Masked dance

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:14 +0000

The image represents the celebration of a masked ball, probably the masked ball held in 1767 at the Teatro del Príncipe in Madrid. In the boxes, a large audience is watching the spectacle of the crowd dancing in the stalls. The feeling of nocturnal festivity and the energy of the mass of people can also be perceived, as these celebrations were awaited with great joy by the population. We know that from the 15th century onwards a variety of entertainment activities, such as court ballet and theatrical performances, were held at royal and stately courts, to which were added new events such as balls and parties known as “saraos”, where knights and ladies danced. However, for the popular classes during the Ancien Régime, the carnival became the most desired festivity, which went hand in hand with other activities held in public squares such as games, competitions, theatres and dances, among others. What was most novel was the curious relationship that was established between the dances and the carnival, giving rise to the masked balls. These celebrations were banned on successive occasions by monarchs such as Philip V, in order to curb disorder and the violence inherent to carnival. In 1767, his son, Charles III, granted permission to hold masked balls, provided that they were held in enclosed premises and complied with a series of strict behavioural measures. As Clara Bejarano Pellicer (2009) explains, the masked ball was nothing more than a proposal for celebrating carnival, alien to Spanish and popular customs, which had a strong courtly influence. For the development of these, in the aforementioned year of 1767 the Instrucción para la concurrencia de bailes de mascara en el carnaval was published in Madrid, where the celebration of these festivities was regulated, with an evident aim of reforming the most irrational customs typical of carnival and popular culture, in order to propose a more refined, literate culture. It should be noted that while the carnival was a festival in which all social classes took an active part, with the plebs playing a leading role, the masked ball implied a privatisation of the festival, as not everyone could attend, as they had to pay an entrance fee, which limited access only to the middle and upper strata of society, thus avoiding the presence of the lower classes. These spaces became spaces for enjoyment, but also for socialising and exhibition.

The post Masked dance first appeared on History Lab.

Drawing map of the New Towns of Sierra Morena

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:03 +0000

The Nuevas Poblaciones de Andalucía y Sierra Morena project began around 1767, during the reign of Charles III. It was an Enlightenment project drawn up by Campomanes and entrusted to Pablo de Olavide, which sought to populate certain fairly extensive areas that had been depopulated. These lands were located along the Royal Road of Andalusia that connected these lands with the plateau (central peninsular), and included the desert of Sierra Morena or La Peñuela (Jaén); the desert of La Parrilla, between Córdoba and Écija; and the desert of La Monclova, between Écija and Carmona. The idea of populating these lands had the intention of improving the safety of the people and goods that moved through them, which were mainly threatened by banditry. To bring the project to life, Catholic settlers from central Europe, mainly Germans, Flemish and Swiss, were attracted and provided with land to promote agriculture and industry. These new settlements were known collectively as the “Nuevas Poblaciones” (New Towns), and had their capital at La Carolina and La Carlota.

The post Drawing map of the New Towns of Sierra Morena first appeared on History Lab.

1767 - History Lab

Masked dance

Drawing map of the New Towns of Sierra Morena