Ritualised Public Performance, Emotional Narratives and the Enactment of Power: The Public Baptism of a Muslim in Eighteenth-Century Barcelona

Abstract

This work analyses the surviving account of one public baptism: that of a single Muslim captive in 1723, who was baptised in Barcelona amidst a sumptuous and elaborate public ceremony that included a procession, military parade, public baptism in the cathedral and was concluded with a truly spectacular celebratory bonfire. It highlights the crucial importance of analysing ritualised early modern ceremonies not in isolation, but rather within their broader political, social or religious contexts. Furthermore, through the unparalleled wealth of details about this public baptism, this work also explores the manner in which a ruler could usurp a highly ritualised religious ceremony to enact his power and convey an emotional message to his subjects via its semiotic density.¹