My project, started in November 2023, examines the handling, transportation and veneration of Catholic relics in the context of early modern New Spain. It focuses on the reception, meaning and appropriation of relics and their role in evangelisation processes and the Iberian globalisation through the cults of venerable figures, bodily relics and pious images. The research spans from Cortés’ arrival (1519) to Mexico’s Independence (1821). Post-conquest Mexico exemplifies the intertwining of political and religious spheres, where the importation and imposition of saints and icon cults served both social and political purposes, as well as the construction of ideals of individual perfection and decency. These processes transformed both the colonisers and the colonised across multiple dimensions, among which are social, economic, ethnic, racial, and gender power dynamics. Naturally, these changes varied according to temporal, spatial, and individual factors
The worship of Catholic relics in New Spain began with the Fall of Tenochtitlan (1521) and the taking up of the area by the Spanish Crown, a process encouraged by the Alexandrian Bulls of 1493, which granted the Reyes Católicos the right to conquer new territories under the condition of systematic evangelisation. Relic worship was primarily an urban phenomenon, with a more limited impact on rural Indigenous communities. By 1524, the Franciscans had established themselves in Mexico City, followed by the Dominicans in 1526, the Augustinians in 1533, and the Jesuits in 1572. The latter notably imported 214 relics in 1578 for their Mexico City College, celebrating All Saints’ Day with grand festivities. This memorable and unique event very likely influenced the aspiration to make New Spain a sacred land comparable to Europe and fully integrated in Christianity, a sentiment (or need) particularly felt by the creole urban elites.
Acquiring relics necessitated intricate requests to high authorities in Europe or the Holy Land. Although Puebla and Mexico City still hold hundreds of relics today, New Spain consistently faced significant challenges in obtaining large saintly body parts and securing official recognition of local saints by the Holy See. This persisted despite their efforts to initiate processes of beatification or canonization. Local episcopates, particularly during the 17th century, significantly encouraged the development of cults centred around sacred bones and images, as much as the veneration of local notable figures. The most famous cases are the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe and the case of Philip of Jesus.
Further than being only a religious need, the cult of local saints corresponded to a political tool. The cult of martyrs and saints resurged stronger and grew in 15th-century Europe, fuelled by literature and new piety practices, and as a reaction to the Reformation and Humanistic movements. Carried over to New Spain, the new cults were said to protect against indigenous attacks and convert the Indigenous population at the same time. This bolstered criollo pride and integrated mestizos and Indios into Christianity as much as it paradoxically was said to protect the population from supposedly idolatrous and demonic practices attributed to the Indigenous populations. These cults thus also provided moral frameworks that depicted ideal individual models, which accompanied and always stronger hierarchisation of a society drawn over racial and gender criteria.
As nothing is devoid of hybridity, the idea of pure origins is a flawed concept; identities and cultures have always been fluid, shaped by continuous interaction and exchange. This hybridity underscores the complexity and interconnectedness of our global history. My project thus explores hybrid identities, individual models, and iconographies, avoiding the simplistic notion of pre-Hispanic idols’ supplantation by Christian images. It aims to also investigate Maya, Mexica (‘Aztec’), and Nahua visual cultures, cosmogonies, and practices beyond Catholic influences, considering lesser-discussed aspects like bone cults, drawing from anthropology, archaeology, and linguistics, to identify potential contact points of interpretations or seemingly common practices.
Understanding the dynamic and evolving definitions of identities and categories—such as race, gender, and historical, social, and epistemological contexts—is crucial. Current discourses often highlight globalization as a “new” phenomenon, yet it is far from novel, having begun with the Renaissance. To fully grasp this period, even in purely European contexts, we must consider concurrent developments in the rest of the world. The concept of “glocal” history, central to my work, merges the global and local, recognizing that globalization began with the “discovery” of new worlds and the subsequent interconnectedness of diverse cultures. The Renaissance cannot be comprehended without acknowledging Indigenous histories, non-European narratives, and the movements of people, ideas, and techniques. Similarly, the understanding of relics is incomplete without considering these broader, interconnected histories and their need for movement and transportation to exist as such. Relics are probably the pioneer objects of globalisation and one of the most powerful ones to study the interconnection between the worlds during the Iberian expansion.
