THE TWELVE PEERS OF FRANCE. MORISMAS DE BRACHO

THE TWELVE PEERS OF FRANCE

The medieval tradition of “Moors and Christians”, which was introduced in America with the arrival of the first Spanish conquerors, spread very early to the native culture, where it had been kept alive to the present day with the incorporation of new elements.

One of the main examples of this survival is the so-called dance “The twelve Peers of France” whose plot captures the legendary confrontation between the Charlemagne´s knights and the ones of the admiral Balán and his son Fierabrás in which another child of Balán, his young daughter Floripes, plays a leading role in its resolution as she collaborates with the Christians, moved by her love to the knight Guy de Borgoña. This plot was widely spread on the American continent thanks to several editions of The History of the emperor Charlemagne going around and also “The twelve peers of France” by Nicolás de Piamonte, between the XVI and XIX century. These editions provoked, in turn, an important presence of the subject in the Romancero as well as in “dancing-theatrical” performances in countries like Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Peru or Ecuador.

The Tlalnepantla Dance is performed in a similar way as in other towns not only in the Morelos area and in the state of Mexico (like San Juan Atzacualoya, Ayapango or Totolapan) but also in many other states of the country. The dance takes place in the atrium of the church: in common with the medieval tradition, the sceneries (in this case the “Roman Empire” and the “Mohammedan Empire” or “Turkey”, “the Floripes stage and its princesses” and also the “Mantible Bridge”) are set in full view of all the spectators from the beginning. While in their origins the dancers were all males, throughout the XX century the roles of Floripes and her maids were assumed by women and in recent years a bigger feminine presence is easily perceptible. In any case, just like in the medieval theatre, the characters were identified by external signs, beginning by the embroidery of the names in the capes of the colourful costumes.

Throughout the dance-drama the characters speech alternate (already alternated in octosyllables by the oral tradition and accompanied by a continuous movement back and forth in order to mark their participation). The arguments are full of body language. A Sword Dance that could bring to mind the ones that are still performed in some regions of Spain is performed. The dancers are placed in two rows (corresponding to the two opposing sides) and they turn and cross their swords in pairs to the rhythm of the music played by wind and percussion instruments.

MORISMAS DE BRACHO

Zacatecas, Mexico

Organised by the Saint John Baptist Guild, the Morismas de Bracho in Zacatecas in Northern Mexico represent a great spectacle with more than 12.000 actors which has been declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of the State in 2014. During several days, three different representations take place: the death of Saint John Baptist, the history of Charlemagne and his Twelve Peers of France as well as the historic triumph of the Spanish armed forces during the battle of Lepanto in 1571. While the Carolingian cycle is properly medieval, the biblical passage of the decapitation of John the Baptist was increasingly represented in Early Modern sacred theatre: this was the basis of a big number of European pieces that were performed several times in Toledo between 1495 and 1510. It survived in the Castilian tradition at least until the end of the XVI century, as shown in the Códice de Autos Viejos ad in Manuscrito de 1590 as well as in the Catalan tradition at least until the XX century, with a slight recovery in the XXI century (Ball parlat de Rodonyà). However, both topics have been included very late in the celebrations of Bracho, in already contemporary versions. The performance starts with the Battle of Lepanto, which had an early impact in America (above all in towns like Cuzco, where the celebrations organised for this reason in 1572 included galley combats and the Taking of the castle). Although it probably begins to be represented in that area in the XVII century, it became the main topic of the Morismas towards the middle of the XIX century. In the late XX century pieces about Charlemagne and Saint John have been included, whose histories present some parallels with the Lepanto one, insofar as they involve a clear confrontation between the forces of good and evil and, in turn, build a sort of cathartic cycle, by which the unjust decapitation of the saint in the initial performance will be symbolically avenged with the triumphal exhibition of the head of the Turkish enemy once ended the Lepanto battle. The stage of the Morismas is the village as a whole: the celebration starts with a massive parade that runs through the streets towards the centre of Zacatecas and return to the outskirts; the open area next to the San Juan Church serves a framework for the first two performances. Finally, on the Bracho hills, where an effimeral castle is built, people attend the triumph of Charlemagne´s men against admiral Balán and the singular confrontations between the army of Juan of Austria and Argel Osmán (Ali Bajá) with the bloody defeat of the latter (in which some researchers have observed reminiscences of pre-Hispanic rites).

The dances in honour of the patron saint in the atrium of the temple are part of the different simultaneous acts that are developed in those days at the end of August. Undoubtedly the most significant fact of the Morismas is the movement of the masses, generated by the performance corresponding to the taking of the castle: the Sword fights, the fall of the defeated, the gestures of savagery of the victors who simulate decapitations, the spectacular formation of the half moon and the cross by the Moorish and Christian troops respectively, which are drawn on the slope of the hill and which the spectators observe from a distance. These elements turn the festivities into a succession of choreographic arrangements, giving their grandiosity and ritual character to celebrations that have experienced a real boom in recent decades.

Beatriz Aracil,
University of Alicante