conversely, the

flooding of the mine galleries. In 1645 Saint Anthony of Padua was given the responsibility of

protecting the city against thunderstorms and the earthquakes that they provoked. Finally in

1694, Saint Laurent undertook the task of protecting the city against storms and fires.20

Mexico made a slightly different choice, by neglecting atmospheric troubles, it preferred to

protect itself against water, with Saint Gregory (before 1604), fire with Saint Anthony of

18 Guadalajara already had 7 patron saints in 1667. See annex and Actas de cabildo de la ciudad de Guadalajara, vol. 1 and 2, passim. 19 Jean-Michel Sallmann, Naples et ses saints à l’âge baroque, 86. 20 Here we comply with the statement of Alfonso Martínez Rosales, “Los patronos jurados de la ciudad de San Luis Potosí” in Manifestaciones religiosas en el mundo colonial americano, C. Garcia Ayluardo and M. Ramos Medina ed. (Mexico: UIA-INAH-Condumex, 1993) vol 1, 120.

Padua (1723), and above all, earthquakes for which it called upon Saint Nicolas of Tolentino

(1611) and Saint Joseph (1732).

Outside the capital of the viceroyalty, storms appeared without a doubt as the most fearsome

of all perils. Therefore, there were few cities that did not have at least one intercessor

responsible for warding them off. Puebla, in order to protect itself first called upon Saint

Joseph, then added Saint Barbara in 1611, whereas Guadalajara put itself in the hands of Saint

Clement (before 1624).

Assuredly, certain saints seemed endowed with particular functions. For example, Saint

Barbara was efficient against storms (and sudden death) and Saint Sebastian against the pest.

Nevertheless, the choice of a saint was never completely determined by the specialization

with which he was accorded and his election could have been the result of different

procedures. During the 16th century, the two most common procedures were associating the

saint with a historic event that coincided with his feast day, and the drawing of lots. As we

have seen, the second formula seems to have been put into play rather systematically during

the conquest and at the time that the first cities were being founded. It did not disappear after

that, and in fact, all of Mexico city put it into play twice during the 1720’s, one right after the

other. In 1723, again, to protect itself against fires, Mexico chose the protection of Saint

Anthony the Abbot, because his feast day, January 17, fell at the heart of a time in which fires

had increased during the preceding years (1704,1710, or 1711, 1722). Therefore, this

coincidence was considered a logical connection. « It was said, throughout the city that the

majority of fires occurred in January, and on the 17th day of this month one worships Saint

Anthony the Abbot. Thus, this “very noble city believes that it is its duty to select him as

patron and advocate, especially delegated against fires21…” Six years later, the municipal

council placed the city under the protection of Saint Joseph, celebrated on March 19th,

because a series of earthquakes had shaken the city.22

The method of drawing lots also continued to endure, but the two large cities, Mexico and

Puebla, which were the most well known, no longer resorted to this method after the

beginning of the 17th century. During this time (before 1580) Saint Joseph had become the

first protector of Puebla against storms when , “having very sincerely commended this affair

to God, they drew (his name) from the lots out of those of a few saints.23” Also, very early on,

in order to protect itself against the flooding of the lagoon waters, Mexico commended itself,

in the same manner, to saint Gregory Thaumaturgus. Thus, following a drawing of lots, he

became, “the advocate for that which concerned water and floods.24” Then, in 1611, following

a series of earthquakes, Saint Nicolas of Tolentino imposed his name upon the municipal

authorities, when the Augustinians asserted that he had been designated by several drawings

of lots.25

Henceforth, there were other, more powerful types of logic in the making that challenged the

approaches inherited from the pretridentine church. It was no longer sufficient for a saint to

manifest his good will to be elected. From then on, he had to present solid and veritable

references. One was more attentive to news from the exterior, from a neighboring city, from

the New World, even from Spain or Italy and more readily welcomed were those protectors

whose efficiency had been verified. In 1630, in Mexico, the Dominicans relied upon the

