The Church in Colonial Latin America(Latin American Studies)

Introduction

The Catholic Church was undoubtedly the single most important institution in colonial Latin America. Everyone who lived in the region was nominally a member of the Church. The Church controlled all aspects of life from birth, through marriage, until death. The Church became the single largest landowner within the colony, developing commercial agriculture to support many of its activities. Religious orders within the Church created vertically integrated commercial activities such as sheep production and weaving, grape production and brandy. The missionaries of the Church had the principal responsibility of converting the millions of natives of the New World to the faith, which was a daunting task because of significant linguistic and cultural differences. Through the local bishop and the powers of the Inquisition, the Church also monitored the homogeneity of the philosophical underpinnings of the society, assuring conformity of thought. In short, the colonial Church touched nearly every aspect of life. At the same time, the Church was not a monolithic institution. On the most basic level the clergy fall into two large camps: the secular or diocesan clergy and the regular clergy. The former include the common parish priests who served under the supervision of the local bishop or archbishop, as well as high-ranking clerics such as those who served in the cathedrals. The latter include members of religious orders, both male and female. In this way the regular clergy can also be seen as highly fragmented since each religious order had its own internal governance and hierarchy reaching ultimately to the Pope. The Franciscans and Dominicans, while similar in many ways, had very different approaches to evangelization. The Society of Jesus, the Jesuit order, was a relative newcomer, being founded in the 1540s, and having very little in common with the older orders. At the same time, the diocesan clergy and the bishops who governed the dioceses fell administratively under the supervision of the King of Spain, thanks to a series of papal grants and privileges. This control over the Church in the New World was known as the Royal Patronage. The Church also evolved significantly over the 300 years of colonial rule. From humble beginnings with the early missionaries, the Church became wealthy and powerful. Jurisdictions shifted as local bishops came to regulate idolatry and heresy among the native population while the Inquisition focused more on larger political and social issues. In the end, the Spanish Crown recognized that the Church was a very powerful institution and sought to control many of its activities.

Imperial Overviews

The Spanish Crown took an active role in the development of the Church in the New World. Spanish claims to the Americas were based on the Christianizing mission. The Spanish kings came to exercise the Royal Patronage over the Church: that is, the right to appoint major officials to administer the Church, including bishops and archbishops, members of cathedral chapters, and even local beneficed curates. Shiels 1961 traces the development of the patronage, while Padden 1956 and Schwaller 1986 focus on the development of the definitive royal response to the patronage. Boxer 1978 and Schwartz 2008 both study the imperial manifestations of the importance of the Church in the overseas activities of the two Iberian powers: Spain and Portugal. Rivera 1992 focuses on the loudest voice of dissent in the period: Fr. Bartolome de las Casas, who argued that if the Crown based its claims on the Christianization of the natives, then the Crown needed to be equally concerned over the treatment of the natives.

Boxer, Charles. The Church Militant in Iberian Expansion. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978.
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This book is a short overview of the relationship of the Catholic Church to the imperial powers of Spain and Portugal. The book focuses on the role of the Church in Iberian overseas expansion in the Americas, Asia, and Africa.
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Padden, Robert C. “The Ordenanza del Patronazgo of 1574: An Interpretive Essay.” The Americas 12.3 (1956): 333–354.
DOI: 10.2307/979082Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
The Ordenanza del Patronazgo established the Crown’s role over the day-to-day life of the Church in colonial Latin America. This essay looks at the pressures which led to its promulgation.
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Rivera, Luis N. A Violent Evangelism: The Political and Religious Conquest of the Americas. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1992.
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Rivera focuses on the life and struggles of Fr. Bartolome de las Casas in the context of Spanish imperial policy in the New World. This study is deeply rooted in theology and shows how las Casas drew upon Aristotelian thought.
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Schwaller, John F. “The Ordenanza del Patronazgo in New Spain, 1574–1600.” The Americas 42.3 (1986): 253–274.
DOI: 10.2307/1006927Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
The implementation of the Ordenanza created a new set of procedures for the selection of parish priests, as outlined in this essay.
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Schwartz, Stuart. All Can Be Saved: Religious Tolerance and Salvation in the Iberian Atlantic World. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008.
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Schwartz challenges the idea that the Iberian kingdoms were religiously intolerant. By looking at the lives of ordinary people and common everyday discourse, he paints a picture of religious tolerance even in the face of the Inquisition.
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Shiels, W. Eugene. King and Church: The Rise and Fall of the Patronato Real. Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1961.
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This work analyzes the development of Spanish control over the Church in the Americas. Looking at a series of papal decrees, Shiels explains the slow acquisition of authority over appointments and legislation within the American Church by the Spanish monarchs. The book also has translations of these decrees.
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Overviews

Several scholars have written overviews of the history of the Church in Latin America. Nearly all deal with the whole 500-year sweep rather than simply focus on the colonial period. Lopétegui, et al. 1965–1966 tends to focus a bit more on the Jesuit order, to which all three authors pertained. Dussel 1981 attempted to seek the origins of what would be known as “liberation theology” in the history of the Church in Latin America. Lynch looks more broadly and includes important information on the rise of Protestant churches in the region in recent years. Prien 1978 combines attention to documentation with a solid overview. Schwaller 2011 traces the Catholic Church and its institutions over the 500 years. The two studies of the history of the Church in specific nations in the colonial period come from the pens of local historians. These studies are massive and cover all aspects of the life of the Church and encompass the whole history, from the earliest evangelization until the early 20th century. Cuevas 1921–1929 was written during the early years of the Mexican Revolution, when revolutionaries began to actively persecute the Church. For this reason it was published in the United States when Cuevas was in exile. Vargas Ugarte 1953 covers the broad sweep of the history of the Church in Peru until the close of the 19th century.

