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Defying the Inquisition in Colonial New Mexico: Miguel de Quintana's Life and Writings
Miguel de Quintana was among those arriving in New Mexico with Diego de Vargas in 1694. He was active in his village of Santa Cruz de la Cañada where he was a notary and secretary to the alcalde mayor, functioning as a quasi-attorney. Being unusually literate, he also wrote personal poetry for himself and religious plays for his community. His conflicted life with local authorities began in 1734, when he was accused of being a heretic. What unfolded was a personal drama of intrigue before the colonial Inquisition. Francisco A. Lomelí and Clark Colahan dug deep into Inquisition archives to recover Quintana's writings, the second earliest in Hispanic New Mexico's literary heritage. First, they present an essay focused on Church and society in colonial New Mexico and on Quintana's life. The second portion is a translation of and critical look at Quintana's poetry and religious plays.
218 pages, Hardcover
First published May 16, 2006
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July 29, 2011
Francisco and Clark produced a brief study of Miguel de Quintana's writings in 1983 and published as Working Paper # 102: Miguel de Quintana, Poeta nuevomejicano ante la Inquisición, con muestras de su obra (Southwest Hispanic Research Institute, University of New Mexico). The 29 page study was written in Spanish and included an additional 17 pages of transcriptions of Quintana's writings extracted from Inquisition records. The study was not an easily accessible publication for people interested in Miguel de Quintana, particularly the many people who can trace one or more lines of descent from him. The publication of "Defying the Inquisition" offers a remedy by extending the study of Quintans's writings and including valuable cultural, religious, social and familial background.
The book is not only an important study of early New Mexican literature, but a valuable historical account of a common ancestor for many people with Hispano roots in New Mexico (incuding myself).
I met Francisco while conducting research at the New Mexico Records Center and Archives in Santa Fe and I shared with him some of my research findings on the family and genealogy of Miguel de Quintana, which was included in the book. When the book was published, Francisco sent me a copy with this inscription: "Estimado Sr. Esquibel, Con el aprecio y agradecimientoi por su ayuda y colaboración. Saludos cordiales. Francisco A. Lomelí, 5/10/06."
Later in 2006, I was asked by the editors of "The Catholic Historical Review" to write a review of Francisco's and Clark's book. My review was published in Volume 93, Number 3, July 2007, pp. 701-702:
"It is rare to have any written record concerning the spiritual reflections of the common person let alone such an individual as Miguel de Quintana (b.1677 – d. 1748) who came from Mexico City to New Mexico as a settler of the Spanish frontier in 1694. The main reason for the preservation of Quintana’s spiritual verses was the use of the Office of the Inquisition as a political tool in an attempt to silence and castigate a voice of criticism against the local clergy of the small frontier Villa de Santa Cruz de la Cañada, the most northern European settlement of the Spanish Americas in the eighteenth century.
Francisco A. Lomelí and Clark A. Colahan present the literary voice of Miguel de Quintana to modern readers and successfully place him as an important figure of New Mexico’s literary tradition. Lomelí and Colahan’s careful analysis of Quintana’s spiritual verses reveals a personal spirituality firmly grounded in the Franciscan tradition of Roman Catholicism. The majority of the book consists of English translations and Spanish transcriptions of the various writings of Quintana, allowing readers of one or both languages access to these rare writings. The verses record the encouragement and guidance of “heavenly voices,” such as these words of the Queen of Heaven, “Do not dread suffering/ Suffer, because your hardships/ will find relief, Miguel/ for I will be there to intercede.” Evident in Quintana’s writings is the Franciscan emphasis on poverty and humility, as well as empathy and compassion for the suffering of Christ and the significant role of the Virgin Mary as intercessor.
The fertile influence of the rich and deeply rooted Spanish Roman Catholic tradition that flourished in Mexico City in the seventeenth century nourished the mind and spirituality of Quintana. Unfortunately, his personal motives for volunteering as a settler of New Mexico are not revealed in any of his surviving writings. As a husband and father Quintana sustained his family working as a farmer and a scribe. As a literate individual he was sought by others to record official civil and ecclesiastical proceedings, to write letters, and is known to have written coloquios, plays in the form of extended dialogue.
Quintana’s criticism of a local Franciscan friar and his defiance of this friar’s demand to confess to him stirred a personality conflict that developed into a denunciation to the Inquisition in July 1732. The formal basis of the denunciation centered on Quintana’s written spiritual prose and poetry, which local Franciscan clergy viewed as containing heretical assertions. Although Quintana maintained his innocence throughout the five years of investigation, he chose to bend as a reed with humility towards the authority of the Inquisition rather than to resist or push back. Following a recantation in 1737, he was exonerated, but only after experiencing much psychological and spiritual turmoil, which is apparent when reading his verses.
