Week Five
Colonial New Spain
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¡OJO! New Spain includes the Philippines!

Manila galleon trade; silver and gold for textiles and china

La China Poblana

 

The 'Spiritual Conquest'

I. From Santiago Matamoros to Mataindios:

- reconquista/reconquest
- 1391, massacres of Jews
- 1469, marriage of Catholic kings
- 1478, Inquisition authorized to seek out conversos
- 1492, defeat of Muslim Granada, expulsion of Jews
- 1499, conversion or expulsion of Muslims

 

II. The “Golden Age” of the Indian Church in Mexico, 1520s-1560s:

A. Regular vs. secular clergy

- Franciscans, 1524 (The Twelve)
- Dominicans, 1526
- Augustinians, 1533

B. Methods of conversion

- destruction of temples and native books
- reducción into doctrinas
- translation and composition of Christian works in indigenous languages
- education of nobility's children: Colegio de Santa Cruz Tlatelolco, 1536-1580s

(transfer of indigenous knowledge, e.g. Bernardino de Sahagún's and informants' Florentine Codex (1545-1590), Martín de la Cruz's Libellus de medicinalibus indorum herbis (1552), don Alonso de Castañeda's Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca (1550s)

C. The End of an Era: 1580s

- demographic collapse (esp. 1575-77):

1519 - 25 million in Central Mexico
1568 - 2.5 million
1630 - .7 million

- idolatry trials; Diego de Landa in Yucatán

 

Africans in New Spain

I. Waves of migration

- 1441-1518, Upper Guinea (e.g., Juan Garrido)

- 1518-1580s, West African Gold Coast

- 1580s-1690s, West-Central Africa (Angola, Congo)

1580-1640, unification of Spain and Portugal = heaviest traffic in slaving in New Spain


II. Urban/Domestic vs. Plantation Slavery

- 16c-17c, concentration in cities + factories + mining

1547, Zacatecas
1554, Fresnillo

1563, Durango
1590, San Luis Potosí

- 18c, shifts to sugar plantations in Gulf Coast, Morelos, Michoacán

 

III. Africans and the Castas

- limpieza de sangre
- república de indios/de españoles
- castas: mestizos, mulattos
- calidad:

gente decente vs. plebe
white/casta
Old Christian/New Christian
Legitimate/illegitimate
Pure blood/impure blood
Honorable/infamous
Law-abiding/criminal
Rich/poor
Noble/plebeian
Nonmanual workers/manual workers

1. Español – India = Mestizo
2. Español – Mestiza = Castizo
3. Castizo – Española = Español

4. Español – Negra = Mulata
5. Español – Mulata = Morisco
6. Español – Morisca = Alvino
7. Español – Alvina = Torna atrás

8. Indio – Negra = Lobo
9. Lobo – Negra = Chino (3/4 Negro, ¼ Indio )
10. Chino – India = Cambujo (5/8 Indio , 3/8 Negro)
11. Indio – Cambujo = Tente en el aire (13/16 Indio , 3/16 Negro)
12. Tente en el aire – Mulata = Alvarasada (13/32 Indio , 11/32 Negro, 8/332 Español)
13. Alvarasado – India = Barsino (45/64 Indio , 11/64 Negro, 8/64 Español)
14. Barsino – India = Campamulata (109/128 Indio , 11/128 Negro, 8/128 Español)
15. Indio – Mestiza = Coyote

Coda: The Church: It's Everywhere!

- urban architecture
- law: canon + secular, Inquisition
- charitable institutions: hospitals, orphanages
- life events (baptism, marriage, burial)
- education (colegios, universities; Jesuits)
- intellectual production (Sor Juana de la Cruz, Sigüenza de Góngora)

- fiestas (patron saints, holy days, autos de fé)
- pilgrimages (Tepeyac)
- cofradías (confraternities)