21 AHCMM, vol. 3604, exp. 8. Note that the torch has always been one of the symbols of Saint Antoine the abbot. Therefore, the development of public rumour was maybe more complex than it seemed… 22 Ibid., exp. 9. 23 AHCMP, Actas de cabildo, vol. 14, August 13th, 1611, ff° 187v°-188v°. 24 Actas de cabildo de la ciudad de Mexico, book 18, 105. 25 Actas de cabildo de la ciudad de Mexico, book 18, 159.

development of a strong current of devotion for Saint Dominic de Soriano, who increased

miracles in Italy and Spain to plead his cause to the whole of a distraught city. In San Luis

Potosí, in 1694, Saint Laurent was chosen “against storms and lighting” because “it was

known from experience how much his intercession in such circumstances had been

efficient.26” Puebla, who suffered from being a provincial city proved to be particularly

receptive to saint protectors that were already accepted by large Christian cities. In 1618, this

city chose the protection of Saint Teresa as many cities of the kingdom of Castile had done.”

Six years later, during a nevertheless unsurprising election of Saint Roch against epidemics, it

declared “to follow the example given by a large number of distinguished cities such as

Rome, who had made him protector and patron, and Lima who had taken an oath to celebrate

and observe his feast.” Again, in 1665 during an epidemic, it called upon Saint Francs Xavier

who, “in Italy and in Mexico, having been invoked as patron during other epidemics, had

immediately worked miracles.” Finally, following the example of the capital of the

viceroyalty, nearly a century and a half later, Puebla asked Saint Nicolas of Tolentino to

protect the city from earthquakes.27

Cities of New Spain were equally confronted with the increase in power of the Roman Church

that was reinforced by the Catholic Reformation, and the Spanish crown which disposed of

the protection of the Church of the Indies and claimed to be the spearhead of conquering

Catholicism. Thus, public opinion in American cities, sometimes willing, sometimes

subjugated, found itself imposed with patrons “of devotion” whose success was inseparable

from the politics of the Holy See or from that of Madrid. In 1616, in Puebla, the Immaculate

Conception’s dazzling success as a venerated saint seemed to answer a demand from the

26 Alfonso Martinez Rosales, « Los patronos jurados de la ciudad de San Luis Potosí » in Manifestaciones religiosas, vol 1, 117. 27 AHCMP, Libro de patronatos vol. 13, ff° 31r°, 41r° and 53r°-v°.

“social elite” that was concerned with affirming its Hispanic heritage28. But in 1618, the

simultaneous election of Saint Teresa of Avila in Mexico and in Puebla, did not reveal so

much, any sort of infatuation for the reformer of Carmel, as to reveal the efficiency of her

order and the political will of the Hapsburgs. In fact, the municipal council of Mexico placed

itself under Saint Teresa’s protection as soon as it had knowledge of the Royal will to make

her “Patron of Faith”. During this delicate affair, the city, in order to avoid taking the risk of

lacking loyalty towards its king and god, decided to conform by all means to the ceremonies

which had taken place in Spain, “as we have seen in a book printed in Salamanca”. In Puebla,

the councillors showed the same zeal, once reminded of their duties by the prior of the

convent of Carmel29. More zealous even than Mexico, Puebla, in 1673, after having received

news of the canonization of Saint Rose of Lima and that of her elevation to the title of Patron

of the Indies, did not content itself with just celebrating this double event, but also chose her

as its particular patron.30

From then on, in the two most important cities of the viceroyalty, protectors were almost

always chosen amongst the saints of the Catholic Reformation. Officially chosen “by

devotion”, these saints acted mostly upon several levels. Certain brilliantly assumed the old

functions of the thaumaturgical saints. Saint Francis Xavier is the best example. This very

popular saint who was highly supported by the Congregation of Jesus, there where he was

present, had multiple advantages. A missionary saint more than anything, he approached the

apostles of the primitive church and was designated by the Christians as the “Protector of the

