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The Devil in the New World: The Impact of Diabolism in New Spain
Despite the extensive modern literature on the evangelization of the New World, the devil has received little attention. Yet until the end of the eighteenth century, missionaries themselves saw diabolism as the root of the Amerindian belief system and as the principal reason for their own failure to establish a church purged of Satan and pagan superstition. This book explores the nature of diabolism and describes how it occupied a central place in assessments of all non-Christian religious systems, as well as in the bitter fight to subdue them.
In illuminating a neglected aspect of the European encounter with America, Cervantes sets the full history of the 'spiritual conquest' in a rich and original context. He shows how native Americans themselves received and re-interpreted the view of Christianity presented to them; how they refused to see the world as the missionaries saw it. Based on an exhaustive examination of archival sources, the book brings into clear focus the complex, often bewildering, and sometimes tragic clash between a theology which presumed the existence of competing forces, and one which insisted that all deities were multiform beings within which good and evil coexisted.
The book goes on to do much it deals, in compelling and persuasive detail, with the social history of the interaction between the two cultures, explaining not only the impact of European ideas upon the New World, but the influence of diabolism on the conceptual apparatus of the Old. And it provides a subtle account of the role of diabolism in the emerging baroque culture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries which strikingly challenges conventional explanations of the growth of scepticism in the period. In giving the devil his due, Cervantes's elegant and sensitive analysis transforms our bleak picture of the contact between the American and European cultures.
In illuminating a neglected aspect of the European encounter with America, Cervantes sets the full history of the 'spiritual conquest' in a rich and original context. He shows how native Americans themselves received and re-interpreted the view of Christianity presented to them; how they refused to see the world as the missionaries saw it. Based on an exhaustive examination of archival sources, the book brings into clear focus the complex, often bewildering, and sometimes tragic clash between a theology which presumed the existence of competing forces, and one which insisted that all deities were multiform beings within which good and evil coexisted.
The book goes on to do much it deals, in compelling and persuasive detail, with the social history of the interaction between the two cultures, explaining not only the impact of European ideas upon the New World, but the influence of diabolism on the conceptual apparatus of the Old. And it provides a subtle account of the role of diabolism in the emerging baroque culture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries which strikingly challenges conventional explanations of the growth of scepticism in the period. In giving the devil his due, Cervantes's elegant and sensitive analysis transforms our bleak picture of the contact between the American and European cultures.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 16, 2022
Really interesting and engaging and dense read. Some of the funniest historical anecdotes ive ever encountered are in this book & cervantes does an artful job of cutting up a very complicated topic by theme & region. The dive into theological philosophy very early on was unexpected to me, but such an important framing for the entire read — makes me want to turn hegel BACK onto his head again so that its right side up.
May 25, 2009
I recently met the author and the topic is my bailey wick. It explores the efforts of missionaries to translate the concept of the devil to Mesoamerica--very difficult to communicate a good vs. evil concept in a world where good and evil, or order and chaos, coexist. Louise Burkhart explored this dilemma linguistically in Slippery Earth. I'm curious to see how Cervantes treats the topic here.
An interesting book best read by those familiar with the historiography. Cervantes refers repeatedly to primary and secondary sources and so maybe it's not for a general audience. While there really isn't any new data, Cervantes synthesizes previous work and puts a different emphasis on the encounter in the Americas. Louise Burkhardt and Inga Clendinnen have emphasized the fundamental miscommunication in the evangelical process, Cervantes however, explores the medieval theological influences and the role of the devil in how the clergy and others interpreted indigenous religions and cultures.
An interesting book best read by those familiar with the historiography. Cervantes refers repeatedly to primary and secondary sources and so maybe it's not for a general audience. While there really isn't any new data, Cervantes synthesizes previous work and puts a different emphasis on the encounter in the Americas. Louise Burkhardt and Inga Clendinnen have emphasized the fundamental miscommunication in the evangelical process, Cervantes however, explores the medieval theological influences and the role of the devil in how the clergy and others interpreted indigenous religions and cultures.
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January 25, 2009A study of "the devil" and "witchcraft" in New Spain and how these two elements were tied to women, especially, indigenous women.
February 4, 2024
Read for class but lowkey this book kinda slapped
February 7, 2021
This is an interesting look at early modern religious history, and the intersection of both academic and popular religion. As the title states, this focuses in particular on the role of the Devil in New Spain from the Conquest (early 1500s) up through the end of Bourbon Spain around 1800.
The book contains 5 chapters. The first chapter focuses on the transition from a traditional view of the Devil as an impotent, contemptible, and almost humorous figure that God can slap about silly, to a more modern view of the Devil as exercising real power in the world. Fundamentally, this boiled down to ideas about whether grace and nature are separate (in which case the Devil reigns unless their is divine intervention) or whether they are not separate (in which case God is the lord of heaven and earth, of the natural and the supernatural). This was also related to views of the pre-Columbian civilizations - are they fundamentally good but misguided, or were they enslaved by Satan?
