Un ejemplo de adaptación de la teatralidad medieval al contexto novohispano: La invención de la Santa Cruz por Santa Elena

Abstract

The Discovery of the Holy Cross, celebrated in the Christian calendar since early times, has been represented in plays since the fifteenth century. As regards references to this type of works in the Spanish language, documentary sources mention the staging of the Reina Elena in Toledo since at least 1495 and the relevance of this topic in the Sevillian Corpus Christi during the first few decades of the sixteenth century. The Códice de Autos Viejos also contains a play called Cuando Santa Elena halló la Cruz de Nuestro Señor (When St. Helen Discovered the Holy Cross). The text entitled La inventión de la Santa Cruz por Santa Elena (The Discovery of the Holy Cross by St. Helen) was written in Tlaxcala (Mexico) in 1714. However, this work was undoubtedly related to the Evangelist theatre introduced there during the first century of colonisation. Therefore, it can be said that this text definitely reflects how medieval tradition was adapted to the missionary context of the New Spain from the sixteenth century, and in particular to the political and ideological reality in which the indigenous population of Mexico found itself. This article aims to present the main points of this important illustration in order to demonstrate the adaptation process of medieval theatre for a new audience, in this case as a result of a cultural melting-pot in the New World.