New Frontiers in Guadalupan Studies

Elizondo, Matovina

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781630874988
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Historical writings on Our Lady of Guadalupe, the most revered sacred figure indigenous to the western hemisphere, have tended to focus on the sixteenth-century origins of her cult. But recent publications have increasingly extended Guadalupan studies beyond the origin debates to analyses of the subsequent evolution and immense influence of the Guadalupe tradition.New Frontiers in Guadalupan Studies significantly enhances this growing body of literature with insightful essays on topics that span the early stages of Guadalupan devotion to the milestone of Pope Benedict XIV establishing an official liturgical feast for Guadalupe in 1754. The volume also breaks new ground in theological analyses of Guadalupe, which comprise an ongoing effort to articulate a Christian response to one of the most momentous events of Christianity's second millennium: the conquest, evangelization, and struggles for life, dignity, and self-determination of the peoples of the Americas.

1

Our Lady of Guadalupe in Bernardino de Sahagún’s Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España

Yongho Francis Lee

Fray Bernardino de Sahagún (ca. 1499–1590), a Franciscan missionary to sixteenth-century New Spain, left one of the most meaningful accounts of religious practices at Tepeyac in the sixteenth century in his Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España (General History of the Things of New Spain, often commonly referred to as the Florentine Codex).1 The encyclopedic General History was originally written in Nahuatl, the native language of the Nahuas, with the help of native assistants, in 1559 through 1569. A systematic production of a Spanish version dating to the mid-1570s followed. A bilingual version with Nahuatl and Spanish was compiled twice, during the years 1567–1577 and 1578–1579.2

Sahagún’s rare mentions of the shrine and devotion at Tepeyac in the General History are from two notes of the Spanish version of the work’s Book XI, which does not have corresponding Nahuatl translations. These accounts have been examined in two kinds of discourse primarily: either in a debate of the authenticity and historicity of Mary’s apparition and manifestation of the image on the tilma of Juan Diego in 1531,3 or in investigations of the syncretistic characteristic of the Mexican religious practices in the post-conquest period.4

Many scholars have mined Sahagún’s twelve books of the General History to deepen their understanding of the religion, culture, society, and natural environment of New Spain before and after the Spanish conquest. Overall, the data offered by Sahagún is abundant in its volume, diverse in its contents, and scientific in the methodology used to collect it, as Sahagún is considered as the first “ethnographer” of America. Sahagún’s relatively brief references concerning Our Lady of Guadalupe provided scholars—through many centuries—with direct information and clues to help reconstruct a religious phenomenon that reportedly occurred in the early stages of the conquest. His original and primary purpose with the General History, however, was not ethnographic or scientific, but to have the work serve as a tool in his and other missionaries’ task of converting the Nahuas. It is necessary to read his Guadalupe texts with this perspective in mind.

When it comes to Guadalupe, it is clear that Sahagún was most concerned with the danger of syncretistic religious practices disguising ancient paganism as the newly emerging Marian devotion among the Nahua people. However, a warning to readers of such suspicious devotional practice is not all that can be drawn from the record of this affair. Sentiments of despair, affection, and hope are embedded in the written account of Guadalupe. There is also more that can be read between the lines.

To start off with, this paper will examine Sahagún’s explicit missionary intention in compiling the General History in light of the early Franciscan mission in New Spain. Then this essay will chronicle his general understanding of and ambivalent attitude toward Nahua culture, religion, and society. Lastly, with these items in mind, this essay will closely analyze Sahagún’s texts concerning the religious practices in Tepeyac and at other Christian shrines. The primary sources for this investigation are Sahagún’s prologues and appendices to the twelve books of the General History, where the accounts of Guadalupe are found.

