Challenges, Strategies, and Adaptations in Colonial Mexico

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• Challenges, Strategies, and Adaptations in Colonial Mexico
• Veronica Rodriguez (bio)

The Franciscans in Colonial Mexico
thomas m. cohen, jay t. harrison, and david rex galindo, eds.
University of Oklahoma Press, 2021
362 pp. The Stations of the Cross in Colonial Mexico: The "Via crucis en mexicano" by Fray Agustin de Vetancurt, and the Spread of a Devotion
john f. schwaller
University of Oklahoma Press and the Academy of American Franciscan History, 2021
242 pp. Transforming Saints: From Spain to New Spain
charlene villaseñor
Vanderbilt University Press, 2022
384 pp.

Catholicism is an intrinsic part of Mexican history and its inhabitants' lives. Residents walking the streets of cities and small communities encounter numerous churches, chapels, or convents. Cultural traditions are strongly connected to religious practices. The three books reviewed here touch on aspects of Catholicism in New Spain. Two of them address the work of Franciscans who worked intensively with Indigenous peoples since their arrival in 1521. Franciscan missionary work vigorously contributed to the foundation and development of Catholicism in New Spain. Edited by Thomas M. Cohen, Jay T. Harrison, and David Rex Galindo, The Franciscans in Colonial Mexico comprises thirteen illuminating essays that provide a broad picture of Franciscans' missionary work in New Spain. The work of John F. Schwaller, The Stations of the Cross in Colonial Mexico, examines the work of Fray Agustin de Vetancurt, offering a thorough analysis of his [End Page 467] work in Nahuatl, Via crucis, while elaborating on the history of the Stations of the Cross. The third book under review here, Transforming Saints, by Charlene Villaseñor Black, discusses the transportation and transformation of female Catholic images from Spain to New Spain. Following diverse approaches, these books underscore how ecclesiastic men and authorities adapt their approaches to the Christianization of Native peoples as they interact with them in New Spain. Interdisciplinarity allows the authors to highlight how Indigenous people, their culture, and their language collide with and influence Spanish Catholicism. These books bring important new light to the study of Catholic practices and products in the Americas, offering more knowledge of Indigenous practices and languages.

The Franciscans in Colonial Mexico addresses the complexity of missionary labor, offering a "broad picture of Catholic evangelization in North America while keeping Franciscans at the center of the story" (5). It comprises thirteen works on Franciscan's participation in colonial Mexico and Spanish America, including Mexico City, Yucatán, Alta y Baja California, Tamaulipas, Sierra Gorda, and Queretaro. This collection of essays brings different perspectives and approaches to studying Franciscans' efforts in New Spain. It addresses the Franciscan order's history, relationship with education, encounters with Native peoples, multilingual tasks, and rhetorical strategies. Cohen, Harrison, and Rex Galindo ensembled this collection to honor the work of Fray Francisco Morales, a pioneer historian of the Franciscans in the Americas.

Morales contributes the first chapter of this book, a personal essay titled "My Encounter with the Franciscans and with History." Here he provides significant information on his professional trajectory, detailing his archival work, research, academic appointments, and experiences as a member of the international executive committee of the Franciscan order. Morales, for instance, relates the importance of his early days in Cholula and Calpan and his work in the American Academy of Franciscan history. In this essay, he underscores how these appointments allowed him to have an active research agenda. Morales's long-standing career paved the way for the study of Franciscans. Rex Galindo, Harrison, and Cohen assert that he is "the most important historian of the Franciscans in colonial Mexico of the last fifty years" (12).

The following three chapters study the work of Franciscans in central Mexico. Chapter 2, "Visions in the Service of Virtue: Rhetorical Mysticism [End Page 468] in Motolinia's Memoriales," focuses on the rhetoric of excess in the Memoriales. Hilaire Kallenford argues that Motolinia's descriptions of Native peoples' supernatural visions and mystical experiences function as bona fides to prove their virtue. She compares Motolinia's work with Fray Bernardino de Sahagún's rhetoric of moderation to stress that Motolinia's rhetoric of excess aimed to defend Indigenous people. Chapter 3, "Fray Juan Bautista de Viseo's Missionary Work in Three...