La expulsión de las representaciones del templo (los Autos Sacramentales y la crisis del Corpus de Toledo, 1613-1645)

Abstract

Some of Calderón de la Barca’s sacramental plays were premiered in Toledo, but they were never performed inside the Cathedral, as in the previous centuries. On the contrary, they were shown on a stage in the city square, opposite the town hall building. A few years earlier, between 1614 and 1617, and after an intense debate, the Cathedral canons had decided to break the tradition and expel the plays from inside the temple. This fact is not just an anecdote; it reflects an interesting change in mentalities and in the way in which religiousness and feasts were now understood. The plays were an essential element in the Feast of Corpus Christi; nevertheless, in the 17th century, religious spaces were no longer considered appropiate. Those plays were definitely forbidden in the 18th century.