Thesiss

This dissertation examines the uses and meanings of the so-called Mudéjar aesthetic in sixteenth century New Spain (colonial Mexico). Its focus on the luxury arts, especially on cloth, clothing, and ceramics, offers a shift from the traditional focus on architectural history to …

In Spain, in 1501 the conversion of Muslims to Christianity was thought possible, hence the decreed baptisms; by the end of the century metanoia was deemed impossible. Similarly, religious otherness was thought to be surmountable; yet, it ultimately became indelible or racialize…

Joaquín de Arredondo was the most powerful and influential person in northeastern New Spain from 1811 to 1821. His rise to prominence began in 1811 when the Spanish military officer and a small royalist army suppressed Miguel Hidalgo’s revolution in the province of Nuevo Santand…

Through historical archaeology, an analysis of the material remains of Iglesia Mayor, the first cathedral in New Spain, dating from 1523 to 1626, was conducted. It was built in the center of what was the Aztec capital of México, Tenochtitlan, which became the capital of New Spai…

This dissertation examines conquering creole consciousness through the voluminous pastoral and ethnographic writings of Mota y Escobar (1546-1625), a first-generation elite criollo of Hispanic descent, who served as Bishop of Guadalajara-Nueva Galicia (1598-1607) and Tlaxcala-Pu…

Between 1574–1581, the Dominican friar Diego Durán collaborated with multiple painters to produce an account of the Aztec past that comprised a catalogue of gods, a description of the ancient calendar, and a granular history of Aztec imperial politics. Ostensibly created as a gu…

In 1521, the destruction of Aztec leadership created a disjointed network of native communities in what is now Mexico but would come to be known as New Spain. Until 1572 New Spain was an open and contested space for political, economic, and religious dominance among various Span…

In New Spain, the Castilian Crown solidified their dominance over the region by implementing a social hierarchy that ordered the inhabitants into racial groups according to the person’s proportion of Spanish blood—el sistema de castas. While there is plenty of analysis on the st…

This project examines how indigenous agrarian communities in Mexico’s Central Highlands used both legal and extralegal strategies to maintain their access to water while facing increasing environmental changes and competition from private landholders, cities, and other indigenou…