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Constructing the Cámara Santa: Architecture, History, and Authority in Medieval Oviedo

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Constructing the Cámara Santa: Architecture, History, and Authority in Medieval Oviedo Constructing the Cámara Santa: Architecture, History, and Authority in Medieval Oviedo by Flora Thomas Ward A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Art University of Toronto © Copyright by Flora Thomas Ward 2014 Constructing the Cámara Santa: Architecture, History, and Authority in Medieval Oviedo Flora Thomas Ward Doctor of Philosophy Department of Art University of Toronto 2014 Abstract My dissertation examines the Cámara Santa of the Cathedral of Oviedo as both a medieval and modern monument, shaped by twelfth-century bishops and twentieth-century restorers. I consider the space as a multi-media ensemble, containing manuscripts, metalwork, and sculpture, arguing that we must view it as a composite—if fragmented—whole. My analysis focuses on the twelfth century, a crucial period during which the structure, decoration, and contents of the Cámara Santa were reworked. A key figure in this story is Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo (d. 1153), who sought to enhance the antiquity and authority of the see of Oviedo by means of the cult of its most important reliquary: the Arca Santa. I argue that this reliquary shapes the form and function of the twelfth-century Cámara Santa, considering the use of the space in the context of liturgy and pilgrimage. Finally, I consider the sculpture that lines the walls of the space, arguing that it animates and embodies the relics contained within the Arca Santa, interacting with the pilgrims and canons who used the space. Thus, this sculpture represents the culmination of the long twelfth-century transformation of the Cámara Santa into a space of pilgrimage focused around the Arca Santa and the memory of the early medieval patrons of the Cathedral of Oviedo, a memory which abides to this day. What is importantly new about my project is this historiographic frame, combined with a theoretical approach that challenges traditional methods and interpretations. I foreground the importance of the Cámara ii Santa for both regional and national identity. My reflexive reading of the medieval and modern histories of the Cámara Santa offers alternative interpretations for a space whose meaning has long been presented as ideologically fixed. iii a mis hermanas ovetenses, Gema, Vio, y Maipi iv Acknowledgments This dissertation could not have been completed without the support of numerous colleagues in Canada, Spain, and the United States. First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor, Jill Caskey, and the members of my committee, Adam Cohen and Mark Meyerson, for their invaluable guidance throughout this process. Thanks also to Conrad Rudolph and M. Michèle Mulchahey, who helped polish the final product. The research and writing of this dissertation were made possible thanks to the generosity of several organizations and institutions. At the University of Toronto, I received support from the Connaught Scholarship and Graduate Expansion Fund of the University of Toronto- Mississauga. My research in Oviedo was made possible by a Samuel H. Kress Travel Fellowship and a Fulbright Full Grant. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013), ERC grant agreement no. 263036. While in Oviedo, my research was facilitated by several generous individuals. I would like to thank the dean and chapter of the Cathedral of Oviedo, especially Don Augustín Hevía Ballina, for opening the cathedral archive and allowing me to photograph material within it. At the University of Oviedo, Raquel Alonso Álvarez provided much-needed guidance and support at every step of my research process, while Javier Fernández Conde opened many doors along the way. In Madrid, I benefitted from the company my colleagues at the Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, especially Glaire Anderson, Julio Escalona Monge, Alexandra Gajewski, Jennifer Ní Ghrádaigh, José Antonio Haro Peralta, Julie Harris, Therese Martin, and Stefanie Seeberg. Outside of Spain, the community of scholars specializing in medieval Iberia is relatively small, but its members are both immensely knowledgeable and tremendously generous. I would like to thank John Williams for his feedback and insight over the course of my degree. James D’Emilio also generously shared his knowledge at several points during the development of my dissertation. In London, Miriam Rosser Owen of the Victoria and Albert Museum helped me develop my thinking about the casket of St. Eulalia. