r/AskHistorians • u/bobi897 • Oct 26 '16

How did Iberian priests convert native populations to Christianity?

I know that Sahagún was one of the first to move towards a more understanding viewpoint in which christian documents were translated to various native languages. But was there a set process that priests generally followed in their attempts to convert the native people? And what role did violence play in the conversion of natives

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u/[deleted] Oct 26 '16 edited Oct 27 '16

I'll try to give a brief answer! - If you want any elaboration, feel free to ask!

Bernardino de Sahagún is one of the few who attempted a different type of evangelization in the latin world during the early period of colonisation (1500s). He attempted to learn Aztec culture, belief and philosophy - and in turn related it to the bible, using this knowledge to attempt to convert locals. As well as this, he was responsible for the translation of the Psalms and Gospels into the native langauge of central america - Nahuatl and the spreading of this publication.

Other Franciscan missionaries attempted similar methods - sometimes with success and other times seeing the locals simply adopt part of christian culture into their own.

However, they are relatively uncharacteristic...

In truth, the Spanish conquest and conversion of the 'new world' was undoubtedly a brutal one - and began with what scholars have referred to as a 'conquest of steel and sickness' [see J Diamond's Guns Germs and Steel]- the conquistadors were responsible for one of the worst cases of genocide in history - to give example, the native population of mexico fell from 20mn in 1519, to only 2mn by 1600.

The reason for this is made abundantly evident when Columbus first arrived in the 'new world' (Landing on the Island of Hispaniola) he reports of the natives as being 'strange' - in fact, some Spanish Scholars (such as Juan Gines de Sepulveda) argued that the natives would never be capable of adopting Christianity - as he believed that they may not even be human - they were in a sense 'savages'.

As the Conquistadors spread their grip, with famous figures such as Herman Cortes and Francisco Pizarro subjugating the empires of the Inca and Aztecs during the 1530s - they in turn commented on the need for Christianity - however, their implementation was more comparable to the methods of the Inquisition back at home in Spain, than to the methods of Sahagún. - The ideas of Gines de Sepulveda had infiltrated their understanding of natives and in turn informed their subhuman treatment of them.

There are rife reports of the burning of Aztec holy texts by conquistadors and priests alike during the 1530s, as well as of the destruction of temples and the melting down of idols (into coins which were returned to Iberia to feed the empire). In earlier days, no real attempts were made to convert the natives - rather to eradicate them, with many being forced into mines where they were expected to die.

However, later on, priests started with the implementation of violent threat as a method of forcing 'mass conversions' of native people - with those who refused being subject to torture.

Bartolome de Las Casas, a visiting Spanish priest, is one of our main sources of evidence in this area, he reports:

"[Priests] bound up in groups of 13, in memory of Our Redeemer and His twelve Apostles, then set burning wood at their feet and thus burned them alive.".

"the Christians, with their horses and swords and pikes began to carry out massacres and strange cruelties against them"

"with the infernal actions of the Christians, there have been unjustly slain more than twelve million men, women, and children"

In essence, for the vast majority of the 1500s, there were only two choices for the natives - to 'convert' (and suffer a life of slavery) or to be subject to torture and eventual death - very few experienced the evangelism of the Franciscan friary or the methods of Sahagún.

Seeing this left individuals, such as Sahagún, in a disillusioned state - unhappy with the 'mass forced conversions' which he worried were simply superficial and shocked by the horror of the methods of other missionaries employed.

All in all, the conversion of Latin American Natives was classifiably horrendous - though some tried to embrace the ideas of Sahagún, the vast majority of 'conversions' were often superficial - yet, in a sense, they were the lucky ones, as many natives were never even given a choice to convert and instead subjected to torturous conditions by the conquistadors before the missionaries even arrived.

Sources:

  • Arthur J.O. Anderson, "Sahagún: Career and Character" in Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex: The General History of the Things of New Spain, Introductions and Indices, Arthur J.O. Anderson and Charles Dibble, translators. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press 198

  • Edwin Edward Sylvest, Motifs of Franciscan Mission Theory in Sixteenth Century New Spain Province of the Holy Gospel (Washington DC: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1975).

  • Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex: Introductions and Indices, Arthur J.O. Anderson and Charles Dibble, translators. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press 1982.

  • Swanson, P. "The Companion to Latin American Studies" (Manchester University Press, 2003)

  • Ellen T. Baird, "Artists of Sahagun's Primeros Memoriales: A Question of Identity," in The Work of Bernardino De Sahagún, Pioneer Ethnographer of Sixteenth-Century Aztec Mexico, ed. J. Jorge Klor de Alva, H. B. Nicholson, and Eloise Quiñones Keber (Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1988), Ellen T. Baird, The Drawings of Sahagun's Primeros Memoriales: Structure and Style (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997).

  • Lopes Don, P. (2006) Franciscans, Indian Sorcerers, and the Inquisition in New Spain, 1536-1543, web, accessed 27/10/16 http://inside.sfuhs.org/dept/history/mexicoreader/Chapter3/Donsorcerors.pdf

  • Griffiths, N. 'Inquisition of the Indians?: The Inquisitorial Model and Repression of Andean Religion in Seventeenth Century Peru' https://history360.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/gau215.pdf

  • Betnton L, Law and Colonial Cultures: Legal Regimes in World History, 1400-1900, Cambridge University Press https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=rZtjR9JnwYwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Law+and+Colonial+Cultures&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjwvryE6_rPAhXI1RQKHR2ABSMQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=Law%20and%20Colonial%20Cultures&f=false

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u/bobi897 Oct 26 '16

The Spanish empire (due in part to las casas) tries to curtail the violence against natives by establishing laws (1542 New Laws) that try to protect the natives correct? Are they that effective?

Also, the Indian Inquisition in 1571 was made to try to diminish the violence towards native people, was it effective, or was violence still a major factor in coercing people to "convert".

thank you for your response!

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u/[deleted] Oct 27 '16 edited Oct 27 '16

This is an area in which there is still an ongoing debate between Latin American historians as to whether the effects were truly felt or not.

As you'll probably note, I don't mention these topics in my previous answer - and there's a good reason for that. The school of thought which I fall into would argue that, despite some attempts by the King (Charles V) and the Viceroy of Peru (Blasco Nunez Vela) to impose these laws, much like the 'liberation of the serfs' in Russia during the mid-1800s, the actual de-facto effects were not really felt.

To give context to it, 'Las Leyes Nuevas' were passed in 1542 by Charles V's command as an attempt to limit the power of the Conquistadors. In essence, they were a reform of Ferdinand II's 'Leyes de Burgos' and attempted to make stricter rules about the treatment of native peoples by reforming the encomedia system (essentially, the system which enabled the enslavement of native people to work in the mines and pay back to Spain).

After the passage of the laws, it didn't take long before characters such as Gonzalo Pizarro (the brother of the previously mentioned Francisco Pizarro) and other wealthy Peruvian landowners associated with the Conquistadors turned against the King and his representatives in 1543

The armies of the Conquistadors (led by Gonzalo Pizzaro) quickly took control of New Grenade (The area now land which is now part of Venezuala, Colombia and Ecuador), quickly followed by the toppling of Blasco Nunez Vela in 1546, allowing the control of Peru (the area now made up of Peru and Bolivia). Pizarro then declared the territories to be independent from Spain and the Holy Roman Empire in 1547.

In response to this, the court of Charles V sent a mission led by Pedro de la Gasca, with orders to retake control of the territory. La Gasca ordered the execution of Gonzalo Pizzaro, however, understanding the need to appease the landowners, also ordered that the New Laws be suspended until further notice, leaving many of the indigenous population in a state of Semi-slavery.

Thus, the impact of these laws was hardly felt at all by the indigenous peoples, who continued to be subjugated, enslaved and in essence, treated as subhuman.

I'll admit, I'm slightly less informed in relation to the later Indian Inquisition, however, I can try and do my best! - I'll get back to you once I've finished reading into it a bit more! (considering I've only ever read a small section on it from the UC Press relating to it specifically: http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft396nb1w0&chunk.id=d0e10198&toc.id=d0e10083&brand=ucpress)

Sources: