One of the most significant factors in regards to the development of the Colonial Latin America was in many ways the reach of Christianity. The religion’s reach from across the Atlantic proved to be just as strong as from Europe, and consequently played a large role in the development of culture and society within Latin American colonies. Similar to Spain, the Inquisition in the New World served as a physical threat to those who were not Christians, and was essentially the chief authority in religious matters. In regards to Peru, the role of the Inquisition served as a governing body. Irene Silverblatt’s Modern Inquisitions looks at the role of Inquisitors and the ensuing persecution that would follow. While acknowledging the actions that …show more content…
the Holy Office of Inquisition went forward with, Silverblatt also credits this period of time in the New World as the humble begins of an approach towards a much broader sense of development. The Inquisition in Peru was established in 1568 as part of a colonial political design by Philip II at the end of 1560. The intention behind this plan was to focus on the political and ideological crisis in the Peruvian viceroyalty. Additionally, religious conflicts between Catholics and Protestants were gradually increasing in Europe. At this point in time, Protestantism had gained traction in nations such as France. The Spanish authorities were not only worried about the religious situation in Europe, but also were concerned about their American counterparts. The chance that America could be invaded with ideas from protestant countries was considered a permanent threat and fear. In terms of Peru, the situation was not totally under control. Persecution and punishment in Peru however, was a much more complex aspect of the Inquisition.
Silverblatt provides a Church account outlining an expansive list of heretical witch practices: foretelling the future, the arts of Necromancy, Geomancy, Hydromancy, spells, invoking demons, palm reading and love spells. The list continues on, for which the Inquisitors were willing to use to pursue their goals. Additionally, Missionaries like Francisco de Avila and Fernando de Avendaño instructed parishioners and other priests about indigenous peoples’ place in a new global history of humanity and cultural hierarchy. They relied heavily on the notion that blood of different peoples determined intelligence, political rights, and economic and personal capabilities. Silverblatt contends that heresy was a first step on the slippery slope to treason, argued the inquisitors, and imperial stereotypes intensified the fears attached to any tie between indios, negros, and New Christians. This was the notion of “limpieza de sangre”, or purity of blood applied to the Americas. The last three chapters show how the inquisitors had to determine if these “stains” were indelible as they combined race thinking and reasons of state to define and prosecute three sets of traitors to church and state: Jewish Portuguese merchants, female practitioners of nativist witchcraft, and native Peruvians who adopted the legal colonial identity of “Indian” in their political critiques of the colonial order. Jews in particular had begun to grow unpopular as they had managed to rise up the ranks in the mercantile industry, and as such the Inquisition took notice. Additionally, blacks and descendants of Moors were also subject to persecution as
well. Economic and political problems such as the decline of the Indian labor force, the decrease of Indian tributes and mining production and the deterioration of state authority also played a role in the capabilities of the Inquisition and how the government would go forward. Tribute requirements, including labor drafts in Peru's rich mines, contributed mightily to Spain's production but they weighed heavily on peasant shoulders, and often created a situation of crippling poverty. The agents of the new colonial policy designed by Philip II and the Junta of 1568 were Francisco de Toledo and the inquisitors. The sphere of action of Toledo was policy, economy and society; the inquisitors had as a main task the ideological and moral control of colonial society. In Spain and other catholic monarchies, the fear of the diffusion of heresy determined the creation of mechanisms of control over books. According to some authors, the book was as dangerous as a "mute heretic." There were two kinds of censorship of books: one under control of the State and another practiced by the Inquisition. In order to establish control, the Spanish state was the only institution that gave authorization for publishing books. Besides port commissaries, there was another group of persons who had as a main task doctrinally to evaluate the defendant's propositions or those unorthodox ideas found in books or manuscript texts. During the last decades of the sixteenth century, the Council of the Supreme Inquisition in Madrid sent to the inquisitors of Peru several letters warning of the danger of forbidden books. By then there was a belief that the Protestants, with the aid of some Spaniards, constantly threatened the orthodoxy of the Catholic faith among the population. In order to spread their ideas, according to Spanish inquisitors, the Protestants used audacity and imagination. Another method of control was the inspection over the purchase and distribution of books. The name of author, printer, date and place of printing, and number of volumes of work had to be recorded in the document. These inventories had to be examined by censors and other persons selected by the Holy Office, who could suggest collection of those books considered ideologically dangerous. In the same Letter, the Council of the Supreme Inquisition noted that when the merchants, printers, and booksellers received new books they had to add them to the inventory and show them to the Tribunal. In addition, sellers had to record their sold books, and noted the purchaser of each individual book. These laws, though seemingly unrelated to any sort of government planning, do show a sense of regulation and the written records would prove to be the foundation for greater development. Ultimately, the Inquisition in Peru assumed a role much larger than originally intended. Due to the fact that the church was so significant in Spain, Peru’s own ordeal of inquisition lead way to increased power of the Holy Office of the Inquisition. Indigenous groups and Jews ultimately paid a long-term price of persecution that would benefit the development of Peru. The Inquisition itself helped establish the idea of a firmly ruled New World, which could function autonomously. Modern Inquisitions is focused around the fact that the Inquisition was a product of the developing world, and although for all the wrong reasons, it is because of the Inquisition that the New World continued on its path towards modernity.