Indies”31. A figure of the Catholic Reformation, he could comfortably serve as a model of

28 Rosalva Loreto López, « La fiesta de la Concepción y las identidades colectivas, Puebla (1619-1636) », in Manifestaciones religiosas, vol 2, 87-104. This was also probably the case in the election of Saint Isidore the laboror, native of Madrid, who was elected in Mexico as early as 1638. AHCMM, vol. 3604, exp. 5. 29 Actas de cabildo de la ciudad de Mexico, book 23, 173-174 and AHCMP, Libro de patronatos vol. 13, f° 30v°. 30 AHCMP, Libro de patronatos vol. 13, f° 68v°. 31 Cayetano Cabrera y Quintero, Escudo de armas de México (Mexico: IMSS, 1981), 171.

virtue. He also rapidly acquired a thaumaturgical dimension, firstly in Europe, where he made

a solid reputation as an anti-pestilent saint, which was rapidly diffused by the members of his

congregation, later in the New World. Elected in Naples (1657) and in Potamo notably, at

the occasion of grave epidemics, Saint Francis Xavier acquired an exceptional dimension. At

the beginning of the 1660’s his reputation was established in New Spain. In 1660, during a

campaign launched by the superior of the Jesuits, Mexico, rapidly followed by Puebla 5 years

later, took him as protector32.

No other of the new city protectors reached such a dimension. The interests and even small

operations of such or such religious communities played, more than ever, a decisive role in

most elections. In Mexico, in 1699 the nuns of Saint Bernard Convent benefited tardily from

the crises of 1692 when they succeeded in imposing their patron as the city protector, by

supporting the idea that their prayers to Saint Bernard had placated divine wrath. In Puebla,

John of the Cross owed his success to the visions of Mother Isabel of the Incarnation, while

Saint Gertrude was elected upon the request of Bishop Domingo Pantaleón Alvares de Abreu,

her devoted follower. As for the election of all the Holy Innocents, it was a reward that the

city granted to the prefect of the hospital of Notre Dame of Bethlehem, who claimed to have

received more affirmed signs of gratitude due to his efforts for the public’s benefit33.

If the appearance of an imbalance and notably the irruption of an agricultural, sanitary, or

social crisis almost always remained the cause of new elections, at the end of the 17th century

the logic behind these elections had profoundly changed. More so than before, the city’s

initiatives were thwarted by the initiatives of other players such as, the crown, Rome, and

religious institutions locally implanted. Relatively original, the rate at which the elections

32 Cayetano Cabrera y Quintero, Escudo de armas de México, 172; Jean-Michel Sallmann, Naples et ses saints à l’âge baroque, 79 and 81.

took place coincided more with the rate of the great waves of canonization than with that of

the waves of local crisis. Of the 37 patron saints elected in Mexico, Puebla and San Luis

Potosi, six were elected during the 16th century, 18 between 1600 and 1660, only 4 between

1661-1720 and 9 between 1721 and 1753.

The first waves of elections were clearly an echo to the first great outbursts of popular fervour

towards the saints of the Baroque Age, movements, which, orchestrated from Rome in three

parts (the years 1620, 1670, and 1720), had spread to the New World34. Nevertheless, in

Mexico, after the 1660’s, the increase in the number of saint worshipers seemed less

susceptible to incite new civic cults. This fact is even more remarkable considering the great

impetus given to devotions to saints during the 1670’s carrying their cult to the highest level,

just before New Spain entered a period of grave difficulties. Nevertheless, the period of crisis

which culminated in 1692, left a hardly perceptible trace in the history of civic cults to patron

saints; only one election in Mexico, that of Saint Bernard, another in San Luis Potosí (Saint

Laurence), none in Puebla. Coinciding with the third great series of canonizations and roman

beatifications, the revival of the 1720’s to the 1750’s should not be eluding. It was largely due

to the successes brought about by the Virgin of Guadalupe and its ephemeral, impulsive

effect. Citizens no longer waited for salvation from their saint protectors.

