Colonial

Mexico
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
Yo la peor de todas
I , I the Worst of All
The area was now known as El virreinato de la Nueva
España—the Viceroyality of New Spain.

Created in 1533 it encompassed the territory from

present-day Guatemala, the Caribbean islands and the
current southwestern states of the US, plus the
Phillipines, with Mexico at the center.
The virreinato was headed by a Virrey [Viceroy}, who
represented the royal family of Spain.

This system introduced the famously inefficient Spanish

bureaucratic system to The Americas, where it remains today.
The Viceroyalty was divided into “audiencias”, which were
tribunals that had administrative and legislative
functions.

The “audiencias” were further divided into “gobernaciones”,

like provinces.

Those “gobernaciones” under military threat from

rebellious indigenous groups, pirates, or hostile foreign
powers like the British, were grouped into “capitancias
generales”

There were, furthermore, over 200 districts which were

headed by a mayor or a town council.
From a centralized office in Spain [the Council of the
Indies, working through the Viceroy, the government, church
and military forces were controlled. All explorations had
to be approved, all riches acquired had to be accounted for
Spain incurred tremendous debt exploring,
conquering and colonizing the New World. Despite
the riches taken from the vanquished indigenous
civilizations, melted down and sent back to
Spain, the country was not getting rich.

Spain didn’t have the infrastructure to produce all that

was need for the conquests and colonizations, and had to
outsource, buying ships and supplies from other European
nations.
Mexico/ Nueva España in the mid
1600s
 From a high of possibly 25 million people, the
indigenous population of Nueva España was now
at around 1.5 million

In the course of the seventeenth century, the calamitous decline

of the indigenous population of Mexico continues, reaching its
nadir of 1.5 million inhabitants in 1650 (from a baseline at the
time of the Conquest variously estimated to range from 5 to 25
million).
Conflict over ministry and control of indigenous peoples
continues, pitting the regular clergy (Franciscans and other
mendicant orders, pioneers of the early missionary activities)
against the increasingly powerful secular clergy, who are allied
with the criollos (American-born people of European descent).
This growing class of Spaniards born in New Spain begins to
formulate a distinct identity even as the crown of Castile
continues its efforts to regulate the economic activities of
their burgeoning society.
The crown maintains its right to skim 20 percent (the Royal
Fifth) of silver mined in the colonies and keeps control of trade
in the hands of peninsular Spanish merchants.
As a further restraint, those not actually born in Spain
continue to be barred from the highest civil and ecclesiastical
offices, although the sale of lower-level offices by the
 Christianization of Mexico

Convents, monasteries and

churches [all Catholic]
sprung up all over Mexico
Spain vs. Protestant Europe

In 1517 the German monk Martin Luther posted his 95

theses on the church door in Wittenberg, challenging
some of doctrines of Roman Catholicism, and a number
of specific practices. This was the beginning of the
Protestant Reformation, a movement with great
repercussions within Spain and its possessions.

This movement, which among other things posited

that the Bible, and not the pope, was the
central means to interpret religious belief,
quickly spread in Germany, the Netherlands,
Scandanavia, Scotland and part of France.

