Page 288 - Perú indígena y virreinal

The Great Square in Huacaypata scared the Spanish so much with its vast extension of some seven hectares that they were soon to divide into three smaller spaces by building two rows of buildings across it. This allowed them to stay true to the idea of plazas as lively public meeting places, albeit imposing upon them the Spanish notion of giving each square its “speciality”. Thus, one became the Plaza de San Francisco, a second was named Plaza de Regocijos, whilst the third was called, as it still is today, the Plaza de Armas. From its first days, this third square quickly took on an air of being a kind of synthesis of the three plazas.
If this centre became a public meeting place, it is important to remember that this was not through pure good fortune, but as a result of the dynamic nature of the roads that led to it. Because as well as the plaza consolidating its position at the heart of the city, the pre- eminence of the ancient huacas and other such ceremonial sites that the colony sought to redefine was reaffirmed. Thus, the ancient concept of “axes” was re-established, of which, the east—west axis was considered to be of greater importance, becoming almost naturally a kind of “Holy Way” across the city. The changes that were made to the city during the first years following the conquest of the city bore this in mind, and yet this concept of a Holy Way has imposed itself again and again over the centuries, determining how and where buildings and monuments along its entire length are erected or given a facelift.
Festivities too, something that had always been a part of city life regardless of social, personal or political discrepancies, played an important role in this integration. Such fiestas could have a religious or civic basis to them, or could purely be for public entertainment, acquiring all manner of characteristics. This area was of some considerable importance, not only in the first years of Spanish rule, but also in subsequent decades. The chronicler Diego Esquivel y Navia, either when writing about the past o detailing his own period, the 18th Century, always gave great weight to the mention of such celebrations detailing carefully their whereabouts, any decorations that were put up and other similar minutiae. His descriptions outline for us religious processions in honour of Saint Mark, Saint Domingo and Saint Christopher, as well as celebrations to mark appointments and founders days of institutions such as Las Beatas de la Recoleta, the Espiritu Santo Hospital and Santa Clara church and monastery. For the founding of these institutions the streets were decorated with tapestries and draperies, and the solemn processions would be accompanied by the nobility, merchants and citizens of the city and, on occasions, even a military battalion.
The route to be followed would, logically enough, cover the most significant points in the city such as the Cathedral and the churches of Saint Francis and La Merced among others. It therefore did not only mark the city’s Christian landmarks, but also in some way gave a new meaning to those places the indigenous population considered to be sacred, in the same way that many Catholic celebrations were superimposed upon ancient Andean beliefs as a kind of renewal of long-standing sacred rites. The so-called Holy Way was repeated time after time, and even today it is the favoured route for processions, parades and as simply the preferred thoroughfare for pedestrians.
Old Spanish traditions were present in a new form, such as the “Crosses of May”, here renamed “Velacuy Cross” as the cross is watched over (“velar” in Spanish) the night before the fiesta. There were also solemn acts held in the university and celebrations of ecclesiastical appointments as well as special team competitions on horseback and even the custom of painting the “Vincitor”, or pupil with the highest mark, with red ochre after an exam, although some of these customs were in the process of being forgotten, or at the very least, losing their shine. However, among all the fiestas and celebrations, those to mark Corpus Christi stood out from the others, as indeed, had been recommended by the ecclesiastical Council of Trent.
In Cusco, this moveable holiday was celebrated around the time of the Winter Solstice in the Southem Hemisphere. Its main day was a Thursday, and coincided with the traditional Inca celebration in honour of the sun, known as Inti Raymi, held on the 24th of June. This coincidence clearly facilitated the mutual association of both sets of symbols, having many and various repercussions throughout the process of evangelisation.
The Christian festivity of Corpus Christi involves to this day a week of celebrations, including the arrival of religious images from their corresponding parishes to the cathedral, rites to be held within the cathedral, the procession alongside the holy Eucharist an the subsequent retum of the religious images to their churches of origin. Fourteen different
images participate in order to coincide wint the number of Inca monarchs. The Corpus week also features a series of races between various saints’ images, among them, Saint Sebastian and Saint Jeronimo with bets as to which of them will reach the centre of their respective parishes. The festivities also include previous and subsequent visits of images of virgins and saints to various churches in the city centre starting from outlying neighbourhoods of Cusco, as well as a number of nights’ vigil within the cathedral with the presence of all images.
The part of the cathedral that was open to the Plaza, the vestibule and the steps leading down to the square, the surrounding buildings and streets, all had their part to play in the festivities. As, of course, did the Cathedral itself, where the statues were arranged, mass was sung and various rituals were performed throughout the week. Its opening hours were extended and people attended who would only do so during these celebrations. The same situation was repeated in the processions, where many who declared themselves to be against religion could be found taking part in the celebrations and would even walk on there knees and pray every day of the Corpus.
It is worth bearing mind that Cusco is not only a special case due to its own history, but also the way that it is intertwined with both the history of Spain and also its own Christianity. As far as the first is concerned, it shouldn’t be forgotten that the arrival of Pizarro to Peru happened only forty years after the end of the wars of the Christian re- conquest of Spain, and memories of the battles to place control of Muslim villages under the auspices of the Christian faith were still vivid. The idea of conquering lands in order to extend further the boundaries one’s religion was still on that moved many men’s souls and they enjoyed strong political support back home. The conquistadors themselves however did not believe that they were on a purely spiritual mission; they were also clearly inspired by the prospect of the easy pickings of land and wealth.
If at first America served as a kind of idealised example, opening the door to all manner of myth and amazement, it was soon after to provide the spur of adventure for many. The lines between what was religious and what was political as well as the true ambitions and intention of those arriving in the Americas were never clear. For many years it remained undefined and a comfortable ambiguity reigned, causing misunderstandings and quarrels at times.
The conquest of the Americas coincided with important changes in Europe as a consequence of the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation. The Council of Trent in the mid-16th Century instigated a restructuring of church life that saw the introduction of significant changes, like the revival of long forgotten traditions such as those of consecration and pilgrimage, studied and developed by Carlos Borromeo. The evangelisation of the Americas, which had hardly begun, proved the opportunity to put into practice the proposals put forward by Trent without the fear of stagnation, as was the case in the Old Continent.
Somewhat easier was the founding of Seminaries for the training of the priesthood. Cusco had one that was secular—in the sense that it did not belong to any of the established religious orders—which from the outset had books in which births, marriages and deaths were recorded. Also, in spite of geographical difficulties, the bishops were more responsible when it came to visiting the outlying villages in their diocese. In the case of Cusco, some of the bishops left important documents in the churches they visited in which they made recommendations as to how pastoral work there might be improved and how best to better the village in general. There were, nevertheless, other aspects of life that were not so easy. Royal Patronage, for example, still in existence, was in constant conflict with the Ecclesiastical Council only serving to further confusion between civil and religious society.
The calling of those who suggested their own catechisms using indigenous languages for their respective regions to councils and synods was given much importance, as was the search for missionaries with knowledge of these local dialects, and, however unlikely it might be, the possibility that native Indians and those of mixed- race might receive holy orders. This whole panorama offer the chance to create something new, a possibility in which much hope and expectation was placed. Cusco, for its pre— Hispanic history and the way in which it was reorganised post-1534 became an example worth studying first-hand and at some length. The same artistic trends of firstly mannerism and later baroque left a deep impression in the city, the latter being the trend that Cusco’s inhabitants most took to heart.
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