SUCCESSES AND SETBACKS OF PATRON SAINTS

In Mexico as in Spain, the surge of religious devotion that incited the election of a patron

saint was always very fragile. In the countryside of the peninsula of New Castile, under the

33 AHCMP, Libro de patronatos vol. 13, ff° 56v°-57r°, 73r° and 81r°-82r°. 34 Pierre Ragon, « Images miraculeuses, cultes des saints et hispanité dans le Mexique colonial (1648-1737), » in La religion civique à l’époque moderne, 483.

reign of Philippe II, vows which fell into abeyance were not rare35. In the same way, in New

Spain, where patron saints were numerous, they had difficulty emerging unless their cults

presented solutions of continuity, even if the religious orders interested in their durability

devoted themselves regularly to reminding the municipal authorities of their duties.

This was particularly true in Guadalajara which, in this matter, did not seem to have the

material means to fulfil its ambitions. Due to lack of sufficient revenue as early as the reign of

Charles II, the city hardly hoped to celebrate more than 3 of the 7 patron saints that protected

it, Saint Michael, Saint Clement and the Immaculate Conception, even so they managed it

with difficulty. In may of 1639, they hastily had to improvise an exceptional celebration in

honour of Saint Clement who, having already been forgotten for several years, avenged

himself by hitting the city with violent storms. In the year 1667, the municipal council’s

register of deliberations revealed the contradictions in which the city was entangled. It

struggled to reunite the necessary funds for the celebration of the three vows that it observed,

but it was also endowed with a new patron, Saint Peter of Nolasco36.

Because they were richer, it is true, that Puebla and Mexico did better. As indicated in an

excerpt of accounts dated from the year 1687, the city of Puebla did not forget a single one of

its patron saints regularly elected. However, once the dimension of their credit was measured,

its importance seemed reduced. The city only consecrated 345 pesos to their feasts, less than

8% of its budget and its 10 patron saints in those days cost less then the feast of Corpus

Christi (450 pesos)37. Mexico, who disposed of revenues 4 or 5 times as important (19,295

pesos from 1628) allotted a bit more money to the cults of patron saints (15% of its budget)

35 William Christian, La religiosidad local en la España de Felipe II, 56. 36 Actas de cabildo de la ciudad de Guadalajara, vol. 2, 23-24, 237 and 292-295. 37 AHCMP, Actas de cabildo, vol. 31, ff° 368-369.

but this expenditure, here again was inferior to that allotted to Corpus Christi38. Neither in

Puebla nor in Mexico, were patron saint cults a continuous celebration. In January 1561,

having taken note that “it was a commendable and admissible custom in the cities of the

kingdom of New Castile” the city of Puebla had to re-establish the procession of Saint

Michael, interrupted earlier39. In Puebla again, St Roch, elected in 1624 was well forgotten

about 50 years later, and a bit unexpectedly Mexico, due to material difficulties following a

grave crisis in 1692 was led to suspend the celebration of all of its patron saints for several

years40.

These patronages were, in fact, put to the test. Results of voluntary adhesion of a human

community to a religious cult, once established, was in principal, irrevocable41. But based on

a relationship defined as contractual, it was assumed that the two parties respect their

engagements; the saint’s celebration on one side, and the efficiency of protection on the other.

However, a most distressing thing happened, the saints were not always able to keep their

engagements. Inevitably, those who were the most negligent amongst them, saw their star

dim. They ran the risk of having competition , even losing the benefits of the engagements of

their followers. Thus, in Mexico, Saint Dominic who had been hastily elected at the beginning

of the great flood of 1629-1633, never gathered the cities’ votes. He was unable to provide

any tangible proof of his intercession42. In Puebla, Saint Joseph appointed early on to defend

the cities against storms, could not eliminate the competition of Saint Barbara. On the 13th of

