people of the spanish and portuguese colonies in
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PEOPLE OF THE SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE COLONIES IN AMERICAJean Lowry
50607
ANTONIO DE GOUVEIA Antonio De Gouveia was an Azorean
priest of obscure origins A deceptively charming man who could
endear himself to people in high places He knew astrology and alchemy, read
fortunes, fore-told happenings, practiced medicine with the sometime success of the amateur, and believed that he had the key to invisibility
The reputation that Gouveia enjoys as a Renaissance adventurer and rascal goes back very far
Born in 1528 to a family of Old Christians in Terceira, Gouveia went to Lisbon at about twenty years of age
Within two years he was made a sub-deacon and a deacon and then ordained to the holy priesthood in the chapel of Saint Anne
The Lisbon of his generation had already become the “eight marvel” of the world
Built on the north bank of the most beautiful river in Europe
ANTONIO DE GOUVEIA…CONT’D It was apparently on the return voyage
from Italy to Portugal that he was shipwrecked near Barcelona
Having lost his belongings in the disaster, he turned to medicine as a means of earning his passage home, though this too was a forbidden profession for priests under the law of the church
Gouveia’s first encounter with Inquisition was in Valladolid during this journey across Spain
He was accused of superstition, making a pact with the Devil, and practicing the proscribed art of medicine
He supposedly had power that made people lose their heads, and once made himself invisible long enough to steal delicacies with impunity from the table of a Castilian gentleman
Gouveia became popularly known in Bahia and Pernambuco as the Gold Priest, because of his knowledge of mining
CATARINA DE MONTE SINAY One August morning in 1758, Catarina
de Monte Sinay, enfeebled by old age and illness, called for the convent’s scribe to dictate her last will and testament
On a clear bright day in 1696, the young novice, Catarina de Telles Barretto, stood at the portals of the Desterro Convent of Bahia in Brazil, about to become Madre Catarina de Monte Sinay
Catarina vowed to God, the Virgin, Saint Francis, and Saint Clare that she would forever honor her sacred promise to live in poverty, chastity, and obedience
She symbolically dedicated her life to being a “bride of Christ”
For six years she had lived in the convent as a pupil and secular ward of the nuns
Bahia had maintained her position as the world’s leading sugar producer
Bahia had thus become the linchpin in a tricontinental trade between Europe and Africa
CATARINA DE MONTE SINAY…CONT’D Fabrics, furniture, tools, manufacture, and
foodstuffs were imported Bahia from Lisbon
Catarina’s childhood coincided with the beginnings of Bahia’s depression
Catarina considered herself a devout person and always tried to follow the Lord’s teachings
Her faith imbued her life with meaning that was both intensely personal and broadly universal
A Madre named Victoria had first refused to obey her father, and it was rumored that the Lord had visited her in a dream
Still resisting it was only after she had a vision of her terrifying descent to hell, that she was convinced that life in the Desterro was the road to her salvation
Catarina found her example awesome and inspiring, although she regretted that she could never attain the same humility
Catarina was reminded of her own shortcomings as a nun; she had often failed to live up to her creed, but all the same she was deeply committed to and content with convent life
DIEGO VASICUIO Diego Vasicuio was a quiet, cautious man;
and he managed to survive to an advanced age by avoiding direct contact with the Spanish imperial system whenever possible, confronting it only when necessary
His neighbor had denounced him to their parish priest as the leader of a group of Indians who persisted in the worship of the old god Sorimana
From the beginning of the colonial period, the Spanish attempted to convert the Indians of Peru into sincere, observant Catholics had been thwarted by tenacious survival of indigenous religious beliefs and practices that the priests loosely termed “idolatry”
Diego’s parents and grandparents had entrusted him with the stone image of the god Sorimana, and they had taught him to recite the proper prayers and perform the specific ceremonies of his cult
Diego had protected Sorimana during one such Visita by simply hiding the idol for the duration of the inspector’s stay
Performing a Ritual and Ceremony
DIEGO VASICUIO…CONT’D Diego was over ninety years old when he
appeared before Father de Prado to answer the charges of Heresy
For most of his adult life, Diego Vasicuio had been the chief priest and custodian of the god Sorimana, and an enthusiastic promoter of his cult
Diego’s reluctance to hand over the stone was undoubtedly a piece of artful dissimulation
The most common punishment in heresy cases was to denounce the convicted idolaters in public, and then to have them whipped by the parish priests or paraded through town carrying a cross or some other visible sign of their repentance
Diego and his friends knew this and behaved accordingly
They confessed that they were worshiping a false god and asked the true God’s help so that they might “sin no more”
