Singing to the tomb of Leocadia: a unique procession in the Old Hispanic rite

Abstract

ABSTRACT The only record we have of a procession for a saint in the entire Old Hispanic tradition is a chant sung on the feast of Saint Leocadia, on the way to her tomb (ad sepulcrum). Copied in the tenth-century León Antiphoner, this chant resonates with additional references to rituals around Leocadia’s tomb which may be traceable to the Visigothic capital of Toledo, her place of burial. This article explores the evidence for processional activity connected with Leocadia, what it might have looked like in different periods, and how it may have ended up being celebrated as far away as León. Correcting certain misconceptions about the translation of her relics northwards – they were not moved to Oviedo, as is often upheld – we are yet left with open questions as to the inclusion of the ad sepulchrum chant in the León manuscript. It may be that reproducing key rituals connected with Toledo’s patron saint was a way of capturing the spiritual authority of Toledo as the former capital of the Visigothic kingdom and the imagined source of the Old Hispanic liturgy.