It is possible that the epitaphs
disappeared at some time when the pavement of the church was renewed,
or when damages inflicted by earthquake shocks were repaired, or when
changes were made in the windows and doors about the main altar, or
when the higher altar platform was extended to reach the desks on
which lie the Gospels and Epistles. At any such times the slabs over
the burial vaults may have been broken or laid aside and never
replaced. It is also possible that they were intentionally removed in
order to guard against profanation of the tombs by enemies in time of
war or by West Indian pirates, who captured and sacked stronger cities
than Santo Domingo. In 1655 when an English fleet under Admiral
William Penn appeared before the city and landed an army under General
Venables, there was great excitement and fear in Santo Domingo, and
the archbishop ordered that the sacred ornaments and vessels be hidden
and that "the sepulchres be covered in order that no irreverence or
profanation be committed against them by the heretics, and especially
do I so request with reference to the sepulchre of the old Admiral
which is on the gospel side of my holy church and sanctuary," That
other tombs were hidden, whether at this time or another, was shown in
1879, when, on repairing the flooring in the chapel of the "stone
bishop" in the cathedral, the slab indicating the grave of the
Adelantado Rodrigo de Bastidas, the explorer, was found concealed
under a stone, and it was discovered that the epitaph of Bastidas on a
board which from time immemorial had hung on the wall of the chapel
was an incorrect copy of the original graven on the burial slab.
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