Bernardino de Sahagún and His Intention with General History of the Things of New Spain

Bernardino de Sahagún was born in 1499 in Sahagún, in the region of Tierra de Campos, Spain. He joined the Order of the Friars Minor (Franciscan) while he was still studying at the University of Salamanca. The combination of Franciscan formation and education in Salamanca affected the young Franciscan, as manifested in his life and writings. At that time, like other European universities, Salamanca was immersed in the Renaissance.5 One of the important academic trends, which heavily influenced Franciscan intellectuals including Sahagún, was the emphasis on the Sacred Scriptures for a renewal of Christian life. This focus naturally increased the interest in linguistics and in a proper interpretation and translation of the Bible to benefit other Christians. In light of these trends, Franciscan missionaries made formidable efforts to learn indigenous languages in order to teach the Gospel in the native languages of the Nahuas since their first landing in the New World.6

Franciscan millenarianism also greatly motivated their evangelical zeal. The Franciscans, in particular Observant friars, who insisted on returning to the life of simplicity and poverty lived by St. Francis of Assisi, envisioned the establishment of the primitive church or the Indian church in New Spain, modeled after the church of the Apostolic era. This new church should be free from the falsehood, superstitions, and any sort of corruption that were prevalent in Europe. Influenced and shaped by these intellectual and spiritual trends, twelve Franciscans arrived in New Spain in 1524, followed by many other Franciscans, including the young Franciscan Bernardino de Sahagún, who reached the new land in 1529. His General History should be read against this background.

General History of the Things of New Spain is a monumental encyclopedia of the Nahua world. A significant amount of valuable content in the work and his own development of research methodology7 are more than enough to entitle him to be understood as the “first anthropologist” in the modern sense.8

However, Sahagún, like all the Franciscan missionaries, dedicated his life to the divine task of evangelization of the Nahua people, and his linguistic, ethnographic interest and achievements were to serve to that end. Miguel León-Portilla comprehensively evaluates Sahagún’s works in this light, saying, “Only by knowing their language, their mentality, and their way of life would it be possible to bring them the message of Christianity in their own cultural context, as was the main object of the friars’ activities.”9

The early Franciscan missionaries were elated with the seemingly successful result of their zealous missionary work, seeing many of the recently conquered Nahuas converting and becoming Christians. However, before long they were dismayed and perplexed at the reality that the neophytes had not totally abandoned their ancient pagan beliefs and were still practicing their ancient religion outside of the surveillance of the missionaries. Pagan songs were of particular concern. Although pagan rituals could be easily identified, pagan songs were hard to recognize unless the listener knew the language, and Sahagún was concerned that outside the awareness of the missionaries, pagan songs were being sung openly, “without its being understood what they are about, other than by those who are natives and versed in this language, so that, certainly, all he desires is sung, be it of war or peace, or praises to himself, or of scorn of Jesus Christ, without being understood by the others.”10

In some places, even the worship of ancient pagan gods and goddesses continued under the guise of Christian celebration of saints without the missionaries’ awareness of this fact. Sahagún insists, “I verily believe that there are many other places in these Indies where reverence and offerings to the idols are clandestinely practiced under the pretext of the feasts which the Church celebrates to revere God and His saints” (Note Also, originally from Book XI, but sourced in this essay from Introductions and Indices, 92–93).11

Sahagún, who was fluent in Nahuatl and well acquainted with Nahua religion, culture, and customs, was certain that “The sins of idolatry, idolatrous rituals, idolatrous superstitions, auguries, abuses, and idolatrous ceremonies are not yet completely lost” (prologue to Book I, 45). Primarily concerned by this reality, Sahagún intended to compose the General History in order to help Christian missionaries recognize the still-active idolatrous practices and lead the pagan peop...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1: Our Lady of Guadalupe in Bernardino de Sahagún’s Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España
• Chapter 2: “May You Be Joyful, Oh Saint Mary”
• Chapter 3: Our Lady of Guadalupe in Art, 1606–1688: Growing the Devotion
• Chapter 4: The Huei tlamahuiçoltica
• Chapter 5: Mother of Health, Remedy for the Plague
• Chapter 6: The Guadalupan Covenant
• Chapter 7: Apocalypse at Tepeyac