PhD Program in Historical studies
The return of the Baroque era of Don Quijote: the feasts of Madridejos (Castilla La Mancha)
“In a village of La Mancha, of whose name I do not want to remember, there lived, not long ago, an hidalgo, one of those who have a lance in the rack, an old buckler, a lean hack and a hunting hound” (Don Quixote de la Mancha, Part I, chap. I, 1605).
The crazy adventures of The Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha are a backdrop to local feasts which celebrated in some centres of La Mancha such as Madridejos, El TobosoEl Toboso is a small town in the province of Toledo, in the Community of Castilla La Mancha. The only archaeological remains of the area date back to pre-Roman times, but the oldest written documents that relate to this town are from the fourteenth century. A century later, El Toboso came under the control of the Order of Santiago. Cervantes, however, was to make it famous, and it is still visited by those who want to know the place where the lady lived that Don Quijote fell in love with. or Alcázar de San Juan. These are places that retain links with the work of Cervantes, because they are the birthplace of some characters, such as Dulcinea in El Toboso, or because they are rich in those giant windmills, which have been restored in the meantime, against which don Quijote railed, as in the case of Madridejos.
In Madridejos, the ninth Fiestas quijotescas were held for a period of three days (28-30 June 2013), during which many activities took place, as the representation of fragments of the Quijote and other works of Spanish Baroque theater. Also, as you can see in the video, in the Baroque market locals exemplify different arts and corporations (carpenters, blacksmiths innkeepers, potters, etc) with clothes and tools of the modern era, while, from time to time, characters taken the novel such as Sancho Panza and DulcineaDulcinea is the female character who falls in love with Don Quijote de la Mancha in the famous work of Cervantes. She lives with his parents Lorenzo Corchuelo and Aldonza Nogales in El Toboso, a town in La Mancha, and is described as a young woman of great beauty who works in the fields. However, in the imagination of Don Quijote, hopelessly in love with her, she is a lady of illustrious lineage. walk through the market. The “pillow lace” (encaje de bolillos), a weaving technique that involves decorating a canvas through the intersection of wires, to give life to flowers and other ornamental forms, with the aid of counterweights cylindrical wood called “bobbins” (bolillos) was typical of the era of Cervantes. It is in any case a slow, laborious and complicated. The origin of this technique in the ancient Mediterranean, can still be discussed but certainly it can be said that in the sixteenth and seventeenth century it became very popular in La Mancha, until the introduction of a series of innovations and new machines in the textile field, during the eighteenth century, took place in this mainly female handicraft. Even dances are an important part of these festivities, with the jota castellana manchega, that can be considered the undisputed protagonist of the celebration. The dance, made of small jumps and based on the coordination of the couple, is usually accompanied by songs that ridicule, with a great sense of humor, love stories: you can verify this by watching the video!