Sunday, January 4, 2009: 11:50 AM
Rendezvous Trianon (Hilton New York)
In the decades immediately preceding Spanish arrival in the New World, the
powerful altepetl of Cholollan dominated the sacred landscape of central
Mesoamerica. Capitalizing on its sacred legacy, the Franciscans razed
Cholollan’s Quetzalcóatl temple, using indigenous labor to construct in its
place the Convento de San Gabriel. Based on the sumptuousness of this
convento, which became the primary evangelization center in the region, the
Cholulteca successfully petitioned Charles V for city status in 1552.
Although the Spaniards – with the aid of the Franciscans – founded Puebla in
1531 with land from Cholula’s jurisdiction, archival evidence indicates that
numerous Spaniards resided in colonial Cholula. In fact, although the
convento primarily serviced the native population, it was principally the
Spaniards who had the privilege of requesting burial there. Nevertheless,
the Cholulteca effectively utilized the currency of Franciscan spiritual
economy for political gain. Using archival documents from the Archivo
General de la Nación in Mexico City, the Archivo General de Indias in
Seville, and the Archivo de Notarías in Puebla, this essay explores the
complex social, political, and spiritual relationships between friars,
Spaniards, and Cholulteca during a period of transforming spiritual
landscape in sixteenth-century Cholula.
powerful altepetl of Cholollan dominated the sacred landscape of central
Mesoamerica. Capitalizing on its sacred legacy, the Franciscans razed
Cholollan’s Quetzalcóatl temple, using indigenous labor to construct in its
place the Convento de San Gabriel. Based on the sumptuousness of this
convento, which became the primary evangelization center in the region, the
Cholulteca successfully petitioned Charles V for city status in 1552.
Although the Spaniards – with the aid of the Franciscans – founded Puebla in
1531 with land from Cholula’s jurisdiction, archival evidence indicates that
numerous Spaniards resided in colonial Cholula. In fact, although the
convento primarily serviced the native population, it was principally the
Spaniards who had the privilege of requesting burial there. Nevertheless,
the Cholulteca effectively utilized the currency of Franciscan spiritual
economy for political gain. Using archival documents from the Archivo
General de la Nación in Mexico City, the Archivo General de Indias in
Seville, and the Archivo de Notarías in Puebla, this essay explores the
complex social, political, and spiritual relationships between friars,
Spaniards, and Cholulteca during a period of transforming spiritual
landscape in sixteenth-century Cholula.