"So That the Indians Would Forget Their Superstitions": The Desecration of a Sacred Site in Malinalco in 1635

In 1635, the Spanish alcalde mayor learned that the Nahua governor and cacique of Malinalco, don Nicolas de San Miguel, and other elected indigenous officials had continued to organize rituals at the preconquest sacred site that stood abandoned on the hilltops above the town. The high-ranking Spanish official ordered two local natives to ascend the hill with pickaxes and metal tools to destroy the stone temples and erect a cross “so that the Indians would forget their superstitions.” A final inspection report, describing the mutilated monuments and disfigured idols, documents the violent attack on the ceremonial center. Malinalco was by no means a remote region of New Spain. In fact, a large and magnificent Franciscan convent whose walls were painted with elaborate murals stood within the shadows of the ancient hilltop site. More than a century after the military conquest of the area and the introduction of Christianity, the sacred temples of the preconquest center remained intact, as did many native practices and beliefs associated with them. This paper examines how the destruction of the sacred site of Malinalco represented an ongoing, incomplete, and limited spiritual conquest that repeated standard conquest practices, including violent attacks, the destruction of ritual sites and objects, the exploitation of native rivalries, and the persecution of local native authorities. Despite the promise of the Spanish official quoted in the title, these Indians were clearly committed to remembering their sacred past.