Sepulcher of a Living Death? Space, Rituals, and Daily Life in Mexico’s Viceregal Palace

The viceregal palace stood at the epicenter of power in New Spain, yet historians know little about its form and function. An analysis of space in the palace, the rituals of power, and daily life within its walls is therefore overdue. The building bustled with activity. The officers of the treasury, the audiencia ministers, and the merchant guild met in its halls on the second floor, while the lower floor housed thirty soldiers of the viceregal guard, minions, horses, and carriages. Even the prisoners languished on the ground floor of the southeast patio. For great festivities such as the queen's birthday, musicians played in the great hall, actors performed theater, and fireworks exploded over the zócalo. Yet the palace also secluded the viceroy. Clients proceeded through several antechambers to reach the king's “alter ego,” where they fell upon their knees asking for his patronage. This act underlined the exalted stature of the official. In the mid-eighteenth century, however, Madrid began to curb the leeway of its officials. The crown charged Viceroy Count of Fuenclara (in office from 1742 to 1746) with playing cards in the antechamber. To deflect the prosecution of this illegal practice, his supportive witnesses admitted that the count had gambled regularly with his friends and followers following “ancient customs,” but stressed that Fuenclara allowed games only with “great reluctance” or “with great moderation.” I argue in this paper that the reforms of the eighteenth century reduced the ritualized role of the viceroy as the representative of the king. When the crown instead appointed technocrats, they were seen as less removed from the daily operations and failures of the administration. Political discontent challenged their position. The changes in the courtly culture and use of interior space thus contributed to the independence of Mexico.