Cuevas, Mariano. Historia de la iglesia en México. 5 vols. El Paso, TX: Editorial ‘Revista Católica’, 1921–1929.
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A thorough if pointed history of the Church in Mexico. Heavily documented, the thrust of the book was critical of the reforms which various governments imposed on the Church from the 18th century forward.
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Dussel, Enrique. A History of the Church in Latin America. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1981.
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An Argentine who studied in Europe but settled in Mexico, Dussel offers a unique perspective on the history of the Catholic Church in Latin America. Heavily influenced by liberation theology, he is the most philosophically oriented scholars among those writing on Church history in Latin America.
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Lopétegui, León, Félix Zubillaga, and Antonio de Egaña. Historia de la iglesia en América española. 2 vols. Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 1965–1966.
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For years this work was the standard history of the Church in Latin America in the colonial period. The first volume focuses on North America and the Caribbean, the second on South America.
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Lynch, John. New Worlds: A Religious History of Latin America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012.
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Lynch looks at the complex issues surrounding the religious history of Latin America. His work does not focus solely on the Catholic Church, but on many different religious traditions, of which the Catholic Church was traditionally the most dominant.
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Prien, Han-Jurgen. Die Geschichte des Christentums in Lateinamerika. Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1978.
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This is an important and well-documented overview of Christianity in Latin America. Being written in German it has not attracted as much scholarly attention as other, more accessible works.
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Schwaller, John F. The History of the Catholic Church in Latin America: From Conquest to Revolution and Beyond. New York: New York University Press, 2011.
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Covering the whole 500-year scope of the Catholic Church in Latin America, Schwaller focuses on the institutions that provided both stability and continuity and on the pressures for change in the 19th and 20th centuries.
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Vargas Ugarte, Rubén. Historia de la iglesia en el Perú. Vol. 1. Lima, Peru: Imprenta Santa Maria, 1953.
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This massive history of the Church in Peru covers the topic until 1900. The last four volumes were printed in 1959–1962 (Burgos, Spain: Imprenta de Aldecoa).
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Evangelization

Alongside of the conquerors, missionaries came to the New World to convert the natives to Christianity. The people of the time saw this as being a critical moral responsibility. Furthermore, many believed that once the Gospel had been preached to the last living person on earth, Christ would again return ushering in a kingdom of a thousand years. Phelan 1970 explores how deeply these end-of-times thoughts influenced early Franciscan missionaries to Mexico. Sylvest 1975 also considers millennial thoughts as one of the major motifs of Franciscan missionary theory.

Phelan, John L. The Millennial Kingdom of the Franciscans in the New World. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1970.
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The Franciscans who first served as missionaries to the New World were heavily influenced by the millenarian thinking of Joachim of Fiore. This inspired the Franciscans to engage in evangelization as a means of hastening the Second Coming.
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Sylvest, Edwin. Motifs of Franciscan Missionary Theory in Sixteenth-Century New Spain Province of the Holy Gospel. Washington, DC: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1975.
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The Franciscans were the first and largest of the missionary groups in early Mexico. The methods and practices which they used in the evangelization were later adopted by other missionaries.
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Mexico

The evangelization of Mexico occurred prior to that of Peru and has been of greater interest to scholars. The groundbreaking work was Ricard 1966. Originally published as a doctoral dissertation in French in 1933, it defined the field for years. Burkhart 1989 revolutionized studies of the evangelization by demonstrating that the conversion process was in fact a dialogue between the missionaries and the natives, in which each side attempted to understand the other, but in terms of its own underlying assumptions. The role of the missionary friars, and the Franciscans in specific, in the conversion of the natives has been the focus of several works, including Díaz Balsera 2005 and Pardo 2004. Baudot 1995 looks at how the missionary friars collected the first ethnographic information regarding the native peoples. Warren 1963 looks at the unique efforts of an early bishop to create a utopian community near Mexico City.

Baudot, Georges. Utopia and History in Mexico: The First Chronicles of Mexican Civilization, 1520–1569. Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 1995.
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The major authors who described the native cultures of Mexico at the time of the conquest were all members of religious orders, and largely Franciscan. Baudot looks at the evolution of Franciscan writings in the first eighty years of evangelization.
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Burkhart, Louise. The Slippery Earth: Nahua-Christian Moral Dialogue in Sixteenth Century Mexico. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1989.
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Early authors envisioned the evangelization of the natives as a “spiritual conquest.” Basing her work on primary sources written in the Aztec language, Nahuatl, Burkhart disputed that characterization finding instead a nuanced dialogue between the evangelizer and the evangelized.
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Díaz Balsera, Viviana. The Pyramid under the Cross: Franciscan Discourses of Evangelization and the Nahua Christian Subject in Sixteenth-Century Mexico. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2005.
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Díaz Balsera continues in the vein began by Burkhart 1989, looking at the interpretation of the Christian method by native peoples. She finds that Christian notions were adopted and adapted into a Nahua worldview, often times at odds with what the missionary friars had originally intended.
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Pardo, Osvaldo F. The Origins of Mexican Catholicism: Nahua Rituals and Christian Sacraments in Sixteenth-Century Mexico. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2004.
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Pardo analyzes the evangelization in terms of how native peoples understood the rituals of the Church and how pre-conquest rituals were then adapted to further the new religion. Missionaries drew on the ritual traditions of the natives to make the new religion more accessible.
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Ricard, Robert. The Spiritual Conquest of Mexico. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1966.
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Originally published in French in 1933, this is the landmark study of the evangelization of Mexico. Ricard praises the efforts of the early religious orders as they brought Christianity to Mexico, characterizing it as the equivalent to the military conquest of the region by Cortés.
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Warren, Fintan B. Vasco de Quiroga and His Pueblo-Hospitals of Santa Fe. Washington, DC: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1963.
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The bishops of early Mexico tended to come from religious orders. Vasco de Quiroga was a royal judge who was chosen as Bishop of Michoacan. He was heavily influenced by Sir Thomas More’s book, Utopia, which Quiroga sought to implement in native communities in Mexico.
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Peru

Traditionally the evangelization of South America has received less attention from scholars. The work of MacCormack focused on the religious traditions of the Andeans and the Spanish in seeking to understand the conversion efforts. Tibesar 1953 was an early effort to focus attention on the missionary friars of Peru. Durston 2007 has sought to clarify the role which the Inca language, Quechua, played in the evangelization. Ramos 2010 considers the cult of the dead as it existed prior to the arrival of the Spanish and how it played an important role in the conversion of the Andeans. Charles 2010 considers the important role played by indigenous agents in the development of a Peruvian Christianity.