Throughout the Iberian Peninsula and Colonial Europe, the sweeping philosophical shift from religious and spiritual pursuits to a greater emphasis on logic and reason foreshadowed remarkable social reformation. In Latin America, the Ibero...
Were the witch-hunts in pre-modern Europe misogynistic? Anne Llewellyn Barstow seems to think so in her article, “On Studying Witchcraft as Women’s History: A Historiography of the European Witch Persecutions”. On the contrary, Robin Briggs disagrees that witch-hunts were not solely based on hatred for women as stated in his article, “Women as Victims? Witches, Judges and the Community”. The witch craze that once rapidly swept through Europe may have been because of misconstrued circumstances. The evaluation of European witch-hunts serves as an opportunity to delve deeper into the issue of misogyny.
One of the most interesting aspects of Diaz’s narrative is towards the end when Cortés broaches the subject of Christianity with Montezuma. Conversion and missionary work was one of the most important and lasting goals of the conquistadors and other contemporary explorers, they were charged with this duty by the rulers who sent t...
The book begins with a brief history of the colonial witchcraft. Each Chapter is structured with an orientation, presentation of evidence, and her conclusion. A good example of her structure is in chapter two on the demographics of witchcraft; here she summarizes the importance of age and marital status in witchcraft accusations. Following this she provides a good transition into chapter three in the final sentence of chapter two, “A closer look of the material conditions and behavior of acc...
Bartolome de las casas had hoped to prevent further harm to Indians, and clarify that they were not barbarians. Of the text named Bartolome de las casas: In Defense of the Indians(c.1550) it covers what is to be the Spanish Conquistadores, and talks of the natives to which at the time seen by many are barbaric, ignorant, incapable of learning, just another group of people to be conquered. But to the Catholic missionaries, they see the Natives as new people to influence and enlighten. But if at any time the person drops the belief in Christianity, they would use deadly force against the person or family. Adding to that, Hernán comments that their cities are “ worth of admiration because of their buildings, which are like those of Venice”(Poole 4).
The discovery and conquest of American Indians inspired efforts to develop an ideology that could justify why they needed to enslave the Indians. The Spanish monarch wanted an ideal empire. "A universal empire, of which all their subjects were but servants. Charles V remained for them the dominus mundi, the legitimate and God-ordained lord of the world." (Weckmann, The Transit of Civilization, 23) Gold and religious conversion was the two most important inspirations for conquistadors in conquering America. Father Bartolome De Las Casas was a Dominican priest who came to the New World to convert the Indians to become Christians. He spent forty years on Hispanolia and nearby islands, and saw how the Spaniards brutally treated the Indians and sympathized with them. The Devastation of the Indies was an actual eyewitness account of the genocide by Las Casas, and his group of Dominican friars in which he demonizes the Spanish colonists and praises the Indians. Father Las Casas returned to Seville, where he published his book that caused an on going debate on whether the suppression of the Indians corrupted the Spaniards' values. What Las Casas was trying to achieve was the notion of human rights, that human beings are free and cogent by nature without the interference of others.
Before Columbus landed in the West Indies in 1492, The Spanish Inquisition made it known to anyone within Spain’s domain of influence that if a person was not of the Catholic religion, they were to be punished severely and sometimes even fatally. This influence would undoubtedly be brought over to the Americas a century later, as the colonization of the New World would begin by then. While it was very essential for the Spanish (as well as the Portuguese) to improve their economy by using the resources they found in Latin America, it seemed to a number of them as if that was the only reason for being there, or the main reason at the very least. During the Spanish Inquisition and from that point after, it was the Pope’s main goal, to convert everyone to Roman Catholicism; an opportune moment arrived as the Americas were found, along with the Natives who resided there who were waiting to be converted.
The epoch of Medieval European history concerning the vast and complicated witch hunts spanning from 1450 to 1750 is demonstrative of the socioeconomic, religious, and cultural changes that were occurring within a population that was unprepared for the reconstruction of society. Though numerous conclusions concerning the witch trials, why they occurred, and who was prosecuted have been founded within agreement there remains interpretations that expand on the central beliefs. Through examining multiple arguments a greater understanding of this period can be observed as there remains a staggering amount of catalysts and consequences that emerged. In the pursuit of a greater understanding three different interpretations will be presented. These interpretations which involve Brian Levack’s “The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe,” Eric Boss’s “Syphilis, Misogyny, and Witchcraft in 16th-Century Europe,” and Nachman Ben-Yehuda’s “The European Witch Craze of the 14th to 17th centuries: A Sociologist’s Perspective,” share various opinions while developing their own theories. The comparison of these observations will focus upon why the witch trials occurred when they did, why did they stop when they did, why did the witch trials occur when they did, and who was persecuted and who was responsible for the identification and punishing of witches.
