The "El NAZARENO" mutiny, Villafáfila, 1911

The image of Jesus Nazarene, whose popular name is "El Nazareno" , is the most venerated and devoted image by the residents of the town. To understand how the riot over the image of Jesus Nazarene "El Nazareno" came about , we will give a brief account of this image and its history.

Relationship about the image of Jesus Nazarene "The Nazarene", and data about his history

 Its 17th century carving, Baroque style, measures 1.40 m., unknown author, comes from the church of San Martín de Villafáfila, located in the Chapel of the Barrios or of the Consolation founded by D. Pedro de Barrio Ordás [1] "the Perulero" around 1562 , was the presentation of the family of the Barrios, before 1779 the Nazarene had already been placed under the invocation in the chapel.

It was the titular image of the Brotherhood of Jesus of Nazareth or the Sweet Name of Jesus [2] , created at the beginning of the 18th century, which belonged to the church of San Martín, the members of the brotherhood were only men, the image that is processed during Holy Week:

“a litter in which Our Lady appears…a litter in which Jesus of Nazareth appears . ”

Since the beginning of the 18th century , from which it is deduced that already before 1714 the images of Jesus Nazareno "El Nazareno" were taken out in procession from the church of San Martín together with the crosses of asking and Mary [4] , parading in the procession on the morning of Good Friday, it did so under the brotherhood until the middle of the decade of the 20th century, in 1794, the image had two black velvet tunics, with a gold stripe to go out in procession and with a black banner. Always accompanied by the sound of a trumpet [5] property of the brotherhood.

From 1831 the image of San Juan [6] also goes out with them in the procession , so it is assumed that from then on the ceremony of the Encounter was celebrated, over the years the procession was called the Encounter procession, where a preacher from the Plaza Mayor gave the sermon of the Encounter, Jesus was placed at the corner of the Plaza San Martín (Caja Rural), María at the Town Hall and San Juan at the entrance to Costanilla Street today (Dr. Fuertes Street), staging the Encounter and bowing to each other.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the custom began to gather on Palm Sunday at the doors of the church of San Martín to auction off [7] the money given for carrying the images of Jesus of Nazareth, of Our Lady (Mary) and the crosses to ask for :

“ 1820 , Jesus paid 6 bushels of bread, payable in August, 40 reales for carrying Mary and two bushels for the crosses to ask for” [8] .

Then in 1831 Saint John and the Trumpet were included.

“Jesus 72 R., The Virgin 33 R, R, and the crosses to ask for 7 reales. St. John 9 R, the trumpet 9.”

In 1953 the church of San Martín disappears and that same year the image is moved to the church of Santa María del Moral, placing it in the western nave or gospel, 1st section (left) to the side where it remains [9] , and from this year of transfer the procession of this church of Santa María del Moral begins to leave, the brotherhood also disappears, but it continues to maintain the procession and the reverences that are made right next to the Town Hall, in the decade of the 70s 20th century to preach the Sermon of the Meeting.

The “El Nazareno” mutiny in Villafáfila 1911

Perhaps it is not the first time that the image of Jesus Nazareno “El Nazareno” could have left Villafáfila (that will give rise to another historical story) it is specifically about the riot produced by the residents of Villafáfila in 1911 on account of the image of Jesus Nazareno “El Nazareno” due to the attempted sale by the then parish priest D. José Mayo Domínguez in 1911 and which is a very close fact in history, very much in the mouths of oral tradition and which can also be documented.

Jesus of Nazareth "The Nazarene" is the most venerated image in the town, perhaps motivated by the belief that in the 17th century he worked a miracle, ending the plagues that plagued Villafáfila during that period. This veneration leads to the fact that during its processional parade during Holy Week, the residents who carry the image, as well as others who accompany it at that time, go barefoot in the procession. This is done as a promise to him. Many of these requests are due to a personal or family health issue, or other requests of very varied kinds, such as a good harvest year, etc.

This is how the newspaper El Heraldo de Zamora tells us and records the riot: XVII Siglo II Number 4602 - 1911 May 15 [10] , on the eve of San Isidro days before, about the event:

“Herald of Zamora – General News

We are informed from Villafáfila that a few days ago, most of the women and children gathered in the town square to protest against the parish priest, who believed he had sold an effigy of Jesus of Nazareth to a certain antique dealer.