38 Actas de cabildo de la ciudad de Mexico, book 22, 177. 39 AHCMP, Libro de patronatos, vol. 13, f° 22v°. 40 Actas de cabildo de la ciudad de Mexico (Novembre 16th, 1693). 41 There is however, an exception to that. The election of the Virgin “Conquistadora” in 1631, pronounced at the same time as the election of Philip of Jesus (!), is valuable “as long as that is the will of the city”. This very political procedure towards a Virgin who’s authenticity was doubtful, was an attempt to rob her of her pre-eminence in Mexico, at a time when the capital of the vice royalty, invaded by lagoon floods, suffered grave difficulties. The “Conquistadora”, according to the poblanos was the “Virgin” brought by Cortes’ men while the inhabitants of Mexico identified her with their Virgen “de los remedies” AHCMP, Actas de cabildo, vol. 17, Octobre 10th 1631. 42 AHCMM, vol. 3604, exp. 4.

August 1611, in the midst of the rainy season, when the city was being hit by violent storms,

the patronage of Saint Joseph, who evidently had lost his efficiency, was renewed. He was

accused only of “waning in popular devotion, a lamentable thing, or more so the secret will of

the Lord.” The same day however, it was believed that the best thing, would be to engage the

services of another intercessor acquainted with eliminating lighting, Saint Barbara43.

The election of a saint assumed that the perpetuation of his cult was organized, that he was

dedicated with an altar, or a church, that he was endowed with an image or a feast. One also

dreamed of acquiring one of his relics. To obtain a saint’s relic whose feast was associated

with the founding of a city seemed to have particular importance but the cities of New Spain

would often have to wait long decades before being able to obtain one. Thanks to a zealous

and concerned citizen, Mexico finally acquired a relic of Saint Hippolytus in 1571. Fifty-six

years after having placed itself under the protection of Saint Felix, Urban VIII gave the small

town of Atlisco a “long bone” from a pope of the 3rd century. In the same way, San Luis

Potosí, strived to obtain one of Saint Louis’ relics while Guadalajara, since it could not hope

for a relic from Saint Michael, obtained one from Saint Clement (1624)44.

More often cities contented themselves with assuming the perpetuity of their patron saint

cults. The same subsidies that were annually consecrated to them, 12, 25, 30, 40 pesos, a bit

more to the benefit of their founding saints, a bit more also in Mexico, constituted a small

allowance. Almost everywhere however, they were obliged to buy a statue of a new saint, and

the feasts, of less or greater importance, that were organized to celebrate the saint’s adoption

could become very costly. More than 2200 pesos in Mexico in 1723, “for a statue of the

43 AHCMP, Actas de cabildo, vol. 14, ff° 187v°-188v°. 44 Actas de cabildo de la ciudad de Mexico (Septembre 14th, 1571), AMINAH, AHCCP, rollo 9, ff° 36v°-37v° of the document 1 ; Alfonso Martínez Rosales, « Los patronos jurados de la ciudad de San Luis Potosí », in Manifestaciones religosas, vol. 1, 114 and Actas de cabildo de la ciudad de Guadalajara, vol. 2, 229.

glorious Saint (Anthony). The saint’s clothing, the fireworks, the torches intended, notably, to

illuminate the royal palace or town hall, the decorations for the altar of the cathedral etc…,”as

well as the inevitable bullfights45. Sometimes, at the time of an election one committed

oneself expressly to furnishing a retable for the saints’ altar, or to building him a church.

Veracruz constructed a chapel outside the walls of the city that it assigned to the service of

Saint Sebastian, thus choosing for him, a method which allowed him to reproduce the rituals

which were the object of sanctuaries, extra muros, in the tradition of the great miraculous

images of the Mediterranean and New World46. In Mexico, Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus was

able to enter his own sanctuary in 1610, although several years after his election47. In small

cities, where few churches were susceptible to welcoming the new cult, this forced

commitment could imply heavy sacrifices and a delay in its materialization. This was the case

of Atlisco, where Saint Felix had to wait for thirty-three years before being able to enter his

temple that had been promised to him. Without showing the least bit of rancour, in 1614, no

sooner installed, once again, the saint’s miracles increased48.

When municipal investments reached their limits, private initiatives often took the relay. Saint

Felix benefited from the attention of several clerks, notably from village priests. When it was

not known where to construct the new church, one of them offered land. A century later, a

priest, native of Atlisco, composed a novena in honour of Saint Felix, printed it at his own

cost and distributed it free of charge49. In large cities, acts of good will could be more

numerous. Thirty years after electing Saint Isidore, a group of citizens proposed to found a

brotherhood in his honour in order to give more splendour to his cult50.

45 Actas de cabildo de la ciudad de Mexico (January 15th, 1723). 46 Manuel Trens, Historia de Veracruz (Xalapa: SEC, 1992), vol. 2, 204. 47 Actas de cabildo de la ciudad de Mexico (Novembre 9th, 1610). 48 AMINAH, AHCCP, rollo 8, ff° 9-17 of the document. 49 Ibid., f° 8 of the document. 50 AHCMM, vol. 3604, exp. 5.

The populations of New Spain did not scorn the help that this system of protection offered

them. On the contrary, it had it’s hour of glory. In order to understand it’s decline, one must

look back to the events of the years of 1660-1690 on one hand, and 1720-1750, on the other

hand.

The decrease in the number of elections after 1660, even though they were favoured by Rome

and became more numerous in Southern Italy, can be explained in two manners. Before the

crises broke out at the end of the century, New Spain was going through a situation of relative

prosperity in a world in crisis. The bell tolls announcing death became fewer apart and when

death attacked it was less violent. Disorganization in the Atlantic commerce of Spain

provided opportunity for freedom of Creoles. One may believe that just before the very end of

the century, cities in New Spain had not gone through difficult enough times to lead them to

seek out the protection of new intercessors. Then, a bit later on, when the local economic

situation turned upside down, the difficulties became so important that the saint’s protection

seemed insufficient. In fact, the election of a new patron saint was only an intermediary step

within an entire range of symbolic responses. The procession of rogations, exorcism,

excommunication of parasites when the fields were threatened, made-up the first level. The

election of a patron saint was suited to more urgent matters. But beyond that, in the case of

threat or general crisis, one turned to its miraculous images. Whereas in 1692, when Mexico

was turning away from its patron saints, it appealed to its first protective image for help, the

Virgin “de los remedios”. From its sanctuary near Tacuba, the small statue “la Gachupina”

had been carted 13 times already, to the cathedral, in cases of epidemic or threat of grave

famine. Each time, a novena was made for her. The 29th of May of 1692, amidst rising

anguish, the Virgin made her 14th entrance into the city. But for the first time, she was to stay

three years, the amount of time needed to surmount the gravest of difficulties51.

The true turning point did not occur here, but later on, during the years 1720-1750. Then,

large cities no longer accorded the same importance to their patron saints. In Mexico, after

having elected the Virgin of Guadalupe, putting oneself under the protection of a new saint

was no longer practiced, it was as if the virgin from then on, definitively satisfied all requests

for protection. In San Luis Potosí, it seems that the last saint was elected in 1748. Without a

doubt, Puebla somewhat embarrassed by the success of an image too strongly linked to the

capital, which it was jealous of, tried an ultimate manoeuvre at eliminating its omnipresence;

the election of Saint Gertrude, and of all the Holy Innocents, one after the other in 1747 (the

year of universal patronage of the Guadalupana in all of New Spain !), of Saint Nicolas of

Tolentino in 1753 and, finally of Saint Francis, the following year. But the heart was no

longer in it. In Mexico, in 1749 as in Puebla in 1754, the last two requests of intercession

addressed to saints failed or got bogged down. Nevertheless, from then on, the municipalities

had to consider popular pressure. While in Puebla, the epidemic Matlazahuatl was rampant

once again, the municipal council appealed to their saints, saint Joseph (January 1737) and

Saint Sebastian (June 1737). Six months later, while the councillors procrastinated so as not to

face the growing wave of devotion toward Guadalupe, the city guilds addressed a petition to

the municipality urging them to take the step. In Mexico, popular pressure also eliminated the

old devotions. A bit later on, in 1776, after the earth had shaken several times, the city

organized a series of prayers addressed to saint Joseph, their deputy advocate for this cause.

