Colonial Religion and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

Religion served as social glue, binding indigenous communities.
Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians, and Jesuits spread Catholic faith.
Similarities to Aztec religion:
- Public ceremonies reinforcing communal bonds.
- Grand celebrations related to the growing season (mirrored in Christian calendar).
- Mediators like priests (familiar to indigenous people).

A syncretic form of Catholicism developed, blending indigenous beliefs with Spanish Catholic beliefs.
Cult of the saints (El Santo Patron) allowed pre-Columbian beliefs to be incorporated.
Indigenous groups had many gods with different attributes.
Creating a variety of saints mirrored the indigenous pantheon, making conversion easier.

Local cofradías cared for a village's saint.
Cofradía: A confraternity of men dedicated to caring for a patron saint and organizing annual celebrations.
European in origin.

Most revered saint: the Virgin of Guadalupe.
December 9, 1531: Mary appeared to Juan Diego (an indigenous man who spoke Nahua).
Apparition at Tepeyac Hill (north of Mexico City).
Virgin Mary asked Juan Diego to build a church dedicated to her.
Juan Diego told Archbishop Juan de Sumaraga, who asked for a sign.
The Virgin told Juan Diego to gather Castilian roses (not supposed to be in season).
Roses were not widespread in Mexico then, being a European import (Columbian Exchange).
Juan Diego gathered the roses in his tilma (fiber serape).
He showed the roses to the archbishop:
- An image of the Virgin was emblazoned on the tilma.
Juan Diego's tilma is now an important religious relic.
The image is highly recognizable in Mexican history.
The image was carried into battle during the independence movement and the Mexican Revolution, becoming a sign of Mexican patriotism.
The Basilica de Guadalupe is the most visited pilgrimage site in the world.
In February 2002, Pope John Paul II canonized Juan Diego (first Roman Catholic indigenous saint from the Americas).
To accommodate many visitors, the Basilica has a conveyor belt system for viewing the tilma.

The image resembles indigenous art of the time.
Tests revealed that it's paint.
Marco Cipak, an indigenous artist, is traditionally credited with the image.
Doubts about Juan Diego's existence; parts of the story were invented later.
The church commissioned the painting based on Spain's Guadalupe Virgin.
Regardless, the shroud helped spread the Catholic faith.
The cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe remains strong, not just in Mexico, but in many parts of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Despite the Virgin of Guadalupe's importance, the Catholic Church generally reinforces traditional gender roles.

Born in Mexico City as the illegitimate child of a peninsular (Spanish-born) father.
She was a criolla (parents from Spain, but she was born in the New World).
Grew up with her maternal grandfather and proved to be an uncommonly brilliant child.
Learned to read and write at three.
Inherited her grandfather's collection of about 4,000 books.
Spoke Latin and Nahua.
Rejected marriage proposals and joined a convent at 16 to pursue her studies.
Well known by intellectuals.
Her convent quarters became a salon.
Received patronage from the viceroy of New Spain and was the lady in waiting for the vicereine.
The viceroy and vicereine helped her publish her work in Spanish.
Scholars tested her and granted her the equivalent of a university degree.
Wrote poetry on love, feminism, misogyny, and religion.
Most famous work: a satirical poem entitled "Stubborn Men That Accuse."
Defended the intellectual rights of women and condemned the Church for keeping women uneducated.
She was censured as a result.
Her work has been classified as proto-feminist.
Forced to sell her collection of books (4,000), scientific instruments, and musical instruments in 1694 to help the poor.
Died shortly thereafter from the plague at 43.
Now a celebrated person in Mexico (featured on the 200 peso bill).
The convent where she lived and studied was turned into a university that bears her name.
She is now a feminist symbol.