Saintly Biography and the Cult of San Felipe de Jesús in Mexico City, 1597-1697

Cornelius Conover

doi:10.1353/tam.2011.0070

Saintly Biography and the Cult of San Felipe de Jesús in Mexico City, 1597-1697

The Americas A Quarterly Review of Latin American History ◽

10.1017/s0003161500000328 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 67 (04) ◽

pp. 441-466 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Cornelius Conover

Keyword(s):

Seventeenth Century ◽

Mexico City ◽

Religious Beliefs ◽

Stable Form ◽

Religious Orders ◽

City Center ◽

Social Interests ◽

The City

By the late seventeenth century, the cult of San Felipe de Jesús (ca. 1572-97), native of Mexico City and martyr in Japan, had taken a stable form in Mexico City, where he was born. Each year on February 5, the dignitaries of the viceregal capital gathered for a procession through the city center and a liturgical ceremony in the cathedral to praise the saint and his city, but for the rest of the year, residents largely ignored him. A multitude of social interests had led to this less-than-wholehearted embrace, among them rivalry between religious orders, civic self-promotion, and religious beliefs.

Download Full-text

The Colonial City

Mexico City through History and Culture ◽

10.5871/bacad/9780197264461.003.0004 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

D.A. BRADING

Keyword(s):

Mexico City ◽

New Spain ◽

Cultural Influences ◽

Spanish America ◽

Religious Orders ◽

Clear Vision ◽

The Social ◽

The City ◽

Political Decisions ◽

Looking Back

This chapter demonstrates that while Spain had a clear vision of what the conquered Aztec city should be, the city of the conquistadors was relatively short for it was soon transformed by its Creole inhabitants who made their own identity pronounced on its building and culture. For 300 years, the city of Mexico was the capital of viceroyalty. It was the capital of New Spain and was the seat of the metropolitan archbishopric of Mexico. During the first decades of the seventeenth century, a generation of young Creoles entered the secular priesthood and the religious orders. They challenged the predominance of European Spaniards, affirmed their talents and identity, and started looking back to the glorious past the conquistadors had destroyed. However, the development of the city was constrained and limited by the city’s status as the viceregal capital of New Spain. Its status hence meant that the city depended on the political decisions and cultural influences emanating from the Spanish. Out of this tension, a creative process of change emerged in which different ethnic groups and cultures intermingled and conflicted to ensure that the social composition and character of Mexico City would be different from the other cities in Spanish America. However, these changes were not brought without due loss. Due to the conquest and the Old World diseases the Mexico population fell to the near brink of oblivion. These epidemics and natural calamities continued to afflict the city throughout the colonial period.

Download Full-text

Out of Tlatelolco’s Ruins: Patronage, Devotion, and Natural Disaster at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Angels, 1745–1781

Hispanic American Historical Review ◽

10.1215/00182168-1902706 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 93 (1) ◽

pp. 33-65 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Paul Ramírez ◽

William B. Taylor

Keyword(s):

Eighteenth Century ◽

Mexico City ◽

Colonial History ◽

City Center ◽

The Social ◽

Promotional Efforts ◽

History Of ◽

Bourbon Reforms ◽

Disease Epidemics ◽

The City

Abstract Colonial inhabitants of Mexico City were accustomed to coping with natural disasters, including disease epidemics, droughts, floods, and earthquakes, which menaced rich and poor alike and stirred fervent devotion to miraculous images and their shrines. This article revisits the late colonial history of the shrine of Our Lady of the Angels, an image preserved miraculously on an adobe wall in the Indian quarter of Santiago Tlatelolco. The assumption has been that archiepiscopal authorities aiming to deflect public worship toward a more austere, interior spirituality suppressed activities there after 1745 because they saw the devotion as excessively Indian and Baroque. The shrine has served as a barometer of eighteenth-century Bourbon reforms even though its story has not been fully told. This article explores the politics of patronage in the years after the shrine’s closure and in the decades prior to the arrival on the scene of a new Spanish patron in 1776, revealing that Indian caretakers kept the faith well beyond the official intervention, with some help from well-placed Spanish devotees and officials. The efforts of the new patron, a Spanish tailor from the city center, to renovate the building and image and secure the necessary permissions and privileges helped transform the site into one of the most famous in the capital. Attention to earlier patterns of patronage and to the social response to a series of tremors that coincided with his promotional efforts helps to explain why a devotion so carefully managed for enlightened audiences was nevertheless cut from old cloth.