Charles, John. Allies at Odds: The Andean Church and its Indigenous Agents, 1583–1671. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2010.
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Charles looks at the role which native peoples played both in the conversion to Christianity and in the day-to-day administration of individual parishes. At the same time these native agents saw a conflict between their duties as agents of the Church and the responsibilities as members of the native community.
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Durston, Alan. Pastoral Quechua: The History of Christian Translation in Colonial Peru, 1550–1650. Notre Dame, IN: Notre Dame University Press, 2007.
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The missionaries in Peru chose Quechua as a lingua franca for their interactions with all natives. The variant chosen was that spoken in and around Cuzco, the former Inca capital. Durston looks at how Inca notions and understandings continued to bleed through into colonial, Christian writings.
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MacCormack, Sabine. Religion in the Andes: Vision and Imagination in Early Colonial Peru. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991.
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This work is a fascinating overview of religion in the Andean region following the conquest and during the early colonial period. MacCormack was trained in the classics and brings new insights to understanding the dynamics of culture change and evangelization.
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Ramos, Gabriela. Death and Conversion in the Andes: Lima and Cuzco, 1532–1670. Notre Dame, IN: Notre Dame University Press, 2010.
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Ramos looks at the cult of the dead as practiced among the natives of Peru and traces its influence on the conversion to Christianity. The missionaries sought to stamp out all vestiges of the former belief. Nonetheless, many aspects remained which Ramos traces through wills and other colonial documents.
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Tibesar, Antonine. Franciscan Beginnings in Colonial Peru. Washington, DC: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1953.
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Tibesar’s classic history of the Franciscans in Peru was one of the first serious studies of the evangelization in the region. Unfortunately, the Franciscans were not the first nor the major order to evangelize the region, and so the book only gives glimpses of the larger picture of conversion.
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Philippines

Many folks fail to recognize the Philippines as part of the Spanish American colonial world, but since they were discovered and settled by Spanish explorers sailing from Mexico, the Spanish Crown considered them as such. Phelan 1959 was the first scholar in English to consider the unique aspects of the Philippine evangelization. Rafael 1993 has had a profound impact on studies of conversion not merely in the Philippines but in other Spanish dependencies as he considered the linguistic dialog into which the early missionaries entered as they sought to express Christian concepts in the common language of the island, Tagalog.

Phelan, John L. The Hispanization of the Philippines: Spanish Aims and Filipino Responses, 1565–1700. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1959.
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This book is one of the first works to systematically analyze the impact of Christianity on the Philippines. It laid the groundwork for further research into evangelization in the islands.
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Rafael, Vicente L. Contracting Colonialism: Translation and Christian Conversion in Tagalog Society under Early Spanish Rule. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1993.
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Rafael examines the linguistic side of the conversion to Christianity. Looking at colonial works in Tagalog, he traces the expropriation of the conversion opportunity by local elites and studies the misunderstanding of local society by the missionaries.
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Brazil

The history of the Catholic Church in colonial Brazil has not been as widely studied as other topics. Nonetheless, there is some outstanding scholarship that focuses on the general topic. The essay Hoornaert 1984 provides an excellent overview of the major topics and introduction to the sources available for further work. Carrato 1968 explores the development of the Church in the important mining district of Minas Gerais which in the 18th century provided the colony with fantastic wealth. Vainfas 2011 looks closely at the colonial context and notions of sin as developed by the Church in the colonial period.

Carrato, José Ferreira. Igreja, iluminismo e escolas mineiras coloniais. Sao Paulo, Brazil: Ed. Nacional, 1968.
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In this book, Carrato traces the development of the region of Minas Gerais not simply as a series of mining camps, but also through the interplay of the work of the Church, focusing on the many competing philosophies of the 18th century. Linked to this was the important role of schools and teachers, also analyzed by Carrato.
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Hoornaert, Eduardo. “The Catholic Church in Colonial Brazil.” In Cambridge History of Latin America. Vol. 1. 541–556. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1984.
DOI: 10.1017/CHOL9780521232234.017Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This essay is a synthesis of the evangelization and development of the Church in colonial Brazil. It is an important place to begin study on Brazil.
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Luiz de Castro, José. A Organização da igreja católica na capitania de Goiás (1726–1824). Goiana, Brazil: Ed. da UGC, 2006.
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This is a solid study of the organization of the Church in one of the territories of colonial Brazil. It is especially useful in understanding the unique organization of the colonial Brazilian Church.
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Myscofski, Carol A. Amazons, Wives, Nuns, and Witches: Women and the Catholic Church in Colonial Brazil, 1500–1822. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2013.
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Myscofski brings together many themes which deal with the role of women in the colonial Brazilian Church. Her work considers the broad range of activities performed by women in the religious world.
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Vainfas, Ronaldo. Tropico dos pecados. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Editora Jose Olimpio, 2011.
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Using a theological orientation and records of the Church courts, Vainfas looks at the common forms of sin in colonial Brazil in order to better understand the importance and centrality of the social function of the Catholic Church.
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Early Church

While many scholars have studied the dynamics of the evangelization, more recently studies have appeared which look at the pressures on natives and missionaries after the first encounter. Van Oss 1986 studies life in the parishes of Guatemala over several hundred years and how local conditions were affected by imperial policy. Schwaller 1987 provides an overview of career patterns for secular priests in Mexico. Both Hanks 2010 and Christiansen 2013 look at the role played by native languages in the parish context, both touching on Maya, with Christiansen also considering Nahuatl language texts. Powers 1995 raises important issues in looking at struggles among religious orders and the secular clergy in providing ecclesiastical services to natives and others. Morales 1973 considers the social and economic background of Franciscans in Mexico as a means of explaining internal dissention in the order. The process whereby the missionary friars returned to the urban context is the subject of Melvin 2012.

