The Franciscan Assault on Native Polygyny in Early Colonial Mexico

The Franciscan strategy of religious conversion in Mexico immediately targeted native sexual mores to enforce the adoption of monogamous Christian marriage. The abolition of Mexican polygyny in the early 16th century effectively disjointed the traditional native class structure. Upper-class natives saw their sexual privileges and their economic position severely compromised after they were forced to relinquish all their wives except for one. This was a severe blow particularly for the women of the Tecpan –or palace setting-, as they lost their place in the established households they themselves largely sustained with their gendered labor. This paper will analyze the attempts of natives who were prosecuted for attempting to reproduce the family structure that traditionally ensured their privileged status. Using as a touchstone the 1539 case against Cristóbal, the cacique of Ocuitico, accused by his slaves of bigamy and idolatry, we will analyze a number of issues, social, and religious, economic and symbolic, tied to the transformation of the sexual regime in early colonial times.