The Civil Guard arrived at the scene, and once the protesters were convinced that no such sale had taken place, they peacefully retreated to their homes.

It spread through the town , the rumour or the certainty spread, that the parish priest D. José Mayo wanted to sell the image of Jesus of Nazareth, in order to finance the expansion works of the church of Santa María del Moral that he was carrying out, which meant that the neighbours gathered at the doors of the church of San Martín, expressing their displeasure, carrying sickles, lances, the civil guard had to protect the parish priest, and the population was on guard in case he sold it .

The stories about this event, well known to the residents of Villafáfila, were not far from their motivation, since the parish priest D. José Mayo Domínguez [11] was reforming and enlarging the church of Santa María del Moral (1905-1923) in those years, something he longed to do (as we report after the record described by the historian D. Manuel Gómez Moreno who visited Villafáfila in 1903.

This parish priest, according to the popular version of the town, was selling everything possible from the demolished churches of San Pedro and El Salvador, he even sold the most valuable thing in the church of Santa María del Moral in 1908, the tables of the temptations of Saint Anthony to the Bishopric of Astorga for 2,500 pts. [12] , because he needed funds for the expansion of the church of Santa María del Moral, which were not few.

Apparently, through a servant of the parish priest who knew that he was planning the sale of the image of Jesus of Nazareth "El Nazareno" to an antique dealer to raise funds for the expansion of the church of Santa María del Moral , she made the fact known to the neighbors.

The neighbors in the face of opposition to this sale (remember that Jesus Nazarene "The Nazarene" is the most venerated image [13] ) which was located at that time in the church of San Martin in the chaplaincy of the Barrios or Consolación, the majority of the neighbors rioted and gathered in the square of San Martin, at the doors of the church of San Martin crowding together to protest, expressing their displeasure, the spirits of the neighbors were very heated and surely very exalted, since wanting to sell "The Nazarene" are major words in Villafáfila, because they were carrying sickles, turners, etc., surely the sayings of the neighbors in the riot towards the parish priest D. José Mayo Domínguez were outbursts with great exaltation of all kinds, under threats against his person.

Well the neighborhood had previously protested against the demolition of the churches of San Pedro and El Salvador, the sale of their belongings, and the parish priest wanting to sell the image of Jesus Nazareno "El Nazareno" would be the straw that broke the camel's back and roused the neighbors, so much so that even the Civil Guard that had a barracks in the town showed up at the riot trying to break up the demonstration, not without certain threats, having to protect the parish priest, while the riot and protest lasted, the riot was not broken up until it was certain that it would not be sold, because the neighbors were watching over the image of Jesus Nazareno "El Nazareno" until they broke up .

Even proof that the spirits were very high and what Jesus Nazareno "El Nazareno" represented for the residents of Villafáfila that day was D. Mateo Alonso Lorenzo (1858-1929) [14] , when the Civil Guard was dispersing the demonstration and with certain threats:

“He unbuttoned his shirt, surely in fury, opening it with his hands, showing his chest to the Civil Guard, and with his voice raised to shout and exclaim, shoot me!” [15] .

This gives us the feeling and fervor that is processed towards Jesus Nazarene "The Nazarene" even to the point of risking one's life.

Surely the parish priest D. José Mayo Domínguez, given the turn the matter of the sale had taken, seeing how his parishioners' spirits were towards him in the mutiny and protest, would perceive or perhaps receive threats in situ that his physical integrity would be in danger, for this reason he would be escorted by the Civil Guard, and would make him desist from the sale [16] .

We must put ourselves in context in the time of those years, of the social environment of the moment not only in relation to religion, the political environment and taking references from other documented protests such as the one produced as a consequence of the San Roque festivities because of the bulls [17] of those decades, one of the two most deep-rooted traditions of Villafáfila along with Holy Week, that the parish priest would be a witness to it, he would take good note of how the neighbors could get to spend them.

This great veneration and devotion that the people of Villafáfila have towards Jesus Nazareno "El Nazareno" is what saved him from being sold, because apart from what was described above in his promises, his image in the Auction that is held on Palm Sunday, by far the image of Jesus Nazareno "El Nazareno" is the most economically valuable bid, far behind the others as we can see in the bidding list of recent years, seeing how in 2011 its value reached €1,750 [18] .

