It develops in a small town of Granada called Béznar, deals with the 16th century, during a Moorish uprising that ravaged the Alpujarras and the Valley of Lecrín with many battles.
In one of these battles they destroyed the Christian defenses by fleeing their troops to the ravine of Durcal, leaving behind all their weapons, food, and clothing.
The monks (types of bandoleros) taking advantage of the flight of the troops entered and looted the Church of Béznar, taking among other things the Tabernacle and a small box that contained the Copón with the Consecrated forms that was the most valuable piece.
The people after this were filled with sadness, they repented of not having fought to defend the possessions of God, they took measures. They put on the ponytails and took the muskets and ammunition that the soldiers had released in their flight.
The Christians of the town were able to recover their beloved possessions, they returned to the town to place them in their place where they corresponded in their church, they were received like heroes.
The women, by their enthusiasm, threw the silk handkerchiefs on their heads and shoulders, their shawls, ribbons, flowers, etc. On the dusty vestments that were covered with silk and flowers, and the belt were hung Silk handkerchiefs and shawls. The flowers hung on his hat not only came from the women, they also wore garlands that meant that they would fight until they died for being martyrs of their religion.
On the altar of the church they placed the Blessed Sacrament.
After this the people placed a watch as the Sacred Forms could not be exposed to be stolen again, they deployed a permanent guard post.
In the year 1569 all the neighbors met unanimously agreeing to found an association that continuing and collecting the statutes of the brotherhood already existing from the 31 of March of 1567 included other articles as:
– «Let his members take care of the guard and the cult of the Blessed Sacrament»
– «To be called Brotherhood of the Blessed Sacrament of Béznar»
All this was approved on January 10, 1578 and written. The privileges of this brotherhood were confirmed and enriched with other privileges by Pope Innocent X.
Nowadays, every 8th and 9th of September, the Musketeers guard the Blessed Sacrament during Solemn Masses. They have been done for more than three hundred years.
Dress:
The musketeers’ vest is a yellow suede of two petos, it lacks neck and sleeves which is supplied by the musketeer’s shirt. A white silk handkerchief closed by a ring or a ring is now worn for the neck. The sleeves are sewn to the vest, which has nine silk tails plus two loops of larger dimensions and different colors called the M and the A that precedes the nine tails. The M and the A are the initials of Ave Maria. Another adornment is the silk handkerchiefs and the scarves of colored silk.
The vest has a double skirt of about a foot. The girdle must be of red silk of about two and a half meters and is knotted to the side with a bow dropping the tip with fringes.
The hat is round, so-called catites, armed with a castle with eight bouquets of brightly colored flowers and a wreath at the foot of the castle, also wearing a bright red talc of equal size. Apart from the Musketeers this is the Polvoristas who are the ones that keep the gunpowder in a pot to load the muskets as well as flints to prime them.
Armament
The musket measures about two meters high and its barrel is five centimeters in diameter at the bottom and three centimeters in the mouth of fire. Its weight is of a few kilos and it is fired leaning on the iron fork that measures one meter and fifteen centimeters. It is loaded by means of an ear located in the final part of the musket, it is in contact with the bowl where the bait is placed. The open key like a duck’s beak strongly embraces a flint, and when it falls on a tempered steel mirror, it gives off the spark that produces the shot.
Another type of weapon is the arquebus is smaller and narrower the barrel the rest is the same as the musket.
Potrocolo during Holy Mass
At the beginning of the Mass the sergeant (he is recognized because he carries a spear) sends two of his musketeers to the side of the High Altar and one in front of the Tabernacle and others behind it. All the progress is made on the left side of the Altar.
The sergeant begins his ascent accompanied by both Musketeers, always with the pica in high, and kneels in the first step, in the second also kneels again, in the third the sergeant surrenders his pica until touching the sections that leave and then The pair of musketeers finish climbing the steps and both kneel to the sides of the staircase.
After fifteen minutes the sergeant takes over the musketeers (same process as the first couple) except that instead of the sergeant surrendering his weapon the musketeers run to the center leaving the place where they were before.
At the indication of the sergeant the three musketeers stand up and kneel on the second step and then on the first step, then turn in the opposite direction the one who made their arrival and go next to their body of guard.
This is repeated over and over again with all couples.
The sergeant and corporal are extensive of these services.
Ritual to be carried out by the corporal of musketeers and soldiers during the holidays
The corporal must be dressed before dawn and prepared inside his house and the band and drums in the door of his house. The corporal has his musket ready for firing. When it shoots, it breaks the march. About eight o’clock in the morning the cape comes out again but now he must shoot at the door of the first musketeer, until the corporal does not shoot at his door the musketeer can not get out. This first musketeer is shooting at the door of his partner and so on. If you pass by the sergeant’s house you must shoot him twice to join the group.
Once united the group, the corporal who goes to the head with the band of music go towards the address of the Flag bearer, which leaves with shots and to the chord of the real march and all parade to bases of a military march until the place that There the authorities and their leaders review it.
This review is verified at a slow pace of musketeers to the sound of drums. When the first two pairs of musketeers leave the square, the cape again shoots and closes rows, ending the revolt and reshaping the primitive formation on the march and continue parading towards the Parochial Church where the formation is undone until the solemn Mass .
In the afternoon with the head to the head, before the procession, they must have loaded weapons. The standard-bearer and the sergeant are waiting on both sides of the church door, at the exit of the sacred images he shoots again. At that moment the act of fluttering the Flag and the offering to its Divine Majesty takes place of the victories reached on the Monts and Moors.
The standard bearer is placed to the right of the images. The sergeant is placed back to the images and starts the march at a slow pace (the drum is marking the step to follow) when arriving at a step away; Before a roll of drums turn both one to the right and one to the left, remaining in front of the images. Always to the beat of the drum, they move three steps and kneel while the drum rolls and takes off the hat; So until the third time the flag-bearer who has only surrendered to the flag, raising it up to the height of the eyes advances to the images, this is repeated twice.
After this offer they turn both facing each other and greeting each other by taking their right hands to the height of their left shoulders. The sergeant receives the flagger his pointed and uncovered hat advances to the center of the free space and facing the Sacred Images and displaying the flag. The band begins with the chords of a waltz and the standard bearer begins the ceremony.
Having caught the pole by the regatón begins to spin around its pole twice by tying it twice and quickly without changing the position of his hands or his body and takes it to his left side another two times and the flag is slipped, This process is done fifteen times.
He then begins to wiggle around circles around his head, when the flag is wrapped around his flag, he begins to slip it in the same way he did at the beginning and when he finishes the ten statutory laps he kneels and with the flag extended in The ground and awaits the homage of the unloading of the prepared musketeers and begins the procession. During the procession the musketeers shoot in the indicated places
Musketeers are an institution in Béznar. They come accompanying their celebrations of late summer for 500 years and could not Lecrín stop paying a tribute to this old institution
 |
 |