Triple Wedding, Santa Fe. April 8, 1641

Scope of project

This project identifies the three couples married in a triple wedding ceremony in Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 8, 1641, at the Palace of the Governors.

Overview

The eighth day of April 1641 was a particularly festive day at
the Casas Reales de Palacio. A triple wedding ceremony set the
occasion for the gathering of residents to witness the union of three members of the Lucero de Godoy family with three members of the Romero-Robledo family. These families ranked high among the few prominent and politically influential kinship groups in New Mexico. The fact that the wedding ceremony was conducted on royal government property speaks to the level of their political influence.

Fray Juan de Vidaña of the Franciscan Order presided over the ceremony, administering the sacrament of matrimony to the three couples: Pedro Lucero de Godoy (b. 1600, Mexico City) and his second wife doña Francisca Gómez Robledo, Juan Lucero de Godoy (Pedro’s son) and doña Luisa Romero, and doña Catalina de Zamora (Pedro’s daughter) and Diego Pérez Romero. Following the ceremonial words of the Catholic rite of matrimony, the three couple gave the responses for sealing their vows.

Among the official witnesses of this special occasion were doña Josefa de Zamora, also a daughter of Pedro Lucero de Godoy, and her husband, don Diego de Guadalajara. Although the specific details of the marriage ceremony and any festivities to celebrate the occasion are lacking from the historical record, we can imagine that relatives and friends were present and that such a celebration most likely involved the preparation and sharing of food. As late as 1662, several people recalled attending this event, which exemplifies the central role of the Casas Reales de Palacio in the lives of the residents of the Santa Fe.

Notes

The Palace of the Governors in the Seventeenth Century, by Jose Antonio Esquibel
http://www.elpalacio.org/placeseries/fall0617thcentury.pdf