The Quarrel over a Carpet, or the Question of Maintaining Order in the Republic. Valencia, Venezuela at the end of the 18th century

At the end of the 18th century, the city of Valencia, in the province of Venezuela, was the center of a dramatic dispute over the use of carpets in churches, which at irst glance may seem banal. As is demonstrated in this article, the carpet embodies central ideas about order, such as inequality and...