16th - 19th Centuries
History - 16th–19th Centuries
In this San Francisco Abbey there was a figurine of Jesus tied to the pillar by the sculptor Sebastián Ducete in 1611. It was probably borne in the procession referred by P. Palacios. And today this figurine can be found in San Gil Church, where it was relocated following the confiscation in the 19th century. Also, in San Gil church another a figurine of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores (Our Lady of Sorrows)—from the middle 18th century and baroque style—can be found since the secularization when it was brought from La Merced abbey, another abbey that no longer exists in the city of Burgos. Today, this figurine is borne by Real Hermandad de la Sangre de Cristo de Burgos y Nuestra Señora de los Dolores (Royal Brotherhood of Burgos Christ’s Blood and Our Lady of Sorrows) on the evening of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
Historically, other two abbeys, San Agustín abbey and Holy Trinity abbey, with their Saint Christs, have encouraged devotion towards Crucified Jesus in Burgos. In the first one, the holy figurine of the so-called Cristo de Burgos was venerated from time immemorial. Following the suppression of religious orders in Spain, it was transferred to the cathedral in 1836, occupying the chapel dedicated to it. In the second one, located next to Saint Francis abbey, the Christ of the Trinity, also known as Cristo de las Santas Gotas (Christ of the drops) was also venerated.
In 1592, in this Holy Trinity abbey, a cofradía called de la Sangre de Cristo (of Jesus' blood) was established, dedicated to worshipping the venerated image. This is one of the oldest cofradías that we have record of. Every year on Palm Sunday, this cofradía organized a procession in which Cristo de las Santas Gotas was borne, and maybe another paso representing the Holy Christ with the venerated Mary at his feet, with the cloth on which she collected the drops. The figurine of Crucified Jesus remained in the Holy Trinity abbey until the French invasion. For this reason, it was moved to the church and returned years later to its convent, until it was donated to San Gil again, definitively, in 1836, when the Trinitarians left their convent.
In Burgos, during the Middle Ages, cofradías flourished greatly, and, according to the research by professors Juan A. Bonachía and Hilario Casado, "given the mentioned number, you get the impression that there was no neighbour who was not a member of a cofradía." Thus, some cofradías emerged: San Eloy, San Martín y San Marcos, Nuestra Señora, San Miguel, Santa Catalina, San Cosme y San Damián, San Vicente—later on called San Esteban—, El Cuerpo de Dios in Nuestra Señora de Viejarrúa church, Santos Mártires and many others that appear linked to the names of the patron saints of their parishes of origin, as Santa Águeda or San Nicolás. No less important in Burgos—given the city's location on the Camino de Santiago—were the brotherhoods dedicated to Saint James, whose primary purpose was to assist pilgrims. Numerous hospitals, like Hospital de San Juan, Hospital del Emperador or, the best known, Hospital del Rey, were founded for this purpose, which, in addition to the large royal foundations, would meet the growing demand for charitable assistance during medieval pilgrimages. Among others we know the hospitals Nuestra Señora de Rocamador, founded by the cofradía of the same name and based on San Román church; San Juan de Ortega, whose cofradía was based on Nuestra Señora de Viejarrúa; Hospital de Anequín, of cofradía de Santa María y San Juan; Santa Marina, of the cofradía of the same name, based on San Llorente church, or the hospital of cofradía de Santiago y de Santa Catalina, based on San Gil church.
Distinguished social classes in the city also formed their own cofradías, such as the Cofradía de Santa María de Criazón, founded in the 13th century by clergymen and to which “the kings, the bishop of Burgos, and the dignitaries and beneficiaries of the Cathedral” belonged; Cofradía de Santa María la Real, was founded in 1273; Cofradía de Nuestra Señora de Gamonal, was founded in 1285; Cofradía de Nuestra Señora de Gracia or de los "Trece caballeros hidalgos"; and Cofradía de Santiago, established in Santiago de la Fuente church at the beginning of the 14th century—today based on the Cathedral—and to whom the most distinguished gentlemen of the city belonged. Along with these brotherhoods, penitential cofradías also gained special importance and during Semana Santa they hold their main services and processions in the streets, accompanying the pasos, figurine or groups of figurines representing a theme or scene related to the passion and death of Jesus, which move the crowd of faithful who watch them in the streets to compassion. Although the existence of this type of cofradías has been known since the 13th century, after the Council of Trent (1545-1564) is when the dissemination was enhanced throughout Christendom.
Besides the above-described cofradías of Vera Cruz and Sangre de Cristo, there was another one in the 16th century dedicated to Our Lady of Solitude, which was also under the patronage of La Muerte (The Death). From there, a procession set out on Good Friday night, apparently a “procession of discipline” carrying a paso of “Our Lady on a black cross, with a shroud hanging down,” which was raised high in front of all the members of the cofradía.
In 1585, we find a cofradía named Nuestra Señora de la Soledad based on the Holy Sepulchre Chapel in the Cathedral. During the 16th century, “a figurine of Our Lord in the Sepulchre, a devotional Cross, and an Ecce-Homo" were worshipped. In 1525, the chapter of the cathedral granted permission to found a cofradía dedicated to the Sepulchre (Cofradía del Santo Sepulcro en Hierusalem). The cofradía was penitential in nature and, at least in the 1580s, held processions in which its members were required to discipline themselves.
These figurines, mentioned in the documents from the end of the 16th century as belonging to Cofradía del Sepulcro, are probably the ones we now know as Christ tied to the column, by Diego de Siloé, and the other one, a reclining Christ exhibited in Don Gonzalo de Lerma chapel. We are therefore speaking about the oldest known images in the processions in Burgos Semana Santa.
In 1726, Cofradía de Nuestra Señora la Virgen de la Alegría (Cofradía of Our Lady the Virgin of Joy) is founded in San Nicolás de Bari church, which may be the oldest one still existing, and which has its procession on Resurrection Sunday to announce the joyful Easter of Christ. In 1778 in San Pedro de la Fuente parish, Cofradía de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores (Cofradía of Our Lady of Sorrows) was founded and in 1794 in San Cosme y San Damián parish, Cofradía del Santísimo Sacramento (Cofradía of the Most Holy Sacrament), currently named Ilustre Archicofradía del Santísimo Sacramento y de Jesús con la Cruz a Cuestas (Distinguished Cofradía of the Most Holy Sacrament and Jesus Carrying the Cross).
Following the ecclesiastical confiscation, all assets belonging to abbeys and cofradías were confiscated and many of them disappeared, as well as their main figurines. Only some of them were saved, having been taken to the cathedral or parish churches.
By mid-19th century, Hermandad del Santo Calvario (Brotherhood of the Holy Calvary) was founded in San Cosme y San Damián parish, in order to reorganize the processional celebrations of the passion in the city. This cofradía organized the Good Friday procession and had two pasos: la Virgen de los Dolores and a Christ.
