Bonfires of Culture: Franciscans, Indigenous Leaders, and the Inquisition in Early Mexico, 1524–1540

288 Pages·2010·15.111 MB·English

by  Patricia Lopes Don

Bontires of Culture
Franciscans, Indigenous Leaders, and
Inquisition in Early Mexico, 1524-1540
Patricia Lopes Don
n their efforts to convert indigenous
peoples, Franciscan friars brought the
Spanish Inquisition to early-sixteenth-
century Mexico. Patricia Lopes Don now
investigates these trials to offer an inside
look at this brief but consequential episode
of Spanish methods of colonization,
providing a fresh interpretation of an
early period that has remained too long
understudied.
Drawing on previously underutilized
records of Inquisition proceedings, Don
examines four of the most important
trials of native leaders to uncover the
Franciscans’ motivations for using the
Inquisition and the indigenous response
to it. She focuses on the consecutive
impact of the four trials —against nahualli
Martin Ocelotl, an influential native
priest; Andrés Mixcoatl, an advocate
of open resistance to the Franciscans;
Miguel Pochtecatl Tlaylotla, a guardian
of native religious artifacts; and Don
Carlos of Texcoco, a native chief burned
at the stake for heresy. Don reveals the
heart of Bishop Zumdarraga’s methods
of conducting the trials—including
spectacular bonfires in which any native
idols found in the possession of professed
converts were destroyed. Her knowledge
(continued on back flap)
Digitized by the Internet Archive |
in 2022 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
httos://archive.org/details/bonfiresofculturOO00donp

BONFIRES OF CULTURE
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“Franciscan friars burning traditional books and clothes yr from Historia de Tlax-
ca la by Diego Mu noz Camar go. MS Hunter 242 , Glasgo(A w University Library.
Courtesy of Bridgeman Art L ibrary International.
BONFIRES OF CULTURE
Franciscans, Indigenous Leaders,
and the Inquisition in Early Mexico,
1524-1540
Patricia Lopes Don
University of Oklahoma Press : Norman
This book is published with the generous assistance of
The McCasland Foundation, Duncan, Oklahoma.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Don, Patricia Lopes, 1952-
Bonfires of culture : Franciscans, indigenous leaders, and the Inquisition in
early Mexico, 1524-1540 / Patricia Lopes Don.
p- cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8061-4049-0 (hardcover : alk. Paper)
1 Mexico—History—Conquest, 1519-1540. 2. Franciscans—Mexico—
History—16th century. 3. Indians, Treatment of—Mexico—History—16th
century. 4. Inquisition—Mexico History—1é6th century. _ I. Title.
F1230.D68 2010
972'.02—dc22
2009024345
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of
the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council
on Library Resources, Inc.
Copyright © 2010 by the University of Oklahoma Press, N orman, Publishing
Division of the University. Manufactured in the U.S.A.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
mreetcrhiaenvailc alsy,s tpehmo,t oocr optryainnsgm,i ttreedc,o rdiinn ga,n y orf oortmh eorr wbiys ea—neyx cmeepatn s,as epleercmtirotntiecd,
under Section 107 or 108 of the United States Copyright Act—without the
prior written permission of the University of Oklahoma Press,
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To my husband, Allen