The Colonial Church

I. Introduction

A. Challenges to studying religion

1. Taking belief seriously
2. Acknowledging other motivations
3. Source problems

B. Today: Church, Thurs: indigenous spirituality

II. Missionaries

What methods did missionaries use to try to convert AmerIndians and how did these change over time?

A. Early Methods (early 16th century was period of idealism, millenarianism)

1. Mass baptisms: rituals as opening to sacred power
2. Visual methods: religious architecture, art, theater
3. Use similarities between native religions and Christianity (some saw as evidence of prior evangelization)
4. Teaching by rote: opening to miracles
5. Over time, break down language barrier (missionaries were the principal linguists)
6. Focus on youth (particularly of elite)
7. Debates over use of force

B. Growing Disillusionment

1. 1562: Friar Diego de Landa led Franciscans on a campaign against "idolatry"

a. at least 4500 Maya tortured and at least 158 died
b. Franciscans critical of Spanish abuses, so why violent? Illusion of success led to sense of betrayal.

2. Metaphor of Indian as childlike: shifts from positive to negative characteristics
3. Ongoing debates about use of force, but in general moving toward more compulsion
4. Formalization of extirpation campaigns (see Arriaga, Andrien)
5. War on indigenous culture more broadly, similarities in religion seen as work of Devil
6. Trend toward “dumbing down” the message; Amerindians (i.e. elite youth) barred from becoming priests

C. Relative Differences between Mexico and Peru

1. Timing:

a. Peru: a generation later
b. began with less idealism

2. Geography:

a. Mexican centralized settlements

*Easier for priests to identify and repress indigenous sacred sites and practioners

*Altepetls competed for most prestigious patron saints and missionary orders

*Indigenous practices continue particularly at level of households

b. Andes: dispersed populations difficult to police and landscape filled with sacred sites

II. Church as Institution

What services did the Church provide to the Catholic Population?

A. Branches

1. Regular (Orders, e.g. Franciscans etc.)

a. monasteries (male friars)
b. convents (female nuns)

2. Secular: parish priests, bishops, pope
3. Inquisition: authority over all non-indigenous population

B. Services

1. Religious (baptism, communion etc.)
2. Educational
3. Economic (managed properties; made loans)
4. Judicial (e.g. mediated marriage conflicts)

Questions:

What methods did missionaries use to try to convert AmerIndians and how did these change over time?

What services did the Church provide to the Catholic Population?

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