Christiansen, Mark Z. Nahua and Maya Catholicisms. Stanford, CA, and Berkeley: Stanford University Press and the Academy of American Franciscan History, 2013.
DOI: 10.11126/stanford/9780804785280.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
In a marked departure from previous studies, Christiansen looks at popular Christian texts written in two different native languages, Nahuatl and Maya. In this he looks at the creation of the popular religion which developed slightly beyond the reach of the missionaries.
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Hanks, William F. Converting Words: Maya in the Age of the Cross. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2010.
DOI: 10.1525/california/9780520257702.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Looking at the Yucatec Maya, Hanks focuses on the first 200 years of evangelization. While the missionaries developed a lingua franca for the region, it was later used internally by Maya to wage rebellion against the Spanish.
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Melvin, Karen. Building Colonial Cities of God: Mendicant Orders and Urban Culture in New Spain. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2012.
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Looking at all religious orders, Melvin traces their return to cities, as they were slowly replaced in rural parishes by secular clergy. The density of religious population in the cities had a profound effect on urban culture in mid-colonial Mexico. They came to be key institutions in the cities of the 17th and 18th centuries.
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Morales, Francisco. Ethnic and Social Background of the Franciscan Friars in Seventeenth Century Mexico. Washington, DC: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1973.
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Morales analyzes the membership of the Franciscan order in 17th-century Mexico. He finds three distinct cohorts: those born and ordained in the Iberian Peninsula; those born in Spain but ordained in Mexico; and those born and ordained in Mexico. They acted as three discrete political camps in the management of the order.
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Powers, Karen Viera. “The Battle for Bodies and Souls in the Colonial North Andes: Intraecclesiastical Struggles and the Politics of Migration.” Hispanic American Historical Review 75.1 (1995): 31–56.
DOI: 10.2307/2516781Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This article looks at conflicts between religious orders and the secular clergy in the administration of the sacraments to different ethnic categories of people: natives who had migrated to new locations and individuals of mixed ethnic heritage.
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Schwaller, John F. The Church and Clergy in Sixteenth-Century Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1987.
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Schwaller looks at the social composition of the secular clergy and analyzes the offices which clerics could hold. Contrary to earlier assumptions, he finds that creoles dominated the clergy by the end of the 16th century and even served as bishop in several dioceses.
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Van Oss, Adriaan V. Catholic Colonialism: A Parish History of Guatemala, 1524–1821. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
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Looking at the local level, Van Oss studies local parishes and parish priests in Guatemala. He finds the rise and decline of the secular or diocesan clergy over the 300 years of his study.
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Anthologies

Both of these collections (Nesvig 2006, Schroeder and Poole 2007) offer unique glimpses into the religious life of the colony of New Spain as viewed from the level of the parish and community.

Nesvig, Martin A., ed. Local Religion in Colonial Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2006.
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The ten essays in this collection range from popular religion, to idolatry, to the use of native languages in the conversion process. The chronological scope also encompasses the three centuries of the colonial period.
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Schroeder, Susan, and Stafford Poole, eds. Religion in New Spain. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2007.
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Divided into seven parts, this excellent collection of essays also covers a wide range of topics from sexuality and racism to music and martyrdom.
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Economic Function of the Church

The Church was a major force in the economic development of Latin America. More than any other religious order the Society of Jesus came to rely on the proceeds from rural estates and commercial agriculture to support its wide-ranging activities. Cushner 1980, Cushner 1982, and Cushner 1983 looks at the specific mechanisms which the order used in Peru, Ecuador, and Argentina, respectively. In a similar manner Konrad 1980 focuses on the massive rural estate of Santa Lucia in Mexico and how it developed and supported the colleges of the Society of Jesus. Von Wobeser 1994 and Martínez López-Cano 1995 both look at the system whereby liens were imposed and mortgages applied on urban properties to support pious works within the Church. Greenow 1983 considers the same mortgage market in late colonial Guadalajara. Von Wobeser 1999 also studies the manner in which the Church used the funds secured with mortgages as the basis for chantries. Schwaller 1985 looks at the wide range of financial activities of the Church in 16th-century Mexico.