Download Full-text

Microscopic characterization of carbonaceous aerosol particle aging in the outflow from Mexico City

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-9-16993-2009 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 16993-17033 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

R. C. Moffet ◽

T. R. Henn ◽

A. V. Tivanski ◽

R. J. Hopkins ◽

Y. Desyaterik ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mexico City ◽

Carbonaceous Aerosol ◽

Chemical Transformations ◽

City Center ◽

X Ray ◽

Alkyl Groups ◽

Inorganic Species ◽

Organic Particles ◽

The City ◽

Individual Particles

Abstract. This study was part of the Megacities Initiative: Local and Global Research Observations (MILAGRO) field campaign conducted in Mexico City Metropolitan Area during spring 2006. The physical and chemical transformations of particles aged in the outflow from Mexico City were investigated for the transport event of 22 March 2006. A detailed chemical analysis of individual particles was performed using a combination of complementary microscopy and micro-spectroscopy techniques. The applied techniques included scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) coupled with near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS) and computer controlled scanning electron microscopy with an energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (CCSEM/EDX). As the aerosol plume evolves from the city center, the organic mass per particle increases and the fraction of carbon-carbon double bonds (associated with elemental carbon) decreases. Organic functional groups enhanced with particle age include: carboxylic acids, alkyl groups, and oxygen bonded alkyl groups. At the city center (T0) the most prevalent aerosol type contained inorganic species (composed of sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, and potassium) coated with organic material. At the T1 and T2 sites, located northeast of T0 (~29 km and ~65 km, respectively), the fraction of homogenously mixed organic particles increased in both size and number. These observations illustrate the evolution of the physical mixing state and organic bonding in individual particles in a photochemically active environment.

Download Full-text

Microscopic characterization of carbonaceous aerosol particle aging in the outflow from Mexico City

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-10-961-2010 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 961-976 ◽

Cited By ~ 67

Author(s):

R. C. Moffet ◽

T. R. Henn ◽

A. V. Tivanski ◽

R. J. Hopkins ◽

Y. Desyaterik ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mexico City ◽

Carbonaceous Aerosol ◽

Chemical Transformations ◽

City Center ◽

X Ray ◽

Alkyl Groups ◽

Inorganic Species ◽

Organic Particles ◽

The City ◽

Individual Particles

Abstract. This study was part of the Megacities Initiative: Local and Global Research Observations (MILAGRO) field campaign conducted in Mexico City metropolitan area during spring 2006. The physical and chemical transformations of particles aged in the outflow from Mexico City were investigated for the transport event of 22 March 2006. A detailed chemical analysis of individual particles was performed using a combination of complementary microscopy and micro-spectroscopy techniques. The applied techniques included scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) coupled with near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS) and computer controlled scanning electron microscopy with an energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (CCSEM/EDX). As the aerosol plume evolves from the city center, the organic mass per particle increases and the fraction of carbon-carbon double bonds (associated with elemental carbon) decreases. Organic functional groups enhanced with particle age include: carboxylic acids, alkyl groups, and oxygen bonded alkyl groups. At the city center (T0) the most prevalent aerosol type contained inorganic species (composed of sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, and potassium) coated with organic material. At the T1 and T2 sites, located northeast of T0 (~29 km and ~65 km, respectively), the fraction of homogenously mixed organic particles increased in both size and number. These observations illustrate the evolution of the physical mixing state and organic bonding in individual particles in a photochemically active environment.

Download Full-text

La Entrada Angelopolitana: Ritual and Myth in the Viceregal Entry in Puebla de Los Angeles

The Americas A Quarterly Review of Latin American History ◽

10.2307/1008003 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 52 (3) ◽

pp. 283-320 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nancy H. Fee

Keyword(s):

Seventeenth Century ◽

Los Angeles ◽

Mexico City ◽

New Spain ◽

Puebla De Los Angeles ◽

Hernan Cortes ◽

The City

The celebration of the entry of the viceroy was the most lavish, costly civic ritual in seventeenth-century Puebla de los Angeles. Staged by Puebla elites to honor the viceroy, this ritual event was orchestrated to assert and display the religiosity and superiority of Angelópolis (the literary title for Puebla). Invoking the journey of Hernán Cortés, the routing of the viceregal entry through Puebla prior to Mexico City heightened the competitive spirit of the Puebla Cabildo. The Puebla Cathedral, erected on the main plaza largely under the influence of Bishop Juan de Palafox y Mendoza from 1640-49, functioned as the centerpiece and scenographie backdrop of this civic spectacle. Ephemeral, triumphal arches featuring allegorical, political emblems framed and gated the ritual entry. Designed by members of the oldest builders’ guild in New Spain, some of these arches were placed within the main portal of the Cathedral marking its role as the sanctum sanctorum of the city.

