Fiestas y celebraciones en las ciudades castellanas de la Baja Edad Media

Abstract

Festive celebrations were essential for medieval urban society, not only because of the celebratory and playful aspects involved, but also because they entailed significant social and religious experiences. The latter aspects were instrumental in improving the community's peaceful coexistence and cohesion. By the end of the Middle Ages festivals were taking place on special dates in the year that brought together relatives, neighbours, brotherhood members and town-dwellers in general depending on the specific features of each celebration. Whether they were small-scale or bigger events involving a large participation, these festivals often preserved such ties with the magical and sacred as had characterized ancient festive rites. In fact, it was on the basis of those religious meanings that the civic and political festivities -a different kind of event requiring the participation of the whole community- were superimposed. In this context, the Corpus Christi festivals certainly constituted the most universal celebration during the medieval period. However, by the late fifteenth century new moral and political values, including the concept of "nation" itself, had made an appearance in communal festivities like those held by Castilian merchants who were established outside the kingdom. It was at that time that the then current models for urban festivals were challenged, while artisans in some towns and cities stood up against their duty to pay for the expenses incurred as a result of Corpus Christi celebrations.

La celebración de las fiestas era necesaria para la sociedad urbana medieval, no solo por el aspecto lúdico sino porque aportaba experiencias religiosas y sociales que eran regeneradoras y fundamentales para la convivencia y solidez de la comunidad. A fines de la Edad Media, se desarrollaban fiestas y juegos a lo largo del año, que convocaban a distinta escala a familiares, vecinos, cofrades y ciudadanos. Fiestas reducidas o de amplia participación, que mantenían, en algún caso, el contacto con lo mágico y lo sagrado, que había caracterizado a la fiesta arcaica. Sobre ese aporte de trascendencia religiosa se fue instalando la fiesta cívica y política, que era otro tipo de evento construido sobre la participación de toda la comunidad. En este sentido, la fiesta del Corpus Christi fue el acontecimiento festivo más universal. Pero, a fines del siglo XV, nuevos valores y mensajes se instalaron en las fiestas de la comunidad, al tiempo que aparecía el concepto de "nación", en la fiesta del grupo de mercaderes castellanos asentados fuera del reino. Será por entonces cuando los modelos de fiesta urbana se cuestionen y los artesanos de algunas ciudades se rebelen, ante la obligación de tener que costear el desarrollo de dicha fiesta del Corpus en su ciudad.