Cushner, Nicholas P. Lords of the Land: Sugar, Wine, and Jesuit Estates of Coastal Peru, 1600–1767. Albany: SUNY Press, 1980.
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In the first of three studies, Cushner analyzes the financial basis of the Jesuit order in southern Peru. Using a network of landholdings, the order developed wine and sugar production for local and regional markets in order to support the work of their schools and colleges.
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Cushner, Nicholas P. Farm and Factory: The Jesuits and the Development of Agrarian Capitalism in Colonial Quito. Albany: SUNY Press, 1982.
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The Jesuit order in Ecuador engaged in commercial agriculture and the elaboration of agricultural products to provide income for its missions and colleges. In addition to cattle, sheep, and grains, the order also developed woolen mills to produce cloth for the market.
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Cushner, Nicholas P. Jesuit Ranches and the Agrarian Development of Colonial Argentina, 1650–1767. Albany: SUNY Press, 1983.
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The Argentine region early on was dominated by cattle ranches. The Jesuit order adopted ranching as a means of generating income to support its many other activities. Located in Tucuman, these ranches supplied both the mining districts of Upper Peru and the coastal settlements in Argentina.
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Greenow, Linda. Credit and Socioeconomic Change in Colonial Mexico: Loans and Mortgages in Guadalajara, 1720–1820. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1983.
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Looking at the Church as a lender, Greenow traces the development of the mortgage economy in Guadalajara in the century before Independence. She finds the Church’s role declined in the period and that kinship played an important role in the credit market.
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Konrad, Herman W. A Jesuit Hacienda in Colonial Mexico: Santa Lucia, 1576–1767. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1980.
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Ranching and commercial agriculture became the basis for mid-colonial development in Mexico. The Jesuits participated actively in commercial agriculture through the development of large rural estates. Santa Lucia was the largest and most important of these.
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Martínez López-Cano, María del Pilar. El crédito a largo plazo en el siglo XVI. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, 1995.
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Martínez looks at the beginnings of the Church as mortgage lender in colonial Mexico. The Church managed both mortgages, when funds were borrowed by a lender, and liens, where a land owner would voluntarily impose an encumbrance on a property in order to provide the Church with an income.
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Schwaller, John F. The Origins of Church Wealth in Mexico: Ecclesiastical Revenues and Church Finances, 1523–1600. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1985.
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Schwaller looks at the major sources of income to the Church: the tithe, gifts and offerings, and investments. Because of a turbulent economy in the late 16th century due to Indian mortality, the Church began to rely more heavily on investments than other sources of income.
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von Wobeser, Gisela. El crédito eclesiástico en la Nueva España, siglo XVIII. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, 1994.
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The Catholic Church was the dominant force in the late colonial economy. Through its control of access to credit, the Church came to control a significant percentage of both land and capital on the eve of Independence. Von Wobsser analyzes the importance of ecclesiastical credit in the 18th century.
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von Wobeser, Gisela. Vida eterna y preocupaciones terrenales: Las capellanias de misas en la Nueva España, 1700–1821. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, 1999.
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This work studies the institution of the chantry in the late colonial period. These chaplaincies provided income to many priests, a method of transferring wealth from generation to generation, and a source of capital for the Church.
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Art

The evangelization of the natives was accomplished through more than just reaching. In many ways artwork provided an easier access into the nuances of Christianity than did indoctrination. Lara 2007 analyzes the interplay of European and native artistic and cultural understanding in the conversion of the Aztecs. Wake 2010 also considers the art produced in the evangelization to be the result of a cultural dialogue between Europeans and natives.

Lara, Jaime. Christian Texts for Aztecs: Art and Liturgy in Colonial Mexico. Notre Dame, IN: Notre Dame University Press, 2007.
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In this book Lara continues his study of the Nahua looking at how Christian thought was expressed in Nahuatl, not simply in texts but also how the Christian cultural environment was translated into artwork and liturgy for the natives, focusing on the visual and material world.
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Wake, Eleanor. Framing the Sacred: Native Interpretations of Christianity in Early Colonial Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2010.
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Wake looks broadly at how the art and architecture of the early colonial period reflects the native cultures in which they were produced as a series of decisions made by the natives regarding conversion and the new religion.
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Architecture

For centuries, the early churches of the Americas have stood as a testimony to the rapid evangelization of the region. Kubler 1948 was the first attempt in English to consider the wide range of Spanish art and architecture and its use in the conversion. McAndrews 1965 broke new ground in considering the architecture of the missionary churches as something other than fortresses, but rather seeing them with open-air chapels, and small oratories to accommodate and invite native peoples. Edgerton 2001 applies many of the themes developed by McAndrews as he looks very broadly at missionary architecture from the Yucatan Peninsula to New Mexico. Fraser 2009 applies much of the same perspective to her analysis of early Christian architecture in Peru. Lara 2004 finds the architecture of the conversion to be a continuation of the cultural dialogue carried on in other fields, while Mullen 1997 sees a mixing of Old and New World themes. Keleman 1967 stands as a definitive look at the tremendous impact which the Baroque had on art and architecture throughout Latin America. The city of Antigua in Guatemala was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 1773, which allows Markman 1966 to study the architecture which remained after the disaster.

Edgerton, Samuel. Theaters of Conversion: Religious Architecture and Indian Artisans in Colonial Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2001.
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While much has been written about the Spanish contribution to early ecclesiastical structures, Edgerton argues that it was the natives who contributed to the creation of this unique style. He finds a far greater amount of reciprocity that previous authors had.
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Fraser, Valerie. The Architecture of Conquest: Building in the Viceroyalty of Peru, 1535–1635. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
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Unlike the Mexican experience, architecture in Peru, while executed by native artisans, did not reflect their traditions of craftsmanship. Rather all aspects of the projects were geared to proclaiming the colonial enterprise.
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Keleman, Pal. Baroque and Rococo in Latin America. 2 vols. 2d ed. New York: Dover, 1967.
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Keleman offers the first comprehensive look at the Baroque and Rococo in Latin America. He sees the style as a natural outgrowth of the colonial enterprise wherein native artisans began to express themselves in a basically European vernacular.
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Kubler, George. Mexican Architecture of the Sixteenth Century. 2 vols. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1948.
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Kubler sees Mexican architecture of the 16th century as being a blending of Spanish style and technique designed by untrained friars and executed by natives schooled in a different construction style.
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Lara, Jaime. City, Temple, Stage: Eschatological Architecture and Liturgical Theatrics in New Spain. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2004.
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Lara sees the construction of the so-called “fortress monasteries” to be a response not to military issues but rather to the missionary methods of the period and thoughts about the coming of the millennium. Moreover, he finds a synthesis of Nahua motifs and those from medieval Christianity.
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Markman, Sidney David. Colonial Architecture of Antigua Guatemala. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1966.
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The colonial architecture of Antigua, Guatemala, essentially captured in time due to an earthquake in 1773, reflects a distinctive style rooted in Spanish traditions but reflecting the social and economic forces of the region in which it was located.
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McAndrews, John. The Open-Air Churches of Sixteenth-Century Mexico: Atrios, Posas, Open Chapels and other Studies. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1965.
DOI: 10.4159/harvard.9780674186354Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This groundbreaking work looks at the unique features of 16th-century Mexican ecclesiastical structures and argues that they were a response to the need to create liturgical spaces quickly for a huge native population.
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Mullen, Robert J. Architecture and Its Sculpture in Viceregal Mexico. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997.
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Mullen considers both architecture and sculpture in his study. As with others, he finds the unique style to be a blending of Old and New World forms and styles.
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Women and the Church

