D. A. Brading – författare

The aim of this study is to define that distinctive blend of enlightened despotism and entrepreneurial talent which created Bourbon Mexico. The period 1763-1810 was a crucial and distinctive stage in the colonial history of Mexico. Jose de Gálvez, the dynamic minister of the Indies, transformed the system of government and restructured the economy. The ensuing 'golden age', far from being the culmination of two hundred years of steady development, sprang rather from a profound regeneration of the New World's Hispanic society. The chief success of Gálvez's policy was the unprecedented mining boom which made Mexico the world's chief silver producer. It was this silver boom which largely financed the revival of the political and economic power of the Spanish monarchy and, in Mexico itself, created a new aristocracy of merchant capitalists and silver millionaires.

Until quite recently, the Mexican Revolution was usually defined as an agrarian movement, as a peasant war, with Emiliano Zapata, leader of the villagers of Morelos, taken as its most typical figure. Yet this interpretation leaves many questions unanswered. It ignores the sheer diversity in both regional background and social goals of the revolutionary forces. It does not explain why the partition of the great estates and effective land distribution was delayed until the 1930s, almost two decades after the cessation of hostilities. More important, it fails to account for the emergence of a one party political system, in which the resources of the state are concentrated on industrialization and economic growth. This book consists of case-studies and general perspectives, all based on research, which follow the careers of several caudillos, some conservative, some progressive, with the aim of analysing the means by which these revolutionary chieftains first obtained power and then promoted or opposed the authority of the national state.

The Spanish conquest of America generated a profusion of chronicles, tracts and poetry, among which are figured several classics of the Renaissance. It also provoked a fierce debate between Bartolome de las Casas, who defended the Indians, and the humanist historians who glorified the conquerors. Thereafter, imperial jurists and churchmen acclaimed the Spanish monarchy as chosen by Divine Providence to establish a Catholic empire in the New World. Within the bounds of this universal monarchy, American Spaniards sought to define their social identity by installing Aztec and Inca civilisation as the historical foundations of their countries and by accepting Our Lady of Guadalupe and St Rosa of Lima as their patrons. When the voice of the Enlightenment re-stated the imperial critique of the New World's inhabitants, Creole patriots vigorously responded; and if in South America Simon Bolivar cited classical republicanism to justify independence, in Mexico Creole patriotism was transmuted into an insurgent nationalism that did not succumb to liberal ideas until the incursion of the reform movement led by Benito Juarez. This book is about the quest of Spaniards born in the New World to define their American identity. It demonstrates that across the three centuries of colonial rule, Creole patriots succeeded in creating an intellectual and political tradition that by reason of its engagement with native history and American reality was idiosyncratic, regionally diverse, and distinct from any European model.

In the eighteenth century the Mexican Church experienced spiritual renewal and intellectual reform. The establishment of Franciscan missionary colleges, of the Oratory, and of convents and sisterhoods was to the great benefit of the diocese of Michoacán. Thriving confraternities demonstrated the vigour of parochial life. But the secular clergy remained divided between a wealthy elite and an impecunious mass of curates and country vicars, with the cathedral chapter dominated by a group of enlightened peninsular canons. Charles III and his successor expelled the Jesuits, secularised mendicant parishes, investigated closely popular religion, stripped the clergy of their immunity from royal courts and then seized their wealth. In 1810 priests from the Michoacán diocese led the popular Insurgency which challenged Spanish rule. Here therefore is a rounded portrait of the Mexican Church at its meridian, touching upon virtually all aspects of religious life. At its core is the clash between post-Tridentine baroque Catholicism and enlightened despotism.

In the eighteenth century the Mexican Church experienced spiritual renewal and intellectual reform. The establishment of Franciscan missionary colleges, of the Oratory, and of convents and sisterhoods was to the great benefit of the diocese of Michoacán. Thriving confraternities demonstrated the vigour of parochial life. But the secular clergy remained divided between a wealthy elite and an impecunious mass of curates and country vicars, with the cathedral chapter dominated by a group of enlightened peninsular canons. Charles III and his successor expelled the Jesuits, secularised mendicant parishes, investigated closely popular religion, stripped the clergy of their immunity from royal courts and then seized their wealth. In 1810 priests from the Michoacán diocese led the popular Insurgency which challenged Spanish rule. Here therefore is a rounded portrait of the Mexican Church at its meridian, touching upon virtually all aspects of religious life. At its core is the clash between post-Tridentine baroque Catholicism and enlightened despotism.

Juan Diego, to whom the Virgin Mary appeared in 1531 miraculously imprinting her likeness on his cape, was canonised in Mexico in 2002 by Pope John Paul II. In 1999, the revered image of Our Lady of Guadalupe had been proclaimed patron saint of the Americas by the Pope. How did a poor Indian and a sixteenth-century Mexican painting of the Virgin Mary attract such unprecedented honours? Across the centuries the enigmatic power of the image has aroused fervent devotion in Mexico: it served as the banner of the rebellion against Spanish rule and, despite scepticism and anti-clericalism, still remains a potent symbol of the modern nation. This book traces the intellectual origins, the sudden efflorescence and the adamantine resilience of the tradition of Our Lady of Guadalupe and will fascinate anyone concerned with the history of religion and its symbols.