Immediately, displeasure brewed and it was considered shocking that the authorities did not

51 Antonio de Robles, Diario de sucesos notables (Mexico: Porrúa, 1972), 3-13.

chose the Virgin of Guadalupe. Finally the city had to give up to popular pressure and accept

to dedicate a mass to the Virgin of Tepeyac, in her sanctuary52.

Beyond the irrepressible rise in popular fervour toward the Guadalupana, it was the collapse

of an entire system of protection and an entire vision of Christianity that was at stake. In this

respect, in the middle of the 18th century, the double failure of Saint Michael in Mexico and

Saint Francis in Puebla delivered two decisive keys of interpretation. The first one was

defended by the “corregidor” himself; he was convinced that “in numerous places in our

Indies, upon their arrival, the Spaniards had found stones engraved in the name of Saint

Michael, proof that divine providence intended to place the Indies under his patronage53.”

This highly political procedure was betrayed by the “corregidor’s” outdated vocabulary (“The

Indies” , “our Spaniards”). As for the Virgin of Guadalupe who descended from heaven to

announce New Spain’s full and entire belonging to Christianity, the Corregidor opposed her

to Saint Michael, the warrior angel, for the circumstances associated him to Spanish

conquistadors. Thus, he intended to recall the historic role of Spain in the Christianization of

the New World and to reaffirm the rights of Spaniards on these lands.

If the failed election of Saint Michael betrayed the existence of a latent tendency between the

central power and still more vast sectors of Mexican society, the decline of certain procedures

toward Saint Francis refers to another antagonism; one which opposes roman Catholicism to

the local religion. As of 1630, Rome intended to control the regularity of the elections of the

patron saints. In the New World, until the beginning of the 18th century this measure was not

effective. But with the improvement in techniques of navigation and in the administration of

the royal patronage, those things changed ; it was no longer possible to use geographic

52 AHCMP, c. 4, t. 210, L 2536, ff° 114r°-125v° and AHCMM, vol. 3604, exp. 9. 53 AHCMM, vol. 3604, exp. 11.

distance to excuse oneself. In 1754, Rome’s confirmation of the patronage of the Virgin of

Guadalupe prevented anyone from ignoring it. In spite of everything, it remained complicated

to engage in procedures with Rome and their result was uncertain. If the patronage of the

Virgin of Guadalupe which was a great Mexican cause, could not suffer from this situation, it

was not the case for Saint Francis of Puebla, a modest conqueror of an earthquake of one

day54. Fifteen years after having been engaged, the procedure, as it seems, had not yet come

about.

It was the responsibility of the visitor Galvez, a high representative of the crown, who was

impregnated with the philosophy of the Age of Enlightenment, to carry out the coup de grâce

of a dying system of protection. Concerned with stabilizing city finances, Galvez attempted,

with all his means, to reduce their expenses. The sumptuous expenditures judged superfluous,

and the cost of religious ceremonies estimated unnecessary, were his favourite targets. In

1771, acting upon his own authority, he reduced the maximum amount allowed for patron

feasts in Mexico, thus reducing the number of saints to its minimum quantity55. At this time,

Puebla was balancing its accounts; between their founding date and the year 1769, the

different patron feasts had cost the city more than 75,000 pesos. That amount was judged

excessive. Therefore, the visitor removed six of these patronages, those which seemed to him,

to be lacking legitimacy56.