The role of women in the colonial Church was slow to be recognized, given the emphasis on the early conversion efforts, largely in the hands of male priests and friars. Nonetheless, thanks to the efforts of scholars like Asunción Lavrin and Josefina Muriel, we are slowly gaining greater insights into the importance of religious women in the life of the Church. Muriel 1946 provides the groundbreaking work for the study of female religious in Mexico. Lavrin 2008 reflects a career spent in the study of female religious as she looks to all aspects of life in the cloister in colonial Mexico. Burns 1999 is one of a second generation of scholars to consider female religious in her study of the convents of Cuzco.

Burns, Kathryn. Colonial Habits: Convents and the Spiritual Economy of Cuzco, Peru. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1999.
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The creation of female religious institutions was a hallmark of Spanish society. Burns looks at the patterns of establishment of convents in Cuzco, and thus created a new Andean social order which linked the economy and the spiritual life of the colony.
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Lavrin, Asuncion. Brides of Christ: Conventual Life in Colonial Mexico. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2008.
DOI: 10.11126/stanford/9780804752831.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
After years of study, Lavrin provides one of the most complete views of female religious in colonial Mexico. From the nun’s first days as a novice, through the discernment process, to formal acceptance and then life in the convent, she has created a masterful analysis of life among Mexican nuns.
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Muriel, Josefina. Conventos de monjas en la Nueva España. Mexico City: Editorial Santiago, 1946.
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This groundbreaking work was the first serious look at the religious orders for women in colonial Mexico. Muriel looks at each of the major colonial institutions and considers membership, governance, and finances.
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Saints

One of the most noted features of the Church in Latin America is the reverence for the saints and the Virgin Mary. The colonial literature on saints is quite extensive, and had formed the basis upon which much modern research has been conducted. Studies fall into two groups: the history and role of manifestations of the Virgin Mary and all other saints. The most important study dealing with Marian phenomena is Poole 1995, which tackles the legend and cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico. Curcio-Nagy 1996 looks at Mexico’s other Virgin, the Virgin of Remedies, patroness of Cortés and the conquerors. In South America the Virgin of Copacabana has gone from being a local cult on Lake Titicaca to a presence in Brazil, as described by Reese-Salles 1997. Morgan 2002 has studied why some people who were perceived as holy in their lifetimes do, or do not, gain canonization. Greer and Bilinkoff 2003 studies American saints in both North and South America is a comparative context.

Curcio-Nagy, Linda A. “Native Icon to City Protectress to Royal Patroness: Ritual, Political Symbolism, and the Virgin of Remedies.” The Americas 52.3 (1996): 367–391.
DOI: 10.2307/1008006Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
The banner carried by Cortés into the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan was that of the Virgin of the Remedies. That image went on to become closely identified with the City of Mexico. Curcio-Nagy expertly traces the evolution of this image in colonial Mexico.
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Greer, Allen, and Jodi Bilinkoff, eds. Colonial Saints: Rediscovering the Holy in the Americas. New York: Routledge, 2003.
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The collection of essays covers New World saints from both North and South America, and thus provides a comparative insight into their study.
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Morgan, Ronald J. Spanish American Saints and the Rhetoric of Identity, 1600–1810. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2002.
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Morgan studies five New World individuals who gained renown for their sainthood. Not all were eventually canonized. Through the selection of persons declared blessed and as saints, along with non-canonized persons, he offers insight into the characteristics of sainthood as experienced in different places and times.
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Poole, Stafford. Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Origins and Sources of a Mexican National Symbol, 1531–1797. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1995.
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Drawing on many sources of information, Poole traces the development of the cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe from its earliest mention in the 16th century up to the eve of Independence. He sees the rise of the cult as an affirmation of creole identity.
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Reese-Salles, Veronica. From Viracocha to the Virgin of Copacabana: Representation of the Sacred at Lake Titicaca. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997.
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Reese-Salles traces the development of the cult of the Virgin of Copacabana from its origins among the Colca people of Lake Titicaca, through the embrace by Spanish missionaries. It represented both the spiritual power of the place and the merging of native and Spanish religious traditions.
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Biography

Historically, along with studies of saints, the most common genre in the colonial period was biographies of bishops and other ecclesiastics. In fact there is a very fine line between lives of saints, hagiography, and biographies of holy men and women. García Icazbalceta 1947, by the noted Mexican historian of the 19th century, is the first modern biography of Mexico’s first bishop, fray Juan de Zumárraga. Rodríguez Valencia 1956–1957 focused on Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo, the larger-than-life archbishop of Lima who eventually was canonized for his service to the Church. Poole 2011 brings his great skills as a historian who understands the Church to the study of the controversial third archbishop of Mexico, don Pedro Moya de Contreras.