These countries were some of Spain’s more

important competitors in the New World and in
Spain’s control within Europe [King Charles/Carlos
was the head of the Holy Roman Empire].
A Counter-Reformation movement began in Spain, which at
the time was still the world’s most dominant power.
Spain, under the reign of Felipe / Philip II was to defend
Catholicism at all costs, and the costs of attempting to
prevent the spread of Protestantism in the northern part
of the Empire bankrupted Spain .
The Inquisition, begun in 1478 to identify and punish
heretics [i.e. those Jews and Muslims who didn’t leave
Spain or convert, or those who weren’t deemed Catholic
enough by the representatives of the fanatically Catholic
queen Isabel], increased its efforts in order to squelch
any Protestant movements within Spain. Most victims
however, were not Protestant, since the movement never
really gained any ground within Spain.
The Inquisition, known as the Santo Oficio or the
Holy Office, arrived in Nueva España in 1571.
Although the Inquisition was created to suppress heresy, it also
occupied itself with a wide variety of offences that only indirectly
could be related to religious heterodoxy. Of a total of 49,092 trials
from the period 1560–1700 registered in the archive of the
Suprema, appear the following: judaizantes [those suspected of
being practicing Jews (5,007); moriscos [those practicing Islam]
(11,311); Lutherans (3,499); alumbrados [those who had some
kind of religious vision or calling without the aid of a priest (149);
superstitions (3,750); heretical propositions (14,319); bigamy
(2,790); solicitation (1,241); offences against the Holy Office of
the Inquisition (3,954); miscellaneous (2,575)
In order to interrogate the accused, the
Inquisition made use of torture, but not
in a systematic way. It was applied
mainly against those suspected of
Judaism and Protestantism, beginning in
The inquisitorial process the 16th century. For example, Lea
consisted of a series of estimates that between 1575 and 1610
hearings, in which both the court of Toledo tortured
the denouncers and the approximately a third of those processed
defendant gave for heresy.[52] In other periods, the
testimony proportions varied remarkably. Torture
was always a means to obtain the
confession of the accused, not a
punishment itself. It was applied without
distinction of sex or age, including
Auto de fe:

if the accused was found guilty [most were] and the

sentence was punishment, he or she had to participate
in this ceremony that indicated either their return
to the Church, or their punishment.

These were public events and in time became a

public spectacle, taking place in large areas like
the Plaza Mayor in Madrid. These were religious
events; any execution by burning at the stake that
took place was not officially part of the auto de
fe, although for those present this may have seemed
a mere technicality..
Censorship

Spanish Inquisition worked actively to impede the

diffusion of heretical ideas in Spain by producing
"Indexes" of prohibited books.

The Indexes included an enormous number of books

of all types, though special attention was
dedicated to religious works, and, particularly,
vernacular translations of the Bible [the
“correct” version was in Latin].

Included in the Indexes, at one point, were many

of the great works of Spanish literature. Also, a
number of religious writers who are today
considered saints by the Catholic Church saw their
works appear in the Indexes
So the threats about the Inquisition that you’ll
hear in the film are something that those involved
would have taken very seriously.

As opposed to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHGOl-jfUK0
 La leyenda negra / The Black
Legend

An image of Spain circulated through late sixteenth-century

Europe, borne by means of political and religious propaganda
that blackened the characters of Spaniards and their ruler to
such an extent that Spain became the symbol of all forces of
repression, brutality, religious and political intolerance, and
intellectual and artistic backwardness for the next four
centuries.
All of this coincided with what is called the Siglo de Oro
or Golden Age of arts and literature in Spain.

The writers Miguel de Cervantes,

Lope de Vega, Pedro Calderón de
la Barca,and the artists El
Greco, Diego Velázquez,
Bartolomé Murillo, Francisco de
Zurbarán, Claudio Coello enjoyed
a patronage system administered
by the government and the
Church, and produced works of
fiction, theater and paintings
that have been popular and
respected for 400 years.
 The life of women and girls in the 1600s

Spanish and criolla women had the options of marrying

at a young age and living a domestic life, serving
the court of the Viceroy [if she were well-connected
enough to have this be an option] or entering a
convent.

Education beyond the elementary level was almost

non-existent, and not seen as at all necessary.

Those skills taught were either practical and

beneficial to others [cooking, sewing, administering
to the sick] or of entertainment value [singing,
dancing, playing instruments.

Indigenous women often worked as domestics in both

homes and convents.
Except not all women were
content with these options.
Juana de Asbaje y Ramírez was born in San Miguel
Nepantla, outside of Mexico City, in 1648. She was the
illegitimate daughter of Isabel Ramírez de Santillana
[a criolla] and Pedro Manuel de Asbaje, a minor Spanish
nobleman.