In Part One of the book, Lomelí and Colahan lead the reader through the historical and cultural context of Quintana’s era with scholarly insights into the common elements of Quintana’s expression that show how his writings fit squarely within the accepted Spanish Roman Catholic mysticism and spiritual expression of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In Parts Two and Three they have compiled and organized Quintana’s poetry, letters, and essays from a variety of sources, many which were transcribed from documents in Quintana’s handwriting. This book represents an important contribution towards the ongoing documentation of New Mexico’s literary tradition, a tradition that extends to the late 1500s. It is also an exceptional source for understanding the personal expression and experience of Roman Catholicism in Spain’s North American frontier.
José Antonio Esquibel"
The book is not only an important study of early New Mexican literature, but a valuable historical account of a common ancestor for many people with Hispano roots in New Mexico (incuding myself).
I met Francisco while conducting research at the New Mexico Records Center and Archives in Santa Fe and I shared with him some of my research findings on the family and genealogy of Miguel de Quintana, which was included in the book. When the book was published, Francisco sent me a copy with this inscription: "Estimado Sr. Esquibel, Con el aprecio y agradecimientoi por su ayuda y colaboración. Saludos cordiales. Francisco A. Lomelí, 5/10/06."
Later in 2006, I was asked by the editors of "The Catholic Historical Review" to write a review of Francisco's and Clark's book. My review was published in Volume 93, Number 3, July 2007, pp. 701-702:
"It is rare to have any written record concerning the spiritual reflections of the common person let alone such an individual as Miguel de Quintana (b.1677 – d. 1748) who came from Mexico City to New Mexico as a settler of the Spanish frontier in 1694. The main reason for the preservation of Quintana’s spiritual verses was the use of the Office of the Inquisition as a political tool in an attempt to silence and castigate a voice of criticism against the local clergy of the small frontier Villa de Santa Cruz de la Cañada, the most northern European settlement of the Spanish Americas in the eighteenth century.
Francisco A. Lomelí and Clark A. Colahan present the literary voice of Miguel de Quintana to modern readers and successfully place him as an important figure of New Mexico’s literary tradition. Lomelí and Colahan’s careful analysis of Quintana’s spiritual verses reveals a personal spirituality firmly grounded in the Franciscan tradition of Roman Catholicism. The majority of the book consists of English translations and Spanish transcriptions of the various writings of Quintana, allowing readers of one or both languages access to these rare writings. The verses record the encouragement and guidance of “heavenly voices,” such as these words of the Queen of Heaven, “Do not dread suffering/ Suffer, because your hardships/ will find relief, Miguel/ for I will be there to intercede.” Evident in Quintana’s writings is the Franciscan emphasis on poverty and humility, as well as empathy and compassion for the suffering of Christ and the significant role of the Virgin Mary as intercessor.
The fertile influence of the rich and deeply rooted Spanish Roman Catholic tradition that flourished in Mexico City in the seventeenth century nourished the mind and spirituality of Quintana. Unfortunately, his personal motives for volunteering as a settler of New Mexico are not revealed in any of his surviving writings. As a husband and father Quintana sustained his family working as a farmer and a scribe. As a literate individual he was sought by others to record official civil and ecclesiastical proceedings, to write letters, and is known to have written coloquios, plays in the form of extended dialogue.
Quintana’s criticism of a local Franciscan friar and his defiance of this friar’s demand to confess to him stirred a personality conflict that developed into a denunciation to the Inquisition in July 1732. The formal basis of the denunciation centered on Quintana’s written spiritual prose and poetry, which local Franciscan clergy viewed as containing heretical assertions. Although Quintana maintained his innocence throughout the five years of investigation, he chose to bend as a reed with humility towards the authority of the Inquisition rather than to resist or push back. Following a recantation in 1737, he was exonerated, but only after experiencing much psychological and spiritual turmoil, which is apparent when reading his verses.
In Part One of the book, Lomelí and Colahan lead the reader through the historical and cultural context of Quintana’s era with scholarly insights into the common elements of Quintana’s expression that show how his writings fit squarely within the accepted Spanish Roman Catholic mysticism and spiritual expression of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In Parts Two and Three they have compiled and organized Quintana’s poetry, letters, and essays from a variety of sources, many which were transcribed from documents in Quintana’s handwriting. This book represents an important contribution towards the ongoing documentation of New Mexico’s literary tradition, a tradition that extends to the late 1500s. It is also an exceptional source for understanding the personal expression and experience of Roman Catholicism in Spain’s North American frontier.
José Antonio Esquibel"
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