García Icazbalceta, Joaquín. Don Fray Juan de Zumárraga, primer Obispo y arzobispo de México. 4 vols. Mexico City: Editorial Porrúa, 1947.
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Zumárraga was the person who defined the Mexican Church in many ways by virtue of his role as first bishop and archbishop. This book, originally published in 1881, is the first modern major treatment of his biography.
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Poole, Stafford. Pedro Moya de Contreras: Catholic Reform and Royal Power in New Spain, 1571–1591. 2d ed. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2011.
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Poole studies one of the most important figures of the 16th century in Mexico. Moya was first appointed Inquisitor, then Archbishop of Mexico, served briefly as interim viceroy of New Spain, and ended his career as President of the Council of the Indies in Spain.
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Rodríguez Valencia, Vicente. Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo: Organizador y apostol de Sur-America. 2 vols. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1956–1957.
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Mogrovejo had a decisive impact on the Peruvian Church. He supervised the reform of the Church following the Council of Trent, and both collaborated with and opposed several viceroys and other government officials.
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Inquisition

Although the Inquisition is part of the Church insofar as its jurisdiction originally pertained to the office of the local bishop, in the Hispanic world in the 16th century it became more of an office of the government. In the political theory of the time religious thought and political thought were identical. Thus the Holy Office of the Inquisition played as much a political role, monitoring the activity of foreigners, especially Protestants, as it did in suppressing heresy and idolatry among the faithful. The earliest studies were Toribio de Medina 1887, which relied on Spanish archives. Greenleaf 1961 first studied the Episcopal Inquisition under Zumárraga, and Greenleaf 1969 studied the formally established Holy Office. The early Inquisition under Zumárraga is also the topic of Don 2010, which finds far more indigenous intrigue than seen by Greenleaf. Alberro 1998 offers a solid overview of the institution prior to the 18th century. Corteguera 2012 does a marvelous job of tracing the impact of allegations of Inquisition activity in a small Mexican village. Cervantes 1994 looks at the rise and fall of Spanish fixations on the Devil and diabolism in early colonial Mexico.

Alberro, Solange. Inquisición y sociedad en México, 1571–1700. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Economica, 1998.
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This book is one of the most thorough and analytical of recent works in Spanish on the Mexican Inquisition.
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Cervantes, Fernando. The Devil in the New World: The Impact of Diabolism in New Spain. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1994.
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By studying the Devil and diabolism, Cervantes focuses on the message of the missionaries and the ideas which the native populations either accepted or rejected, depending on their native culture. He also notes that beliefs of diabolism did not necessarily decline with the Enlightenment.
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Corteguera, Luis R. Death by Effigy: A Case from the Mexican Inquisition. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012.
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Focusing on a case from Tecamachalco, Corteguera analyzes popular ideas about the Holy Office of the Inquisition in light of the reality of the institution as investigators seek to discover who usurped some of the office’s symbols for private vengeance.
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Don, Patricia Lopes. Bonfires of Culture: Franciscans, Indigenous Leaders, and the Inquisition in Early Mexico, 1524–1540. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2010.
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Building on an earlier article, Don looks at the early Inquisition in Mexico and its relationship to native peoples. A reassessment of the infamous trial of don Carlos of Texcoco is one of four trials studied the book.
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Greenleaf, Richard. Zumarraga and the Mexican Inquisition, 1536–1543. Washington, DC: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1961.
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Zumárraga, as Bishop of Mexico, used the power of the ordinary to institute the Holy Office in his diocese. This groundbreaking study looks at the early trials which occurred and how the outcomes manifested Spanish policy toward native peoples and foreigners.
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Greenleaf, Richard. The Mexican Inquisition of the Sixteenth Century. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1969.
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In the first major study in English of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Mexico, Greenleaf points out that it functioned as an extension of the state in maintaining orthodoxy and restraining ideas which ran counter to the dominant ideology.
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Toribio de Medina, José. Historia del Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición de Lima (1569–1820). 2 vols. Santiago, Chile: Imprenta Gutenberg, 1887.
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Based on research conducted in Spanish archives, Medina compiled the first comprehensive look at the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Peru. He had to rely on Spanish archives because the Inquisition archive in Lima was burned following Independence.
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Extirpation

In Peru, and to a lesser extent in New Spain, after natives had been excluded from the jurisdiction of the Inquisition, local bishops took up the responsibility for suppressing idolatry. This effort became known as the extirpation thanks to the groundbreaking work Duviols 1971. Two scholars focused on the rise and fall of the extirpation activity. Griffiths 1996 concentrated on the continuation of native traditions in the wake of the extirpation, while Mills 1997 focused more on the structural aspects of the extirpation and the interplay with local officials. Tavarez 2011 does a masterful job of tracing Spanish concern over native idolatry from the earliest days of the evangelization up to the eve of Independence.

Duviols, Pierre. La lutte contre les religions autochtones dans le Pérou colonial. Paris and Lima, Peru: Institut Français d’Études Andines, 1971.
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This groundbreaking work first studied the process whereby ecclesiastical officials in Peru sought to extirpate the last vestiges of native Andean religions in various campaigns organized by the secular clergy in the archdiocese of Lima in the 17th century.
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Griffiths, Nicholas. The Cross and the Serpent: Religious Repression and Resurgence in Colonial Peru. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996.
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Building on the work of Pierre Duviols, Griffiths contends that local religions were not truly extirpated. In reality, native practices continued up to the eve of Independence and fused with Christian practices. The extirpation was repressive for the sake of greater control over the natives.
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Mills, Kenneth. Idolatry and Its Enemies: Extirpation and Colonial Andean Religion, 1640–1750. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1997.
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Mills also deals with the topic of extirpation, noting that local religion was quintessentially local and that it was also flexible and capable of change. The extirpation was closely tied to specific officials within the Church and identified with them, rather than being a widespread and long-standing policy.
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Tavarez, David. The Invisible War: Indigenous Devotions, Discipline, and Dissent in Colonial Mexico. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2011.
DOI: 10.11126/stanford/9780804773287.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This work considers the process of the repression of native religious practices by ecclesiastical officials over the course of three centuries in Mexico It is a monumental and impressive study that charts the ebb and flow of interest in the process.
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Africans and the Church