By the age of three she had already learned to read

and write [having followed her sister to school], and
wrote her first poem at the age of eight.

She grew up in her grandparents’ house and had access to

her grandfather’s library, which she devoured.

She attempted to attend the university in Mexico City—

forbidden to women—dressed as a boy, but was caught and
stopped by her mother.
The books in her grandfather’s library were her teachers
and she was her own task master, cutting off her hair
when she felt that she wasn’t learning quickly enough.

At the age of 16 she was taken in as a maid-in-waiting by

Leonor Carreto, the wife of the newly arrived Viceroy,
Antonio Sebastián, where she spent five years.

During that 5 year time period she became known for both
her extreme intellect as well as her beauty.

She was at one point subjected to a test put to her

by a panel of learned men. She was grilled on
theology, philosophy, math, poetry, history, and her
performance laid to rest any doubts about her
intellectual brilliance.
 As she was now in her early 20s, the time came to either
marry or choose a religious life, and she chose the
latter, although not out of any overwhelming religious
conviction.

Her intellectual urges were too strong, and she must have
assumed that the chores and structures of convent life would
afford her more time to think and write than would being home
with a bunch of kids, along with the requisite cooking,
cleaning and sewing.

She first entered the Convent of the Discalced Carmelites of

St. Joseph [las carmelitas descalzas] but found their way of
life too harsh and disciplined. [The fact that they’re
barefoot should have been her first clue!] She leaves after 3
months.
She later enters the more relaxed Order of St. Jerome [San
Jerónimo], where she lives out her life.
Nuns here had private cells, often occupying two
stories, complete with a kitchen, parlor, and
bath. Many nuns, including Sor Juana, had
servants [indigenous women].

The lifestyle in this convent allowed Sor Juana to reflect

in solitude and work on her writings. She also amassed
what came to be the largest private library in the Americas
at that time.

She regularly held tertulias, a gathering of similarly

intellectual friends and acquaintances, who gathered
outside of her cell to discuss literature, philosophy
and the issues of the day.

She had teaching duties within the convent, and gave music
lessons and taught drama to the girls who attended school
there.
In her early years at the convent she was protected and
defended by both the hierarchy of the convent as well
as by the new Viceroy and his wife.

Tomás Antonio Manuel

Lorenzo de la Cerda y
Aragón, Marqués de la
Laguna de Camero Viejo;
Virrey from 1680-1686.
María Luisa Manrique de Lara,
his wife was related to the
poet Jorgé Manrique de Lara,
who wrote “Coplas por la
muerte de su padre”,
containing one of the most
Nuestras vidas son los ríos
famous stanzas in Spanish-
que van a dar en la mar
language poetry:
,qu´es el morir.
 Sor Juana and the virreina become close
friends.

Sor Juana, as was the custom of the day, wrote

a number of poems in honor of her benefactors,
praising them in ways that to use may seem over
the top, but which in those days were standard,
if not downright formulaic.
Remember this point. It seems to
have been overlooked by critics of
this film…

This film is a biography, and is based

on a book written by Octavio Paz [Nobel
Prize winning Mexican poet and
essayist] called Sor Juana y las
trampas de la fe / Sor Juana and the
Traps of Faith].
He has also overlooked this literary
convention
Another close friend and protector was Carlos Sigüenza
y Góngora, considered one of the first intellectuals
born in Mexico. He was an historian, studied math and
astronomy, and wrote extensively on life in Mexico
during and prior to colonization. He wrote poems
dedicated to the Virgin Mary, drew maps of the lands
around the Gulf of Mexico, identified an insect that
caused the wheat crops to fail, preserved colonial
documents from a fire set by an angry mob, and wrote
the funeral elegy for Sor Juana.
 Sor Juana and her writings:

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sorjuana/Access.html

She wrote both sacred and lay texts, poetry,

theater, philosophy, villancicos [Christmas
carols], loas [short plays at the start of a
longer play], letters.

