Civic Festivals in Mexico

The civic festivals of greatest importance in the viceroyalty commemorated the monarch. These included public events honoring the sovereign's birthday, his marriage, the birth of an heir to the throne, or his death. The grandest Crown festival celebrated a new monarch's ascension to the throne. Known as the Jura del Rey (Oath to the King), this three-day celebration was the quintessential festival of submission and obedience and was celebrated in all main towns (cabeceras) in the colony. In this royal ritual, the three pillars of the Novohispanic ruling system—the city government, royal government, and the church—publicly swore allegiance to the new king. The citizenry also shouted vivas and acclamations and in this way swore allegiance. The Jura included an array of entertainment, feasting, and especially planned fireworks displays that lauded the Spanish Empire. In Mexico City, the event was conducted in Spanish and Nahuatl and included the participation and public oath of the Indian leadership, dressed in traditional indigenous finery, of the major indigenous sectors of the city. They were asked to pledge allegiance to the king before their subjects as well as the general inhabitants of the city. Indian commoners then presented flowers to their nobility as part of the ceremony. In addition, the major entertainment during the evening was the Fiesta de Gremios (Festival of the Guilds). The guilds presented large thematic floats honoring the king and empire and dressed in costumes. Although not initially the case, the Jura became, under eighteenth-century Bourbon officials, the largest and most celebrated civic festival. In the case of the capital and Puebla, it consumed much more revenue than the entrance of the viceroy. This change coincided with the Bourbon emphasis on the monarch and the implementation of new policies that sought to strengthen Crown control in the viceroyalty.