A Seventeenth Century Mexican Library and the Inquisition

302 Pages·017.006 MB·English

by  Castanien, Donald Garner

A SEVENTEENTH CENTURY MEXICAN LIBRARY
AND THE INQUISITION
by
Donald G. castanien
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of philosophy in the
University of Michigan
1951
Committee in charge:
Professor Irving A. Leonard, Chairman
Associate professor Lawrence b , Kiddle
Assistant professor Raymond l* Kilgour
Associate professor Federico S&nchez y Escribano
Assistant professor Vincent A. Scanio
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To M3r Wife
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PREPAGE
The student of seventeenth century Mexico finds
himself hampered by a lack of materials on which to base
his researches* The sixteenth century has been a favorite
field for historians, perhaps because of the excitement
of the conquest and the establishment of Spanish rule in
the New world. The eighteenth century, when the ideas
and activities which eventually led to the wars of inde­
pendence began to develop, has likewise been the object
of many scholarly investigations. The seventeenth century
has all too frequently been dismissed as a dismal era,
a sort of intellectual and political doldrums, when there
was nothing noteworthy taking place in New Spain.
Added to this indifference toward the seventeenth
century in general, there is the tendency to assume (and
this is by no means confined to that period) that New Spain
was far removed from the ideas current in Europe. It has
been supposed that, because the Spanish Grown promulgated
laws forbidding the circulation of certain types of books
and because the inquisition had power to prohibit and
censor books, colonists throughout Spain's American empire
had no opportunity to keep abreast of European thought. It
has even been suggested that the lack of creative writing in
iii
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the colonies was due to their intellectual isolation. In
recent years, the researches of Irving A. Leonard, jos6
Torre Revello and others have shown conclusively that the
laws prohibiting the importation of books into the colonies
and the regulations of the inquisition were not effective
in keeping books out of the hands of the colonists.
It is the purpose of the present study to offer
more evidence about the literature available to seventeenth
century Mexicans. It is not only from a study of books
written in a given period of history that we gain knowledge
of the temper of the times; the books read can likewise
give insight into a culture. Melchor p§rez de Soto, whose
library is the subject of this study, gathered together
what was probably one of the finest private collections of
books in seventeenth century Mexico. certainly it is the
most extensive of which there is any trustworthy record.
The existence of P6rez de soto»s library has been
known for some time; Manuel Romero Torreros y Vinent,
MarquSs de san Francisco, briefly related the story of
p§rez de Soto and his troubles with the inquisition in
Tin bibli6filo en el Santo Oficio (Mexico, 1920), but did
not make any detailed study of the contents of the library.
It is hoped that the discussion of P§rez de Soto*s
books and the action of the Inquisition regarding them, and
the catalog of his library (to be found in the Appendix)
will be of some use toward a more complete knowledge of the
cultural history of Mexico.
iv
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I wish here to acknowledge-my indebtedness to
professor Irving A. Leonard, at whose suggestion the
work was undertaken. H© has been most generous with
constructive suggestions and has placed at my disposal
items from his personal library not readily available
elsewhere. I should also like to express my appreciation
to professor Federico S&nches y Escribano, professor
Lawrence B. Kiddle and professor Vincent A. Scanio for
the valuable aid they have given me in the preparation of
the thesis.
v
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TABLE OP CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION. MEXICO IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. . 1
Chapter
I. MELCHOR PEREZ DE SOTO AND HIS ACCUSERS. . . 32
II. PEREZ DE SOTO BEFORE THE INQUISITION. . . . 45
III. P&REZ DE SOTO * S LIBRARY: BELLES-LETTRES. . 57
IV. PEREZ DE SOTO'S LIBRARY: SECULAR
NON-FICTION................................71
V. PEREZ DE SOTO'S LIBRARY: RELIGIOUS
LITERATURE................................. 96
VI. THE INQUISITION AND THE LIBRARY........... 106
VII. CONCLUSION................................ 118
APPENDIX. CATALOG OF PEREZ DE SOTO’S LIBRARY . . . 127
BIBLIOGRAPHY........... 286
vi
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INTRODUCTION
MEXICO IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
The sixteenth century was the glamorous era In
which the Spanish established themselves quickly and with
comparatively little difficulty in the fabulous empire of
the Aztecs. The thrill of conquest and the lure of gold
led them on until at the end of the century they had ex­
plored, If not definitely conquered, an area roughly
corresponding to the territory occupied by modern Mexico.