Chapter 2 focuses on the Indian response, in particular by examining material culture and recorded testimony. Ironically, the missionaries' response to Indian religious practices sometimes encouraged diabolism. The friars often portrayed all traditional rites as inspired the by the Devil, and also presented the modern view of the Devil as a powerful counterpart to God. From this, the new Christians in some regions got the idea that the Devil was a powerful entity that SHOULD be worshipped. This also related to Mesoamerican beliefs that did not recognize wholly good or evil deities, as well as to contemporary European beliefs in contractual saints that would punish communities for failing to serve them. Somewhat ironically, Indian diabolism was thoroughly Christian - new Christians believed that they were faithfully serving God and the Devil as separate powers, and even incorporate Christian worship (candles, water, images, even prayers) into their rites. After the first few decades, there were no attempts at out-and-out reviving pre-Columbian gods.
Chapter 3 focused on early diabolism in the late 1500s and early-mid 1600s. The author explored many of the cases reported to the Inquisition. I appreciated that the author highlighted that diabolism was not uniform. Diabolism was most present in the peripheral areas such as Yucatán and Nueva Vizcaya, rather than in the heartland of México. This was explained due to the belief that the Devil was repelled by liturgy; the corollary is that the Devil is powerful in communities without frequent liturgy and clergy.
Chapter 4 focused on skepticism from the Inquisition, which by the late 1600s began questioning reports of demonic possession.
Chapter 5 examined the reasons for the decline of reports in diabolism, in particular focusing on the role of Enlightenment philosophies.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It helped explain the perspectives of both different classes (new Indian Christians, established Indian Christians, missionary friars, secular priests, civil officials, Spanish aristocrats, African slaves, inquisitors) and across time (late medieval, early Conquest, Habsburg Spain, Bourbon Spain). My one complaint is that some of the sociological and theological theory was a little hard for me to understand. I'm Catholic and I've read this book twice so far and I STILL don't entirely understand all the philosophy that is going on here. I think the assumption is that the reader is already familiar with a lot of Western philosophy.
The book contains 5 chapters. The first chapter focuses on the transition from a traditional view of the Devil as an impotent, contemptible, and almost humorous figure that God can slap about silly, to a more modern view of the Devil as exercising real power in the world. Fundamentally, this boiled down to ideas about whether grace and nature are separate (in which case the Devil reigns unless their is divine intervention) or whether they are not separate (in which case God is the lord of heaven and earth, of the natural and the supernatural). This was also related to views of the pre-Columbian civilizations - are they fundamentally good but misguided, or were they enslaved by Satan?
Chapter 2 focuses on the Indian response, in particular by examining material culture and recorded testimony. Ironically, the missionaries' response to Indian religious practices sometimes encouraged diabolism. The friars often portrayed all traditional rites as inspired the by the Devil, and also presented the modern view of the Devil as a powerful counterpart to God. From this, the new Christians in some regions got the idea that the Devil was a powerful entity that SHOULD be worshipped. This also related to Mesoamerican beliefs that did not recognize wholly good or evil deities, as well as to contemporary European beliefs in contractual saints that would punish communities for failing to serve them. Somewhat ironically, Indian diabolism was thoroughly Christian - new Christians believed that they were faithfully serving God and the Devil as separate powers, and even incorporate Christian worship (candles, water, images, even prayers) into their rites. After the first few decades, there were no attempts at out-and-out reviving pre-Columbian gods.
Chapter 3 focused on early diabolism in the late 1500s and early-mid 1600s. The author explored many of the cases reported to the Inquisition. I appreciated that the author highlighted that diabolism was not uniform. Diabolism was most present in the peripheral areas such as Yucatán and Nueva Vizcaya, rather than in the heartland of México. This was explained due to the belief that the Devil was repelled by liturgy; the corollary is that the Devil is powerful in communities without frequent liturgy and clergy.
Chapter 4 focused on skepticism from the Inquisition, which by the late 1600s began questioning reports of demonic possession.
Chapter 5 examined the reasons for the decline of reports in diabolism, in particular focusing on the role of Enlightenment philosophies.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It helped explain the perspectives of both different classes (new Indian Christians, established Indian Christians, missionary friars, secular priests, civil officials, Spanish aristocrats, African slaves, inquisitors) and across time (late medieval, early Conquest, Habsburg Spain, Bourbon Spain). My one complaint is that some of the sociological and theological theory was a little hard for me to understand. I'm Catholic and I've read this book twice so far and I STILL don't entirely understand all the philosophy that is going on here. I think the assumption is that the reader is already familiar with a lot of Western philosophy.
January 16, 2008
Read for a Colonial Latin American studies class. Fascinating discussion on cluture, perception and spirituality. I liked it so much it became the starting point for my research paper. You may want to skip the first chapter or read after finishing the rest though.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews