The Frontiers of Ceremony: The Ceremonies of a Kingdom, or a Kingdom of Ceremonies?

This paper provides a reassessment of the current approaches employed in the study of ceremonies of the Late Middle Ages in the Iberian Peninsula. Its intent is to present a more dynamic and holistic understanding of the various rituals celebrated by late medieval communities—a model that transcends the geographic and political limits within which they are commonly conceived. The paper explores the reality of these borders in practical terms, and by extension, their validity in an analysis of ceremonies. It will do so by examining, over the course of the fifteenth century, the movement of various monarchs, including sovereigns like Juan II (monarch in the Crown of Aragon, but also King of Navarre and powerful lord in Castile) and the Catholic Monarchs (rulers of Castile, as well as the Crown of Aragon). The paper focuses on the roles of cities, such as Barcelona (which offered solemn receptions to rulers of the Castilian dynasty of Trastámara, such as Fernando I, Portuguese frontier commanders, such as Pedro de Portugal, as well as the heirs apparent to the French throne, such as the Duke of Calabria), Valencia, Zaragoza, Seville, Burgos, and Oporto. It also emphasizes the important information we can gain from the observations of foreign visitors in the Peninsula, including Leo von Rozmital, Nicolas de Popielovo, and Hieronymus Münzer. By these means, the role of the kingdom, the weight of the city, the importance of rituals celebrated at court, and the celebrative traditions of communities will be brought to bear on a critical debate, generating new approaches to the old (yet ever evolving) world of public ceremonies.