New Spain's southern boundary was Guatemala, the northern
boundary was undefined because of the vast, unknown
territories that lay there.^
Although exploration of the new lands was rapid,
the task of occupying them was a different matter; the con­
solidation and organization of the territories to the north
was left largely to the seventeenth century. The frontier
was gradually pushed farther north, but the process was a
slow one, since the Indian tribes of the area were nomads
and had no large towns on which the attack might be concen­
trated. Throughout the century, the Spaniards were occupied
In conquering small groups which frequently disappeared,
■^Vicente Riva Palaeio, ed., Me'xico a trayes de lo_s
siglos (Barcelona, 1888-39), II, 463.
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2
only to cause trouble in some other locality*
If the outlying regions of the Spanish holdings
were not always firmly under control, such was certainly
not the case with the capital of New Spain and its surround­
ing territory* The Spaniards, after the spectacular conquest
of the city, had established themselves firmly, and the Crown
lost no time in organizing the administration of the new
realm* The Catholic Kings had established the Casa de
Contratacion to supervise trade with the Indies; Charles V
added the Council of the Indies. In 1527 the Audiencla
of Mexico was created, and two years later the first vice­
roy to Mexico was appointed, though he did not reach Mexico
until 1535*
After the king, the most important instrument of
government for all the Spanish American colonies was the
Council of the Indies, charged with the general super­
vision of the colonies* It acted, always in the name of
the sovereign, as executive, legislative and Judicial
authority in matters concerning the Indies© The first
governing body to be established in the New World was the
audiencla. which originally functioned as a court, but,
as time went on, it was granted other and broader powers.
Audlenclas had the power to investigate and try royal
officials, from the viceroy down© They also served as
advisors to the viceroys. If the viceroy were not a
vigorous executive, the audiencla. in its capacity as
advisory body, could strongly Influence the administration
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5
of a colony® As the direct representative of the Crown,
the viceroy exercised great powers In theory at least.
Actually, however, he often found himself restricted by local
conditions, the advisory powers of the audiencla. and the
2
growing influence of the archbishops.
As the colonies expanded and developed, changes
in government became necessary to meet new conditions. The
Casa de Gontrataclon. in its position as supervisor of all
trade between Spain and the Indies, became more and more
powerful during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
The viceroys lost some of their power, owing chiefly to the
complications of government machinery. It became impossible
for one man to carry out all the duties originally entrusted
to the viceroys. Because of the reputation for integrity
of the Judges, the audlenclas generally were highly re­
spected. The Judges of the audienoiaa had longer terms
of office than the viceroys and this, along with the
specific authority granted those courts, aided them in
expanding their power®
The government of New Spain in the seventeenth
century was a complex and cumbersome organization which
made good and effective administration difficult for even
the most skillful and well-intentioned viceroys. There
were two audlenclas. Mexico and Guadalajara; some provinces
2
Bailey W, Diffle, Latin-American Civilization.
Colonial Period (Harrisburg, Pa., 1945), pp. 295-302.
3
Ibid., pp. 603—08,
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4
had governors and some had none; some officials were named
"by the king, others by the viceroy; in many governmental and
administrative functions the Audiencla of Mexico was able
to intervene, making it necessary for the viceroy to obtain
the consent of the judges before taking action® Besides,
the church authorities incessantly caused trouble® There
was constant antagonism between the archbishops and the
viceroys, caused in part by the ill-defined jurisdictions
of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities. The Spanish
monarchs® custom of naming the archbishop as a substitute
for the viceroy in the event of the death or absence of the
latter proved to be unfortunate, for it gave rise to many
accusations made against the viceroys by the archbishops,
who were more than eager to have both temporal and eccles-
4
i&stic&l power in their own hands®
Trouble between the viceroy, the Marques de Selves,
and Archbishop P^rez de la Serna in 1624 resulted in the
excommunication of the viceroy and the interdiction of the
city. The populace was so aroused that they attacked and
burned the viceregal palace® Although the differences
between the viceroys and the archbishops seldom produced
violence, the struggle between the civil and ecclesiastical
authorities was a constant one. One Mexican historian
lists some of the instances:
A.
‘Riva Palaclo, op. olt.. II, 664.
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