Religious Conversion After the Conquest
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Religious Conversion After the Conquest
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The image illustrates a ceremonial manual title page used for teaching Catholicism in the religious conquest during the establishment of New Spain. Religious conversion was encouraged by Europeans as they pleaded their case exercising their divine right to carry out such tasks. Converting the indigenous population was not the easiest task due to the buildup of resistance toward Europeanization. Adopting Spanish religious practices included regular baptisms, prayer, ceremonial celebrations, and knowing your role in relation to social status. During the reconstruction of Mexico’s infrastructure Spanish settlers ordered indigenous slaves to build churches encouraging Catholicism. This created a strong Catholic presence that sustained efforts to maintain power and structure in the development of New Spain. The indigenous became difficult to convert because they refused to fully commit to European cultural practices by returning home to practice their spirituality. Resistance was key to sustaining a strong indigenous culture despite efforts to convert “savages” into oppressed beings. Interaction between Spanish friars and indigenous peasants was tense and frustrating for both parties due to defiance against assimilation. Tensions rose to new heights as the indigenous plotted ambushes and stole from the Spaniards to gather goods for their families. As Spaniards established laws influenced by the church, the indigenous suffered punishment for not complying to the rules of their superiors. Exercising their divine rights to justify inflicting pain became the new norm for most enslaved peasants which increased tension with their new neighbors. By conquering land, resources, and people, religion became the justification for nearly erasing an entire population of people. Although this became a key resource for the Spanish conquest, their greed and ignorance became the prime motivator for taking over Mexico and its native people. While viewing the conquest from an indigenous perspective the Spanish attempted to manipulate an inferior group of people to take from them and assimilate them into a culture not created for them since their arrival in 1519. The Spanish drove a religious narrative to force the indigenous peoples to comply to their orders and live civilly among each other enslaved and working through harsh labor while attending to their Catholic practices.
Sources: Santo Tomás, Diego de. "Ceremonial, y Manval Sacado del Missal Romano de Pio V. Reformado Por La Santidad de Clemente VIII. y Vrbano VIII. Ajvstado al eftilo eftrecho, y reformado de los Religiofos Defcalcos de N. P. S. Francisco de la Prouinia de San Diego defta Nueua Efpaña. Compvesto, y Ordenado Por El Padre Fray Diego de Santo Thomas, Padre de la milma Prouincia, Lector de Prima de Theologia, y Guardian del Conuento de Santa Maria de los Angeles de Ocholopozco." San Juan Bautista Coyoacán y Juan Ruíz, Mexico. 1660. Wilson, Robert Anderson, 1812-1872. Mexico, its Peasants and its Priests, Or, Adventures and Historical Researches in Mexico and its Silver Mines during Parts of the Years 1851-52-53-54 : With an Exposé of the Fabulous Character of the Story of the Conquest of Mexico by Cortez. United States: 1856, 76-129.