54 AHCMP, Libro de patronatos, vol. 13, f° 90v°. 55 Francisco de Sedano, Noticias de Mexico (Mexico: Secretaría de obras y servicios del D.F., 1974), vol 2, 48. 56 AHCMP, libro de patronatos, vol. 13, ff° 354r°-360r°. Galvez cancelled the feasts of Saint Teresa, Saint Philip of Jesus, Saint Francis Xavier, Saint Rose, Saint John of the Cross and Saint Nicolas of Tolentino. See Pedro López de Villaseñor, Cartilla vieja de la nobilísima ciudad de Puebla, 1781 (Mexico: Imprenta Universitaria, 1961), 239.

From that point on, the backward surge was rapid and images invaded the space liberated by

the saint’s cults57. One image above all, that of the Virgin of Guadalupe, miraculous proof of

an apparition of Mary, was an exceptional phenomena in the New World. The image of

Tepeyac had always benefited from the support of the archbishop. Without a doubt, Mexico

was not the only Christian land, where during the 18th century, the cult of images prevailed

over the veneration of saints. It was suspected, on the contrary, that that was a very common

trait within the Hispanic world or beyond. However this evolution stood out amongst that of

other regions of the catholic world, southern Italy above all. Also in Italy, the elections of

images of Mary multiplied : Jean Michael Sallmann recorded more than half a dozen

examples of them just for the Kingdom of Naples between 1700 and 1725. However, after

having diminished their pace58, the saints offered them a certain resistance, prolonged until

the end of the 18th century. In 1799, again, Naples placed itself under the protection of Saint

Anthony of Padua who had saved the city, it was said, from French revolutionaries and

Jacobins59. But in matters of sainthood, Italy is a world apart for it disposes of inexhaustible

resources on its own soil.

57 Following that, was the expulsion of the Jews, the secularisation of the goods of the clergy and the problems of the wars of independance which justified new, drastic cuts. See AHCMM, vol. 3604, exp. 26. 58 Jean-Michel Sallmann, Naples et ses saints à l’âge baroque, 86. 59 Jean-Michel Sallmann, Naples et ses saints à l’âge baroque, 77.

ANNEX

San Luis Potosí Mexico Puebla

San Luis – 1592 San Hipólito – c. 1521 San Miguel – c. 1531

San Nicolás de Tolentino – 1629 Na Sa de los Remedios – XVIe San Sebastián – 1545

San Antonio de Padua – 1645 San Gregorio Taumaturgo – 1604

au plus tard

San José – before 1580

San Miguel – 1645 San Nicolas Tolentino – 1611 Santa Bárbara – 1611

Inmaculada Concepción – 1654 Santa Teresa de Jesús – 1618 Inmaculada Concepcion – 1616

San Lorenzo – 1694 San Felipe de Jesus – 1629 Santa Teresa de Jesús – 1618

Na Sa de Guadalupe – 1737 Saint Dominique – 1630 San Roch – 1624

San Francisco -Xavier – 1748 San Isidro Labrador – 1638 San Felipe de Jesús – 1631

San Francisco Xavier – 1660 Na Sa la Conquistadora – 1631

Na Sa de la Expectación – ? San Bernardo – 1699 San Francisco Xavier – 1665

San Antonio abbad – 1723 Santa Rosa – 1673

San José – 1732 San Juan de la Cruz – 1728

Na Sa de Guadalupe – 1737 Na Sa de Guadalupe – 1737 (1675)

Santa Gertrudis – 1747

Santos Innocentes – 1747

San Nicolás Tolentino – 1753

San Francisco – 1754

Source : Alfonso Martínez Rosales, Cayetano Cabrera y Quintero, AHCMP and AHCMM, passim.

Abbreviations :

AHCCP : Archivo Historico del Cabildo Catedral de Puebla

AHCMM : Archivo Histórico del cabildo municipal de México

AHCMP : Archivo Histórico del cabildo municipal de Puebla

AHCMV : Archivo Histórico del cabildo municipal de Veracruz

AMINAH : Archivo Microfilmado del Instituo Nacional de Antropología e Historia

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