One would think that her non-religious work was what got
her into trouble, but that was not the case.
Sor Filotea y la respuesta/ The Reply to Sor Filotea

This series of events is pivotal to Sor Juana’s life

and writings, and also to the film. It’s highly
complex and convoluted, and I’ll summarize as best I
can the basics so you can get the gist of what’s going
on!
I. In 1650, Antonio de Vieyra, a Portuguese Jesuit,
gave a sermon that was later published in 1690. In
it he refuted the teachings of Church leaders such as
Sir Thomas Aquinas, as to what the greatest acts of
kindness of Christ were [or what were the greatest
expressions of his love for humankind], claiming
Christ’s actions were motivated by love without
requiring or expecting a response.
St. Augustine—to die for humankind / Vieyra—to absent
himself

Aquinas—to remain with believers via the Eucharistic

sacrament / Vieyra—remaining in the sacrament without
use of his senses

John Chrysostom—the washing of the feet of the

disciples the greatest gesture / Vieyra—the cause
behind the washing was greater
II. Sor Juana was asked by her friend, the Bishop of
Puebla, to write a retraction to this sermon when it
first came out in print form. He told her that this
would be a spiritual exercise, and would remain
confidential.

She did so, arguing that Vieyra’s affirmations were

mistaken, defending the three authorities and then
offering her own opinion as to what was the greatest
expression of Christ’s love [the kindness is in the
benefits that he does NOT grant to people, knowing
the evil and ingratitude with which they will be
repaid].
I. The Bishop published her response, which was
titled “Carta Atenagórica” { Letter Worthy
of Athena—the Goddess of knowledge] and
attached to it a letter admonishing her to
abandon her worldly studies and to devote
herself entirely to the study of Sacred
Scripture.
However, perhaps because he had broken his
promise about keeping her letter a secret, he
signed the critique “Sor Filotea”.
IV. In 1691 Sor Juana pens what is know
as the Respuesta or Reply to Sor Filotea
[whom she of course knew was the Bisop].

In it, she defends herself, claiming not to write about

sacred subjects out of fear and reverence [this being
improper material for a mere woman to tackle].

The letter is an autobiographical account of

her intellectual formation, as well as a
pointed defense of thinking women in general.

She cites her experiences in the kitchen “women’s

work” as akin to science experiments, a walk
outside is a biology or astronomy lesson, that her
brain never rests, and she cites classical, Old and
New Testament and other women whose brains worked
in the same way.
She concludes that a Mexico filled with educated women
would be a much more progressive place than the current
V. Sor Juana had already run afoul of the
decidedly misogynist Archbishop of Mexico,
Francisco de Aguiar y Seijas, who , aside from
being a big fan of Vieyra’s, had long resented
Sor Juana’s literary and “worldly” activities.
During his time in office, his severely moralistic
attitude was applied to actions outside of the
convent too. He banned cockfights, bullfighting
and theatrical performances within Mexico.
VI. Pressure was put on Sor Juana to give
up her more worldly practices. Her library
was closed and all of her secular books and
possessions were sold or given away.

In the end, she had no choice. Her last few years

were lived outside of the public eye. She wrote
nothing that wasn’t required of a nun, nursed her
sisters through an epidemic of the plague, and
eventually succumbed to the plague herself.
 False
advertis
ing:

How to
entice
audiences
to a film
about a nun
in a
convent in
17th century
Mexico?
 for and think
about:
The application of the poem
“Hombres necios / On Men’s
Hypocrisy” to the events shown.
Do you think that Sor Juana
brought any of her problems upon
herself? or that any of them
could have been avoided? Give
examples.
How do you interpret “put beauty
in your thinking rather than
thinking about beauty”?
What evidence of “seething
passion” did you detect?

Note the last names in the credits as they

scroll by. This is an Argentine
production, and their immigration patterns
are similar to those of the US.