Ritual, Ceremony and History-Telling in Los tres blasones de España

Abstract

This article explores the value of a rarely seen play, Los tres blasones de España, by Francisco Rojas Zorrilla and Antonio Coello in respect of its historical context and the hermeneutic codes it brings into play. A drama, its interplay between material and messianic temporalities enables a ritual performance as well as a forceful rewriting of Spain's national history. This collaborative effort exhibits a ritualizing aesthetic that attempts to close meanings by fixing theatrical symbology within systems of rules that respond to the codes of deterministic historical, heraldic, and hagiographic discourses. At a time of national political instability, these discourses combine to assert the Christian and Castilian spirit of Calahorra as they evoke a sense of essential national integrity against the invader: the cultural, religious, and political other.

Keywords:

• Antonio Coello
• dirigismo
• hagiography
• heraldry
• messianic time
• ritual
• Francisco Rojas Zorrilla