|
000938 Visit since July 31, 2004
| TRIUMPHS and TRAGEDY, a History
of The Mexican people (Chapter 1) |
by Prof. German Estrada
August, 2004 |
THE FOREFATHERS (part
14th) continues..
Another ideal of the Reconquista was religious orthodoxy,
to transform Spain into a haven for the Catholic faith
and purge it of Moslems and Jews as well as of free
thinkers. Along the way, the goals of the Reconquista
became dogma, a religious fanaticism transported to
colonial Mexico by devout friars and conquistadores.
Christianity had reached Spain in the days of the Romans.
Among the first to preach Christianity, say Spaniards,
was Saint Paul. In A.D. 400, the Council of Toledo
declared the Nicene Creed to be the official Catholic
one. The Catholic kings, practical politicians, employed
the Catholic faith to heal regional and class differences.
For this, they relied on the clergy, the builders of
a powerful and españolizada (Hispanized)
church. In this endeavor, they had the enthusiastic
backing of Francisco Ximénez de Cisneros archbishop
of Toledo and later a cardinal of the church. A militant
believer in both faith and crown, he put the church
at the service of Ferdinand and Isabella, whose marriage
he helped arrange, over the opposition of the Castilian
nobility.
Intolerance, the ultimate characteristic of the Reconquista,
however, arrived tardily. During the thirteenth century,
Castilla enjoyed a cultural awakening in an atmosphere
of religious tolerance and political tranquility. Despite
the battles with Moslems, Castilla opened its arms
to contemporary European currents. The fabulous Gothic
cathedrals of Leon, Burgos, and Toledo were built,
while Valencia, Salamanca, and Valladolid saw universities
established amid a climate of free intellectual inquiry,
respectful of modern and old ideas as well as of Christian
and Moslem beliefs. The university of Salamanca, of
high standing in Europe, offered initially no course
in theology, unlike others of its day. Unhappily, all
of that perished, swept aside by the depression of
the late thirteenth century, the fixation of Castilla
on the capture of Granada, a stagnating agriculture,
the expansion of the latifundia, and, by the middle
of the next century, the specter of the black plague.
As a result, intolerance replaced open inquiry.
The church, meanwhile, acquired enormous wealth, including
huge estates, property held in mortmain and free of
taxation. Not infrequently, it was the biggest landlord
in the region; Christian and Moorish serfs labored
on its lands or as servants in convents and monasteries.
The monks of the richest monasteries had social standing
as well, power akin to that of nobles over people within
their domains. The fueros (privileges), such
as the right to hold property in mortmain, were granted
to the clergy by the crown, eager to have allies in
its battle with dukes, counts, and knights and the burguesía .
Innocent VIII, by a papal bull of 1486, bestowed on
the crown the power of patronage, the right to appoint
bishops and other high clergy and to collect ecclesiastical
benefices in Granada, on the verge of falling into
the lap of Christians. Ferdinand and Isabella, the
pope's beneficiaries, used the papal bull to bring
the church under the sway of the crown. The church
in colonial Mexico labored undr its jurisdiction.
Source: From the book Triumphs
and Tragedy, a History of the Mexican People by his
author Ramon Eduardo Ruiz, and with his authorization.
(W.W. Norton & Company. New York-London). We'll continue with this fascinating
book.
estradanav@yahoo.com
Prof. Germán
Estrada is the author of the best selling book,
"México
Mágico: Everything You Wanted To Know
About... But Nobody Told You..." available in Puerto
Vallarta at The Net House, Mail Boxes, Etc., Books,
Books as well as directly from the author by internet.
Archives
by date |
Current
Weather Report