Evidence described by the historian D. Manuel Gómez Moreno who visited Villafáfila in 1903

I don't know if the rumour was well-founded, but the fame of the parish priest D. José Mayo Domínguez of selling a large part of the heritage from the disappeared parishes of San Pedro and San Salvador in order to reform that of Santa María del Moral, had transcended, as recorded by the historian D. Manuel Gómez Moreno in his book Monumental Catalogue of Spain. Province of Zamora, which he visited Villafáfila in 1903.

“I experienced another feeling there, and a painful one, because the scenes of devastating vandalism that made certain revolutions execrable, with great detriment to culture, were now developing under the direction of a parish priest who, with a foresight worthy of a better cause, remedied the effects of the abandonment that the suppressed parish churches would reach, by tearing them down and selling their spoils of all kinds, and even the valuable items of the only church that remained [19] , with the intention, it seems, of enlarging the latter. And, to the credit of the town itself, its residents protested in the meantime, with more sound logic, about what had been done” [20] .

Author:

José Luis Domínguez Martínez.

©villafafila.net ®villafafila.net bull

The “El Nazareno” mutiny in Villafáfila 1911

villafafila.net - https:villafafila.net/motín/motin.htm

Bibliography - Text:

Manuel de la Granja Alonso and Camilo Pérez Bragado:

Villafáfila: History and Present-Day History of a Castilian-Leonese Town and Its Parish Churches. 1996. pp. 164 to 177, 436, 440, 442, 443, 444, and 445.

Manuel de la Granja Alonso:

The Art of a Castilian-Leonese Villa Villafáfila 2008, pp. 23 to 25 and 32, 76 and 77.

Elias Rodriguez Rodriguez: 

Brotherhood of Jesus of Nazareth.

storiesdevillafafila.blogspot.com

https://historiasdevillafafila.blogspot.com/2020/04/la-cofradia-de-jesus-nazareno.html

villafafila.net - http://villafafila.net/cofradianazareno/cofradianazareno.htm

Elias Rodriguez Rodriguez.

Parish of Santa María del Moral de Villafáfila.

storiesdevillafafila.blogspot.com.

https://historiasdevillafafila.blogspot.com/2022/10/parroquia-de-santa-maria-del-moral.html.

Elias Rodriguez Rodriguez:

Riots at bullfighting festivals in the early 20th century.

historiasdevillafafila.blogspot.com - https://historiasdevillafafila.blogspot.com/2020/08/algaradas-en-las-fiestas-por-causa-de.html

Elias Rodriguez Rodriguez:

Personal data.

José Luis Domínguez Martínez.

The Easter auction in Villafáfila.

villafafila.net - http://villafafila.net/subasta.subasta.htm

José Luis Domínguez Martínez:

The Holy Week Trumpet of Villafáfila.

villafafila.net - http://villafafila.net/trompeta/trompeta.htm

José Luis Domínguez Martínez:

St. Martin Church.

https://www.villafafila.net/iglesiasanmartin/iglesiasanmartin.htm

José Luis Domínguez Martínez:

The Barrios, a noble family in Villafáfila since the 15th century (unpublished).

José Luis Domínguez Martínez.

Personal data.

Herald of Zamora: Evening Newspaper. Defender of the moral and material interests of the province of the 17th Century. Number 4602 - May 15, 1911.

https://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.do?path=1002743379

Manuel Gómez-Moreno:

Monumental Catalogue of Spain. Province of Zamora: (1903-1905).

Publication: Madrid: Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts, 1927.

Photograph:

Manuel Gómez-Moreno.

Manuel de la Granja Alonso

Elias Rodriguez Rodriguez.

José Luis Domínguez Martínez.

File from the Viscount of Valoria, Intendant of Zamora, to the Count of Aranda regarding the status of the congregations, brotherhoods and fraternities in the towns under his jurisdiction. ES.28079.AHN//CONSEJOS,7098,Exp.29, Villafáfila (Zamora) (sheet VIII et seq.).

Transcription, assembly and layout:

José Luis Domínguez Martínez.

All text, photographs, lithographs, transcription, assembly and layout are copyrighted by their authors. Any unauthorized use is prohibited.