The villancicos de mojiganga of the Monasterio de las Descalzas: the limits of transgression

Abstract

Abstract: The article analyzes the evolution, from the seventeenth to the eighteenth century, of a specific typology of villancico in the preserved corpus of the Monasterio de las Descalzas in Madrid: the villancico de mojiganga. Undeniably theatrical, this type of villancico was the favourite of the Descalzas’ public, and it could often have led to an obvious transgression of the religious spirit that should had imbued them. Its study offers, not only a faithful portrait of this genre over two centuries, but the verification of the trend it experienced throughout its trajectory: a strong censorship that ended up destroying its essence.Keywords: villancicos, mojigangas, seventeenth and eighteenth century, Monasterio de las Descalzas.