The remains of the Saint arrived at the mountain town on November 12, 1599. Arriving and subsiding the plague was all one
By Bravo Communication
Shortly before 1 p.m. on this Tuesday, November 12, the bells of the Church of Santa María, which is at the top of Cogolludo, rang twice, always with permission from the Castle, dynamited by General Hugo in 1811.
At that same moment, over the bell tower, a large flock of cranes flew over, in perfect formation, echoing the mountain ringing. Coming from the Taiga, they flew towards Extremadura, where they usually spend the winter.
Inside the Church, San Diego de Alcalá was waiting, represented in a carving from the forties of the 20th century, adorned with the saint’s typical donut, whose first recipe dates back, no less, to the 18th century, as attested by the extensive research on the matter by local historian Juan Luis Pérez Arribas.
According to the mayor of Cogolludo, Juan Alfonso Fraguas, for Cogolludo San Diego de Alcalá is “the healer and savior of the town”, alluding to the fact that on November 21, 425 years ago, the incorrupt remains of this Franciscan friar arrived to the town, after a plague epidemic had devastated it beginning in the summer of that fateful year. Arriving and subsiding the plague was all one.
San Diego de Alcalá//Image: Bravo Comunicación.
Coincidence or miracle?
Everyone can think what they want. In any case, the people of Cogolludo continue to venerate San Diego de Alcalá as the patron saint of the town, as proclaimed in the book of agreements of the town of Cogolludo, on November 15, 1599. According to the minutes, San Diego de Alcalá will be “patron saint of Cogolludo and his land until the end of the world”, to finish by giving the details of how the festival will be celebrated. Many of them remain to this day.
Francisco Martínez, one of the elders of Cogolludo, remembers that, as has been passed down from father to son in the town, “San Diego saved many lives,” adding that “I wish there had been a San Diego in Valencia, these days, to stop what happened.” This same feeling was expressed by Ciriaco Bodega, another of the veterans who did not miss the patron saint’s day, despite it falling on a Tuesday this year. “The plague was very strong here, and what we celebrate today is a symbol of what San Diego did for us. We do not want this festival of our patron to cease to exist, nor to commemorate it with wine and the saint’s bagel.”
At the end of the mass, the carving was carried out on the shoulders of the faithful through the main door of the Church, to circle three times around the atrium of the temple, a true balcony over the Sierra Norte and the Guadalajara countryside. The image of the saint was followed by the scepter of the old Brotherhood of the Saint, now defunct, carried by the mayor of Cogolludo.
Next, the Cogolludo City Council invited those present to the Saint’s Rosca, an exclusive sweet from Cogolludo, which the local bakery, Tahona del Abuelo, makes following the old recipe: 3 pounds of oil, 5 quarts of water, 1 pound of sugar, a little salt, a large amount of anise, two quarters of baker’s yeast, and flour, whatever you ask for.
Before starting to eat, the mayor of Cogolludo highlighted, in line with the historical events, “the solidarity of the region”, and specifically of the inhabitants of Jadraque, Espinosa, Cogolludo, Fuencemillán, Miralrío and other municipalities, which, coordinated by Cogolludo Civil Protection has collected more than nine tons of belongings and food to help those affected by DANA. “May the light of hope continue,” the councilor wished. The local priest, Mauricio Muela, blessed the food before the people shared it in the Plenary Hall.
A moment from the event that took place last Tuesday in Cogolludo//Image: Bravo Comunicación.
The historical facts
The plague had broken out in Flanders at the end of the 16th century. Perhaps the coming and going of the Spanish Tercios led to the plague landing on the coasts of Cantabria in 1596, spreading from north to south throughout the peninsula. It became extinct in 1602, after causing more than half a million deaths. In February 1599 the plague was declared in Segovia. Probably from there it reached Cogolludo, with the incessant coming and going of the muleteers and their merchandise.
In the mountain town he declared himself in the summer of 1599, his first victim being the wife of Miguel Yanguas, who died on July 3 of that year. Unfortunately, it would be followed by a very long list of deaths of 539 people in 5 months, with fateful days, such as August 29, in which 20 people were buried, in the Parish of San Pedro alone.
One of the first measures adopted by the Cogolludo Council was to close the gates of the wall to prevent entry and exit from the town. On the other hand, the Council bore a large part of the expenses caused by the plague, which is why it was forced to request the deposit’s funds.
Turning to divine aid was another of the resources of the Cogolludenses. The poor of the town were not forgotten, whose poverty would be more pronounced for this reason. The Council came to their aid on several occasions during the pandemic, as witnessed by the documentary research of the town’s official chronicler, Juan Luis Pérez Arribas.
San Diego de Alcalá enjoyed a lot of prestige in Cogolludo because of the Monastery that the Franciscans had established in the town since 1557. The friars spread the fame of the saint’s holiness and miracles in Cogolludo. This was one of the main reasons for establishing the Brotherhood in the Monastery. Although the Brotherhood and the Monastery no longer exist, a scepter is preserved, dating from the year 1758. It has always been carried by a councilor of the City Council on the festival of San Diego and on Corpus Christi.
According to tradition, without documentary confirmation, the intervention of Fray Juan Cortés, guardian father of the Monastery of Friars Minor of San Antonio, was decisive in the transfer of the remains of San Diego, in procession, from Alcalá de Henares to Cogolludo . They arrived at the town on November 12, one day before the church celebrated the feast of San Diego (November 13), at which time the epidemic began to subside.
La Rosca del Santo, exclusive sweet from Cogolludo//Image: Bravo Comunicación.