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends, without whose support none of this would have been possible. Thanks to Piers Brown for constantly pushing me to develop my v thinking in new ways, to Amanda Dotseth for discussion about architecture and everything else, to José Manuel López for chauffeuring me to countless Romanesque churches, to Julia Perratore for sharing her photographs and explaining Aragón, and to Shannon Wearing for being my comrade in cartularies. Thanks also to the tremendous community of current and former graduate students at the Department of Art in the University of Toronto, including Anna Bücheler, Rebekah Carson, Sarah Guérin, John McQuillen, Betsy Moss, and Tianna Uchacz. My deepest gratitude goes to my parents, James Liphus Ward and Victoria Thomas. vi Table of Contents Acknowledgments....................................................................................................................v List of Figures ..........................................................................................................................vii List of Appendices ...................................................................................................................xvii List of Abbreviations ...............................................................................................................xviii Introduction – The Cámara Santa between Memory and History ...........................................1 Chapter 1 – Constructing the Past: Architecture and Memory in the Cámara Santa...............8 Chapter 2 – Forging the Past: Bishop Pelayo and Medieval Historiography ..........................44 Chapter 3 – Framing the Past: Relics and Reliquaries in the Cámara Santa ...........................89 Chapter 4 – Touching the Past: The Cámara Santa between Modern Restoration and Medieval Ritual........................................................................................................................................137 Conclusion – Monuments, Memory, and the Dead .................................................................174 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................182 Appendices...............................................................................................................................220 vii List of Figures Introduction Figure 1. The Cámara Santa after the blast of 12 October 1934 (Photo: Gómez Moreno, “La destrucción,” plate 1). Figure 2. Franco carrying the Cross of Victory, Oviedo, 7 September 1942 (Photo: Fernández Cuesta, La crónica del milenario, unnumbered photograph). Figure 3. Arca Santa in situ, Cámara Santa, Cathedral of Oviedo (Photo: author). Figure 4. Cross of the Angels in situ, Cámara Santa, Cathedral of Oviedo (Photo: author). Figure 5. Cross of Victory in situ, Cámara Santa, Cathedral of Oviedo (Photo: author). Chapter 1 Figure 1.1. Plan of the Cathedral of Oviedo, with a detail of the area around the Cámara Santa (Photo: La Catedral de Oviedo, vol. 2, 328-29). Figure 1.2. Destruction of the cloister near the Cámara Santa (Photo: Gómez Moreno, “La destrucción,” plate 10). Figure 1.3. Destruction of the Chapel of Covadonga, also known as the Chapel of San Ildefonso (Photo: Gómez Moreno, “La destrucción,” plate 13). Figure 1.4. The Arca Santa and the Cross of the Angels in the ruins of the Cámara Santa (Photo: Gómez Moreno, “La destrucción,” plate 16). Figure 1.5. The Cross of Victory in the ruins of the Cámara Santa (Photo: Gómez Moreno, “La destrucción,” plate 17. Figure 1.6. Plan by Luis Menéndez Pidal of the crypt of Santa Leocadia and nearby buildings (Photo: Menéndez Pidal, “La Cámara Santa,” 4). Figure 1.7. Section of the Cámara Santa, looking towards the east (left) and west (right) (Photo: Menéndez Pidal, “La Cámara Santa,” 18-19). Figure 1.8. Closing the vault of the crypt, 15 September 1938 (Photo: Hevia, “Notas sobre la reconstrucción,” 38). viii Figure 1.9. Fragments from the exterior of the Cámara Santa, reassembled, 15 May 1939 (Photo: Hevia, “Notas sobre la reconstrucción,” 38). Figure 1.10. Exterior of the Cámara Santa with the new opening onto the Pilgrims’ Cemetery (Photo: García de Castro, “Las primeras fundaciones,” 23). Figure 1.11. Plan by Menéndez Pidal for the new grille in the Cámara Santa (Photo: Menéndez Pidal, “La Cámara Santa,” 23). Figure 1.12. Map of Franco’s procession (Map: James Liphus Ward). Figure 1.13. Ruins of Calle Uria, Oviedo, in the 1930s from the series of postcards, “Oviedo. Ciudad Mártir” (Photo: Biblioteca Ramón Pérez de Ayala, Ast R C 75-6, series 1, nos. 5 and 6). Figure 1.14. Víctor Hevia’s statue of Alfonso II in front of the Cathedral of Oviedo (Photo: Fernández Cuesta, La crónica del milenario, unnumbered photograph). Figure 1.15. Bust of Alfonso II (Photo: Fernández Cuesta, La crónica del milenario, title page). Figure 1.16. Franco in the Cámara Santa, with the Liber Testamentorum in front
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