Institutional and Popular Religion in Quevedo’s “Ya la obscura y negra noche”

Abstract

This study demonstrates the complex relationships between institutional religion and local, popular devotion in Quevedo’s poem “Ya la obscura y negra noche.” Through the application of the figure of Wisdom to Mary, Quevedo uses knowledge of liturgy and Scripture to dignify the local advocation of the church of Santa María de la Antigua in Valladolid. It also explores how this figure’s address to the local cofrades and encouragement of confraternal celebration uses orthodox scriptural interpretation to privilege popular devotion over institutional religion.