‘As Precious as the Ark of the Covenant’

Abstract

According to Diego de Yepes, confessor to King Philip II of Spain, the Lead Books were as precious to Granada as the Ark of the Covenant to the Israelites. Their mysterious esoteric ism and elevated status heightened the impact of their discovery upon the city and upon Spain, an impact further intensified by a number of cultural factors which combined to truly sensational effect, creating a phenomenon described by Yepes and others as if it were the most important event since the divine revelations made to Moses, as if the parchment and plomos were beyond price. Those cultural factors include certain mythical and legendary links and echoes that pervade both the Lead Books and the events surrounding their discovery, and which contributed to their exceptional status and authority. In this context, the meaning and importance of three specific motifs have crucial importance. These motifs are, first, the sacred mountain; second, the cave and its associations with seeking and finding treasure; and third, the idea of treasure as a book. Each of these may be viewed from both Morisco and Old Christian Catholic perspectives, as represented by the two protagonists of this drama, the Morisco Miguel de Luna, and a personage who played an immense role in the Sacro Monte affair, but who has remained so far in the shadows, the Archbishop of Granada, Don Pedro de Castro.