...resentation of the Iberian inquisition in a comprehensive manor it is not difficult to see that the way it’s viewed has changed exponentially. From the early stages of it being a good Catholic’s way to protect themselves from the evil of Jewish population to its oppressive status during the age of enlightenment- the Iberian inquisition changed along with its representation. In my opinion, these changes occur due to the natural progression of human knowledge, thus creating progressions in acceptance. In the late 16th century the level of religious tolerance that is expected now would have been unheard off. This make the less condemning views of modern historians hardly shocking. Inasmuch as the views of the inquisition have changed I believe that it will continue to change when we as a society continue to make the natural progression of knowledge and acceptance.
There are many legacies of colonialism that impacted the development of Latin American republics. As well, many of these legacies still thrive throughout modern Latin America. A legacy that impacted Latin America and still continues to affect it, is the change that colonialism caused with ancestral knowledge. Before colonialism, many parts of Latin America were inhibited by many tribes such as the Mayans. As colonialism swept through these parts of Latin America, these tribes started to diminish because of the “growing and ecological strains”, when this occurred, tribes disbanded and ceased to continued. Now these societies which once flourished, has not gone back to the way that it once was. One of the most profound legacies is religion in Latin America. The Catholic church had a part in the development of the continent. Missionaries helped build premises such as schools, hospitals and other buildings which benefited the communities. Even with the help they provided, missionaries also did harm. They caused people to change the way the practiced their religion. The aspects of the way religion was practiced before changed for the worst. The people had to entirely alter how they practiced religion and by doing so, many parts of their true identity needed to be forgotten. Lastly, colonialism
In this essay I will tell how the Aztec and Inca empires ended, and also I will compare the fall of both empires, using for a point of departure the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the land of Mexico. Wherever the Spanish went always the same thing happened, from my point of view. Innocent people were killed for no good reason, cities were massacred, civilizations were destroyed or forced to convert to Christianity. And so, I think now is the time to reevaluate the actions of the European explorers who subjugated the native American peoples and their civilizations. Undoubtedly the most glorified and heroically portrayed of these figures of the European conquest of the New World were the conquistadors, the Spanish conquerors of Mexico and Peru in the 16-th century. These men, under leaders such as Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizzaro nearly eliminated the Aztec and Inca peoples. Surely many of these soldiers were extremely cruel and intolerant of the native populations. But it is important to consider, with the push of both sides toward territorial expansion, how these groups (European and American) could remain isolated from each other. Furthermore, with meeting of these two imperialist cultures, it must be considered whether it would be possible for the two to peacefully coexist.
Religion in Latin America has always been tied closely to Catholicism because of the influence of Europeans who came to settle South America, bringing along their Catholic foundation. With the early formations of governments in Latin America, church and state were closely linked. The church had significant influence over what happened in the political realm of the countries’ relations. The case was no different for Colombia. The Catholic church has played a significant role in the history of Colombia, assuming an esteemed status in the country and exercising control over different areas of the government and public affairs, but as time passed its role in power has taken a slight downturn.
Sidky, H. Witchcraft, lycanthropy, drugs, and disease: an anthropological study of the European witch-hunts. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc., 1997.
Witchcraft persecution peaked in intensity between 1560 and 1630 however the large scale witch hysteria began in the 14th century, at the end of the Middle Ages and were most intense during the Renaissance and continued until the 18th century, an era often referred to as the Enlightenment or Age of Reason. Representation of witches, nay, representation in general is a political issue. Without the power ot define the female voice and participate in decisions that affect women -similar to other marginalised groups in society- will be subject to the definitions and decisions of those in power. In this context, the power base lay with men. It can be said that the oppression of women may not have been deliberate, it is merely a common sense approach to the natural order of things: women have babies, women are weak, women are dispensable. However the natural order of things, the social constructs reflect the enduring success of patriarchal ideology. As such, ideology is a powerful source of inequality as well as a rationalisation of it. This essay will examine the nature of witchcraft and why it was threatening to Christianity.
The first Catholic priests came to South America with the conquistadors and through social and political force superimposed 16th century Catholicism upon conquered peoples and in subsequent generations upon slaves arriving in the New World. Catholicism has, likewise, frequently absorbed, rather than confronted, popular folk religious beliefs. The resulting religion is often overtly Catholic but covertly pagan. Behind the Catholic facade, the foundations and building structure reflect varying folk religious traditions. (2)