During these times of pandemic, not much is happening with regards to traditions, festivals and the many processions we are so used to see around Spain. Most of them are cancelled or severely limited both for those who participate and for those who want to experience these celebrations. However, we will reminisce a little bit and still tell you about the first time we watched the Easter processions here in Spain. Processions with people in long robes and pointed hats that covered their faces – it was undeniably reminiscent of scary groups on the other side of the Atlantic. In this article, we will attempt to uncover the story behind the outfits worn by many in the Semana Santa parades. What are myths and historically correct facts are harder to unravel than one might think.
Across the country, Jesus’ story of suffering is illustrated in processions throughout the Easter week – from Palm Sunday, through Maundy Thursday and Good Friday and until the first day of Easter. Bands play mournful music, floats with religious images are carried through the streets by men who almost collapse under the weight. The people with covered heads and faces are a feature of all the processions. Who are they and why do they dress like that?
Some sources suggest that the costumes date from the days of himself Jesus or perhaps even earlier. They believe similar clothing was worn by the priests in the temple in Jerusalem. However, the evidence claiming a direct connection that spans more than 2000 years seems thin. Cultures that have to weave their fabrics by hand naturally tend to utilize the entire piece of fabric in their garments.
Think of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Vikings for that matter – the clothes are mainly made up of rectangular pieces of fabric that have not been cut to any great extent. Weaving fabrics in pre-industrial times is simply too much work to waste the material. Attires from before the industrial revolution that gained momentum in the latter half of the 18th century can therefore be relatively similar across cultures. (The spinning machine “Spinning Jenny” which revolutionized textile manufacturing in the Western world was first invented in 1764.) The priests in the temple in Jerusalem wore long robes with hats or turban, but they did not look very much like the outfits of the Spanish participants in the Easter processions.
If we are to stick to what actually exists of written documentation, the origin of the Easter procession’s cone hats, also called capirote, must be placed in the European late Middle Ages. The Middle Ages is the term for the period from the western part of the Roman Empire disintegrating in the 5th century until the 16th century when the great European voyages of discovery began in earnest. Such period divisions are admittedly not completely fixed, and the years for beginning and end may vary somewhat from country to country. In Spain, the Middle Ages are often counted up to the conquest of Granada in 1492 under Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. Some historians extend the Middle Ages a little further, until 1504 when Queen Isabella passed away or until 1516, the year when her husband King Ferdinand II died. It is at least relatively late in the period we call the Middle Ages that we find the first outfits that really resemble today’s “capirote”, face-covering cone hats, which are worn in the Easter processions.
Self-flagellation
Historically, self-flagellation is considered the origin of today’s processions and partly also the choice of clothing. They were often called flagellants, from the Latin word “flaggelare” which means to whip. Groups of flagellants held processions in the streets where they bloodily recounted Jesus’ tormenting path to the crucifixion. The self-flagellation represented the treatment Jesus received through the streets of Jerusalem before he was crucified.
To understand such actions, one should keep in mind the historical background. The flagellants compared themselves to Jesus in the sense that they punished themselves for human sins and in this way sought forgiveness and purification. Flagellants were particularly active in Europe in the 13th to 15th centuries. Those were rough times. The plague was ravaging. No one knows exactly how many millions died. Between 1347 and 1351, the Black Death raged, one of several plague epidemics. Historians believe that between one third and two thirds of Europe’s population was affected by one pandemic.
Despair can have extreme consequences. The self-beaters gradually became many, and their appearances were frequent in large parts of Europe. The flagellants went so far that Pope Clement VI (1291-1352) felt compelled to send letters to his bishops condemning such extravagant public appearances. Prayers for forgiveness of sins should from now on be made more “internally” and the church should have control over the exercises of penance. Covering the face should help the one asking for forgiveness of his sins to concentrate on himself and not his surroundings.
Inquisition and Easter traditions
Throughout the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church distanced itself more and more from flagellants. They are even declared unbelievers, despite long church traditions. The Middle Ages are known to be a period when the church takes control of more and more aspects of society. The Inquisition becomes a tool for the church in this context. The Inquisition is a collective term for several institutions within the Catholic Church created to fight infidels. On the Iberian Peninsula, the Inquisition had particularly extreme outcomes.
The Spanish Inquisition was established in 1478 by the monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragón and his wife Isabella I of Castile. They wanted to ensure that Catholic Orthodoxy prevailed in the empire, and their Spanish Inquisition took over from previous institutions of a similar nature under the control of the Pope of Rome. This is a period when the entire Spanish territory comes under the control of Christian monarchs again. The last Muslim rulers, based in southern Spain, are expelled and the reconquest, Reconquista, is completed. (See our article “The Land Everyone Wants” for more on the Reconquista.)
To begin with, the Spanish Inquisition was mostly concerned with finding and punishing individuals who had converted from Islam or Judaism to Catholicism, but who nevertheless had to be considered infidels. And there were relatively many of them, especially after the royal couple in 1492 and 1502 ordered all Muslims and Jews to either convert to Catholicism or leave Spain.
Modern historians estimate that about 150,000 people complained about the Spanish Inquisition during the three hundred years the institution was active. Between 3,000 and 5,000 of them were executed. Although it had lost much of its power, the Spanish Inquisition was not officially abolished until 1834.
The Spanish Inquisition forced its detainees to wear paper-shaped cone hats to humiliate them in public. The colors of the hats varied according to the punishment of the judges of the Inquisition. For example, people who had been sentenced to death had to wear red hats.
The cone-shaped hat with full face covering that we see in today’s Easter processions, must have originated in the 16th century, a period when the Spanish Inquisition was in full swing. The religious leadership had at that time introduced a number of new rituals aimed at sinners who sought forgiveness for their iniquities. Such penalties were especially added to the time just before Easter.
When the Inquisition was abolished, the garb of the “repentant sinner” was kept in Catholic brotherhoods as a symbol that the bearer repented and sought forgiveness for his sins. There are members of such fraternities, in Spanish called hermandades or cofradias, we see in the Easter processions. Today, it is no longer a question of simple paper hats, but elaborate silk hats and matching robes, often embroidered with the symbols of the brotherhood to which the participants belong.
Brotherhood membership is no longer limited to men. Today, women also hide under the capirots. By the way, it is said that women have participated in Easter processions long before gender equality became a theme – the outfit “is made to hide the participant’s identity”. Children can become members of religious fraternities following their first communion.
Instead of identifying convicted prisoners and the “crimes” the Inquisition had found them guilty of, today’s capirote is associated with modesty and the search for forgiveness. The hat, which covers both head and face, allows one to concentrate on prayer and forgiveness without being distracted by acquaintances and strangers who may be standing along the streets as the procession passes. Some people give the hat’s high, pointed shape a special meaning: it points towards and reminds people of the heavens.
What about the Ku Klux Klan?
Just to make this perfectly clear: The attire of those seeking forgiveness of sins in Spanish Easter processions has nothing to do with the racist organization Ku Klux Klan. The capirot originated in the Middle Ages. The Ku Klux Klan was not formed until 1865, by officers from the losing side in the American Civil War. At that time, Spanish Easter traditions and customs were long established. The outfits that we today associate with the KKK were not worn by clan members in the post-civil war era. The KKK did not attract many members in this early phase. It is only when it reappears at the beginning of the 20th century that the white cloaks and pointed cone hats come into the picture. Was their inspiration Spanish Easter processions? It is unlikely: In addition to attacks on black Americans, the clan is known to be strongly anti-Catholic.
Happy Easter!
Harry B., Find Your Spain!
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