Important civic processions of a more solemn and stately nature took place during the innumerable state funerals of the Porfiriato. When a distinguished statesman, illustrious general, or renowned man of letters passed away, the federal government decreed periods of mourning, issued...

The conciliation policy of Porfirio Díaz is demonstrated by government participation in religious processions from 1876-1911. As if to publicize the state's rapprochement with the church, Díaz and his cabinet members often marched at the head of important religious...

In contrast to Díaz appearance on Juárez Day, Porfirio Díaz always wore the uniform of a Division General during military parades on Cinco de Mayo and Independence Day. The military parade gained primacy under Díaz with the reorganization of the federal army,...

The conciliation policy of Porfirio Díaz is demonstrated by government participation in religious processions from 1876-1911. As if to publicize the state's rapprochement with the church, Díaz and his cabinet members often marched at the head of important religious...

The triumph of the Tuxtepec Revolt that brought Díaz to power compelled him to search for legitimacy by upholding traditional republican state ceremonies such as the civic procession. Complying with national law, solemn inaugural ceremonies were held every time Díaz was...

Rather than squandering funds on self-aggrandizement and royal decor, the governments of Juárez and his successor, Sebastiin Lerdo de Tejada, stressed republican principles and material progress during national holidays. For example, Mexico celebrated Independence Day in 1869 by...

Although many colonial traditions continued after Mexico separated from Spain in 1821, Independence and other nineteenth-century achievements brought forth new dates to commemorate with civic processions. In fact, the first civic march in the history of Independent Mexico was the...

The arrival of a new archbishop also called for unrestrained pomp. Three impressive ceremonies held for Archbishop-Viceroy García Guerra between 1608 and 1612 illustrate the prominence of religious processions as civic events and demonstrate their significance as symbols of...

Despite the chronic political turmoil, civil wars, and foreign invasions that plagued Mexico from the 1830s to the late 1860s, civic and religious leaders continued to hold extravagant ceremonies to mark occasions that they deemed significant. Both Antonio López de Santa Anna and...

Processions have formed the most important part of Mexican civic and religious ceremonies since colonial times. Linear sequences of people moving through public areas resided at the center of royal celebrations mandated by the Spanish Crown and national holidays decreed by Mexican...

As can be seen, aside from the daily celebration of the mass, the procession was the public ritual form that most defined colonial Mexican Catholicism. In the aforementioned cases, processions were part and parcel of the celebration of honoring the saints. However, processions of the...

The outward European ritual forms gradually were accepted and became standard religious activities. However, religious ritual during the period also reflected both ethnic diversity and cultural mestizaje (mixing). For example, Indians danced traditional dances and wore their own special...

Although the civic spectacles could be extravagant, they generally did not mark the lives of individuals and communities like purely religious ritual did. In fact, religious ritual permeated daily routine from baptism, marriage, death, evening prayers, and weekly mass and confession. The...

One festival did not blur the line between the sacred and the profane; in the case of Carnival, there was no doubt that the profane ruled. Carnival, with its culmination on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, marked the last days of celebration before the fasting and solemnity of Lent....