Having once again adjusted and maneuvered to endure within the colonial system, Diego Vasicuio survived
ISABEL MOCTEZUMA In 1502 the Aztecs of Central Mexico
observed the death of the Emperor Ahuitzol
The late emperor’s nephew Xocoyotzin prevailed over serveral of his brothers and cousins, and in 1503 at the age of perhaps 35 he assumed power as Moctezuma
At the new ruler’s side was his legitimate wife , Teotalco
By 1520 the Aztec emperor and his family had unwillingly fallen captive in his capital of Tenochtitlan to a small force of Spaniards and Indians allies led by conqueror Fernando Cortes
Before his death, Moctezuma had asked Cortes to assume custody and care of his legitimate and serveral illegitimate daughters.They included Tecuichpotzin, later known to the Spaniards as Dona Isabel
For Isabel life continued for three decades, during which she figured as the most prominent Indian woman in colonial Mexico and as a pioneer of Mestizaje
On June 26,1526, Cortes granted Isabel and her descendants the revenues and income from the important town of Tacuba
ISABEL MOCTEZUMA…CONT’D As the wife of a prominent
conquistador, Dona Isabel would become a model of Hispanicized Indian Womanhood whom Cortes expected others to emulate
Choice fell on one Pedro Gallego de Andrade who arrived in Mexico shortly after the conquest was completed in 1521
In 1530 Dona Isabel bore Pedro Gallego a son named Juan de Andrade Moctezuma
Within two months Gallego was dead, and Isabel had been widowed for a fourth time
Life with her Fifth husband Juan Cano de Saavedra provided the first years of tranquility since early adolescence
It is apparent from Isabel’s will that she still held hope that the spanish crown would restore her patrimony as heir to Moctezuma II’s vast lands and that this expanded inheritance might also be divided equally among her six legitimate children
MIGUEL HERNANDEZ Miguel Hernandez was a free mulatto who
lived a good, full life in sixteenth-century Mexico
He married, raised a family, and lived to see his children find their own place in the world
Miguel Hernandez is an important man to know, he created a rich and rewarding life for himself while facing difficult circumstances
He was neither a spirited rebel nor an adventurer; he was simply a diligent and persistent man who gradually expanded the horizons of his own world
Miguel was born in Mexico City in the middle of the sixteenth century
He did some work as a muleteer, became more familiar with the complexities of trade, and developed personal and financial associations with people of wealth
Miguel chose the town of Queretaro as his new home
When he arrived in Queretaro, he automatically joined a special group
Since he was free, literate, and skilled as a muleteer, he became one of the leading mulatto citizens
MIGUEL HERNANDEZ…CONT’D Miguel Hernandez carefully sidestepped
many of the traps that ensnared other mulattoes and blacks in this society
He became a Spaniard in his economic activities, and much of the rest of his life personified the opposite of the nasty stereotypes that Spaniards had for mixed-bloods
Miguel began building his own freighting business
Miguel earned most of his income from hauling wool to the southern markets of Mexico City, Texcoco, and Tlaxcala
Miguel used his new wealth to buy a black slave, by doing so he joined a fairly exclusive group dominated by Europeans
He also claimed Spaniards as friends He spoke their language, wore their clothes,
followed their laws, and succeeded in their business
Miguel Hernandez died suddenly in 1604, leaving his wife and children as survivors
Miguel named his children as heirs, each to share equally in his wealth
MICAELA ANGELA CARRILLO Micaela Angela Carrillo lived all her life
in Nuestra Senora de Asuncion Amozoque (present day Amozoc), a predominantly Indian village about seventeen kilometers east of the large and wealthy Spanish city of Puebla de los Angeles
Micaela began her life as the daughter of a Spaniard named Diego Carrillo, and of the Indian daughter of a cacique of Amozoque, Maria Gutierrez
Micaela married a cacique, Juan Tapia y Luna, and thereby strengthened her ties to the hereditary nobility of the town
She lived by renting maguey plants on other people’s land
When the plant was ready to flower, she would go and tap the plant, extracting the aguamiel, or sweet tasting sap, which she fermented in a vat of cowhide to make an intoxicating beverage called pulque
It was through the production of this native wine that she supported herself, raised her children, and acquired a few material possessions
MICAELA ANGELA CARRILLO…CONT’D Pulque was one of the most
profitable industries in New Spain Micaela could rely on a steady
income During the 1705s, when she dictated
her first will, Micaela belonged to four cofradias, or catholic lay sodalities
As early as 1751, she had begun to distribute her property among her children
At some point after 1756, Micaela and her youngest daughter, Maria Antonia, moved to another house site, which was located on lands at the edge of town
The death of Micaela and the settlement of the family properties provoked a lawsuit and exacerbated a long-standing antagonism between two of her children
SOURCE
Sweet, David G. ., and Gary B. Nash. Struggle and Survival in Colonial America. Berkeley (Calif.): University of California, 1981. Print.