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Constructing 'Race': the Catholic Church and the Evolution of Racial Categories and Gender in Colonial Mexico, 1521-1700

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Constructing 'Race': the Catholic Church and the Evolution of Racial Categories and Gender in Colonial Mexico, 1521-1700 CONSTRUCTING ‘RACE’: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE EVOLUTION OF RACIAL CATEGORIES AND GENDER IN COLONIAL MEXICO, 1521-1700 _______________ A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History University of Houston _______________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________ By Alexandria E. Castillo August, 2017 i CONSTRUCTING ‘RACE’: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE EVOLUTION OF RACIAL CATEGORIES AND GENDER IN COLONIAL MEXICO, 1521-1700 _______________ An Abstract of a Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History University of Houston _______________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________ By Alexandria E. Castillo August, 2017 ii ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the role of the Catholic Church in defining racial categories and construction of the social order during and after the Spanish conquest of Mexico, then New Spain. The Catholic Church, at both the institutional and local levels, was vital to Spanish colonization and exercised power equal to the colonial state within the Americas. Therefore, its interests, specifically in connection to internal and external “threats,” effected New Spain society considerably. The growth of Protestantism, the Crown’s attempts to suppress Church influence in the colonies, and the power struggle between the secular and regular orders put the Spanish Catholic Church on the defensive. Its traditional roles and influence in Spanish society not only needed protecting, but reinforcing. As per tradition, the Church acted as cultural center once established in New Spain. However, the complex demographic challenged traditional parameters of social inclusion and exclusion which caused clergymen to revisit and refine conceptions of race and gender. In this way, the establishment of the colonial church was not a simple transfer of the institution from Spain to the Americas, but a translation of older traditions according to colonial circumstances. This dissertation analyzes contact points between the Church and subalterns and the discourses and concepts that informed clerical practices. Specifically, it examines institutional level debates on subaltern piety, tools for religious conversion (priest evangelization manuals and sermons), priests’ roles in the racial classification of their parishioners, and the intersection of race and gender in the lives of subaltern nuns and lay religious women. Both the Spanish Crown and the Church were deeply invested in the perpetuation of Spanish hegemony and the evolution of concepts like race and gender were key developments in this process. By assessing race from the views of both the Spanish church and subalterns, and emphasizing the role of the local parish priests, this dissertation explores this development from a new perspective. iii Table of Contents Title Page i Abstract Title Page ii Abstract iii Introduction 1 Chapter One The Threat of the State: Crown-Church Relations in Spain and 12 New Spain Chapter Two The Threat of Protestantism: Religious Reform and Imperial 72 Expansion Chapter Three The Threat of the Regular Orders: The Mendicants and the 121 Secular Church in Spain and New Spain Chapter Four Translating Race: The Role of the Catholic Church in 150 Colonial Race Relations Chapter Five Translating Gender: Colonial Convents and Traditional 205 Notions of Female Piety Conclusion 258 Notes 262 iv Introduction The word “translate” means to “express the sense of words or text in another language,” “convert or be converted into another form or medium,” or to “move from one place or condition to another.”1 However, this dramatically simplifies the task for researchers of old language documents, no matter the language. The actual process is far more art than exact science, and as most can attest, can be easily misinterpreted, nuances can be lost in the different historical contexts of the subject and the researcher, and thus remain inherently “imperfect.” I realize now that when I first conceptualized my dissertation, I had quite naively pictured the sixteenth century Mexican church as a “transfer” of the institution from one place (Spain) to another (Mexico). However, with more research I realized that in many ways it was more of a “translation,” and therefore, exposed to misinterpretation and determined by its historical context. Most historians agree that the colonial Spanish Church was unique—similar to but still different from its European contemporaries—not only in a religious sense due to the interchange between Christian, native, African spirituality, but also because of the political process of colonization and church functions in that process. Church responses to colonial circumstances were also influenced by broader changes both within and outside of the Spanish empire, which threatened traditional religious and political power. I have found that church responses to these “threats” built on ideas with much deeper roots, and can be uncovered through an extended periodization of Spanish religious identity and church reform. Therefore, three interrelated themes frame my analysis: “threat” marks key external 1 and internal influences in Spanish history both before and during colonization of the Americas, “translation” recognizes both the continuity and differences between the peninsular and colonial church and their related societies, while the “extended periodization” traces these developments over time. The Spanish Church had experienced a series of external challenges to its religious authority both prior to and during colonization and put the entire institution on the defensive; the figureheads down to the lower-ranking priests would have been cognizant of these “threats” and eager to prevent new ones from forming. Royal infringement on church power in Iberia was extended in the Americas, while the privileges of the Mendicant Orders in the colonies far exceeded their powers in Spain. However, the Protestant Reformation established an alternative source of religious authority which forced Catholics to reevaluate traditional theology and practice, as well as their identities as Christians. For Spaniards, it reinforced cultural memories of social stratification by religion. The distinction between Christian and heretic and Spanish and non-Spanish was important in the Americas, however, determining the parameters of social inclusion and exclusion became much more complicated as colonial Spaniards mixed with different racial groups. Therefore, concepts like race and gender were a different kind of “threat,” but from within society. As Spaniards attempted to recreate their culture within the Americas, they turned to Christian teachings and other sources of knowledge. Cultural centers like the Church were then tasked with adapting Spanish Catholic traditions to the new circumstances. Racial differences and gender nonconformity threatened to undermine colonial Spanish hegemony, which was established religiously, as well as politically and socioeconomically. 2 The first chapters consider important external “threats” to Church power, and serve as the premise for later chapters which explore the construction of race and gender in New Spain, conceptualized as internal “threats.” As illustrated by María Elena Martínez, Spanish perceptions of society were highly influenced by religion and medieval relations between Christians, Jews, and Muslims.2 Spaniards built on these traditions during American colonization to incorporate notions of race and construct a racial hierarchy. My dissertation goes beyond this interpretation to understand the relationship between notions of piety and notions of race in colonial Mexican society. I argue that non-Spanish denigrated status was in part justified through notions of piety assigned to each group, and both Spaniards and non- Spaniards used piety to bolster their own statuses. In this way, notions of race were shaped by religion, but religion was equally shaped by notions of race. There are many examples of both regular and secular clerics’ opposition to the subjugation of the natives, African slavery, and the denigrated status of castas, or mixed- races. However, we cannot ignore underlying contradictions. While legitimate mestizos were generally allowed to advance in the ecclesiastic hierarchy, indigenous Mesoamericans, Afro- Mexicans, mulatos, and other castas were not allowed to enter the secular priesthood, and only racially “pure” Spanish women were allowed take the black veil, or become professed nuns. Historians have considered many possible reasons behind these contradictions, with many either validating or vilifying ecclesiastic actions. Also, while these studies have produced increasingly sophisticated analyses of colonial society, most interpretations have been clouded by modern conceptions, such as the separation of church and state and distinctions between laymen and clergy. 3 To understand the role of the Catholic Church in the organization of the social order in New Spain, specifically in regards to race and gender, I approach the colonial church from a different perspective from other historians. While many scholars have discussed the role of the Catholic Church in colonial society, they have neither explored the church’s role in the creation of said society nor fully delineated the ideologies and discursive concepts that influenced its actions. First and foremost, we cannot underestimate religions’ influence in societal interactions, especially in a
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