The newly enslaved Africans who were brought to the Iberian colonies of the New World practiced a wide variety of religions. Their conversion to Christianity was haphazard, at best. As a result, the colonies witnessed the development of nonstandard or heterodox Christianities based in these various cultures. Africans were subject to the jurisdiction of the Holy Office. As a result of this, several studies consider the local variants of Christianity practiced by persons of African origin and their ancestors. The broadest study is Bennett 2005. Bristol 2007 focuses specifically on the problems faced by Afro-Mexicans under the jurisdiction of the Inquisition, while Sweet 2003 analyzes Afro-Brazilian religious expression in terms of their places of origin in Africa. Von Germeten 2006 considers the importance of cofradias, religious confraternities, in colonial Mexico for Afro-Mexicans.

Bennett, Herman. Africans in Colonial Mexico: Absolutism, Christianity, and Afro-Creole Consciousness, 1570–1640. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005.
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In this solid work, Bennett takes a broad look at the lives and roles of Africans in Mexican colonial society. An important area of consideration is the participation of Afro-Mexicans in religious activities and their scrutiny by the Inquisition.
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Bristol, Joan Cameron. Christians, Blasphemers, and Witches: Afro-Mexican Ritual Practice in the Seventeenth Century. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2007.
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Bristol’s excellent study focuses on how Afro-Mexicans developed their own particular responses to Christianity while under the scrutiny of the Inquisition.
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Sweet, James. Recreating Africa: Culture, Kinship, and Religion in the African-Portuguese World, 1441–1770. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003.
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In this impressive work, Sweet looks at the places of origins of the Africans who were enslaved and brought to Brazil in order to better understand the creation of a unique Brazilian Christianity in the colonial period.
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von Germeten, Nicole. Black Blood Brothers: Confraternities and Social Mobility for Afro-Mexicans. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2006.
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In this important work, von Germeten explores how Afro-Mexicans, largely women, used the institution of the religious sodality (confraternity) to provide social support and maintain ethnic identity within the larger Catholic society.
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Enlightenment to Independence

By the 18th century, the new ruling family of Spain, the Bourbons, had begun to reform colonial structures. One of the targets of reform was the Church, over which the Bourbons wished to express greater control. Several works look at different aspects of this growing control. Brading 1994 looks at the diocese of Michoacan and the impact which change and reform had on it. The diocese of Michoacan was the home to two of the leaders of Mexican Independence, who were also priests. Farriss 1968, an early study, focuses on the changes which the Bourbons made in the lives of ordinary priests, in particular the elimination of the fuero eclesiástico, the privilege clerics enjoy to have legal cases heard in Church courts. Costeloe 1967 looks at the repercussions to the economy and society by policies calling in ecclesiastical mortgages and replacing them by royal bonds. Quiroz 1993 pursues a similar tack by focusing on ecclesiastical credit in Peru on the eve of Independence. Voekel 2002 in an innovative manner studies wills and testaments and finds a high degree of influence from the Enlightenment, previously thought to not have impacted Latin America to any great degree. The massive study Taylor 1996 looks at the impact of changing government policies on parishes and priests in two diocese of Mexico.

Brading, David. Church and State in Bourbon Mexico: The Diocese of Michoacan, 1740–1810. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511586439Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Brading sees the Church in Michoacan as being divided: between secular clerics and regulars; between sons of wealth and sons of modest means; of those who favored Enlightenment ideas and those who sought stability and continuance of tradition, all on the eve of Independence.
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Costeloe, Michael P. Church Wealth in Mexico: A Study of the Juzgado de Capellanias in the Archbishopric of Mexico. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1967.
DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511563119Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Costeloe looks at the court which adjudicated cases dealing with chantries. This court also managed a large percentage of the wealth of the colony, having been donated to the Church and then invested in land. Reforms of the 18th century sought to strip the Church of the management of these resources.
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Farriss, Nancy M. Crown and Clergy in Colonial Mexico, 1759–1821: The Crisis of Ecclesiastical Privilege. London: Athlone, 1968.
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Focusing on the fuero eclesiástico, the privilege which priests enjoyed to have cases heard before Church courts, Farriss concludes that the loss of this right played into clerical participation in the Wars of Independence in Mexico.
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Quiroz, Alfonso W. Deudas Olvidadas: Instrumentos de crédito en la economía colonial peruana, 1750–1820. Lima, Peru: Pontificia Universidad del Perú, 1993.
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This important study traces the extension and eventual decline of ecclesiastical credit in Peru on the eve of Independence. Reforms, the intervention of the Crown, and participation by local merchants radically transformed the institution.
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Taylor, William B. The Magistrates of the Sacred: Priests and Parishioners in Eighteenth Century Mexico. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1996.
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This monumental study looks at nearly every aspect of parish life in 18th-century Mexico. Taylor focuses on the Archdiocese of Mexico and the Diocese of Guadalajara and the reforms which led up to the movement for Independence.
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Voekel, Pamela. Alone before God: The Religious Origins of Modernity in Mexico. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2002.
DOI: 10.1215/9780822384298Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Looking at a very large corpus of wills (over 2,000) Voekel determines that the Church in late colonial Mexico was far more engaged in Enlightenment thinking than has been previously thought. In particular certain practices, such as the use of cemeteries, rather than burial in the church or churchyard, are indicative of this new thinking.
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