Download Full-text

Las pestilentes “mansiones de la muerte”. Los cementerios de la ciudad de México 1870-1890

Revista Trace ◽

10.22134/trace.58.2010.372 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 93

Author(s):

Sonia Alcaraz Hernández

Keyword(s):

Mexico City ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Premier Lieu ◽

Porfirio Diaz ◽

Social Interests ◽

Xixth Century ◽

Siglo Xix ◽

The Government ◽

Political Economic ◽

The City

Para el gobierno de Porfirio Díaz y Manuel González (1876-1911), la propagación de una epidemia en la capital se vislumbraba no sólo como un problema de salud pública sino, además, como una amenaza a los intereses políticos, económicos y sociales de la nación. A finales del siglo XIX, la insalubridad de los cementerios de la ciudad de México provocaba una consternación general que se refleja en los escritos de todos los observadores. En primer lugar, los escritores y cronistas hacen un balance del estado de los cementerios de la ciudad; por su parte, los médicos e higienistas proponen soluciones prácticas para que los cementerios se transformen en ámbitos saludables. Finalmente, las autoridades sanitarias de la ciudad toman el relevo e imponen medidas de higiene pública en materia funeraria entre los años 1870 y los años 1890.Abstract: For the government of Porfirio Diaz and Manuel González (1876-1911), the spreading of a major epidemic over the city was considered not only as a public health problem but also as a threat to the nation’s political, economic and social interests. At the end of the XIXth Century, the unhealthy conditions of the cemeteries of Mexico city was a matter of a great concern among different social observers. Writers and chroniclers criticize the cemeteries conditions in that period. For their part, physicians and hygienists propose practical solutions to transform the cemeteries into healthy ambiances. Finally, the sanitary authorities impose measurements of public hygiene in funeral matters in the years 1870-1890.Résumé : Pour le gouvernement de Porfirio Díaz et Manuel González (1876-1911), la diffusion d’une épidémie dans la capitale était considérée tant comme un problème de santé publique que comme une menace à l’encontre des intérêts politiques, économiques et sociaux de la nation. À la fin du XIXe siècle, l’insalubrité des cimetières de la ville de Mexico provoqua une consternation générale qui se reflète sous la plume de tous les observateurs. En premier lieu, écrivains et chroniqueurs font l’état des lieux des cimetières de la ville. Médecins et hygiénistes pour leur part proposent des solutions pratiques pour faire en sorte que les cimetières deviennent des espaces salutaires. Enfin, les autorités sanitaires de la ville prennent le relais, imposent des mesures d’hygiène publique en matière funéraire dans les années 1870-1890.

Download Full-text

Mede, Cuthy (1949--)

Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism ◽

10.4324/9781135000356-rem477-1 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Laurel Birch de Aguilar

Keyword(s):

White Light ◽

Religious Beliefs ◽

Modern Art ◽

Lake Malawi ◽

Local People ◽

City Center ◽

Art Gallery ◽

Mother And Child ◽

The City ◽

Fluorescent Tube

Born in Zimbabwe in 1949 to Malawian parents, Cuthbert (Cuthy) Mede grew up on Likoma Island, Lake Malawi. Internationally, Mede is considered the most well known Malawian artist. Known for his cubist forms and pointillist style, Mede unites modern art techniques with traditional Malawian subjects, and his work is inspired by his religious beliefs and local imagery. With a single dot giving perspective to his pointillism paintings, Mede’s most well recognized style emerges in wavy lines of white light over portraits of local people, or vivid primary colors of dancing, celebrations, and movement. His subjects are distinctly local: a woman with snuff; a witchdoctor; a mother and child; traditional instruments; cooking pots; images of imaginary spirit forms in reds, oranges and blues. Cuthy Mede taught modern art in Chancellor College as a young man, but soon became a successful artist. Mede opened the first art gallery in Malawi, the Gallerie Africaine in the city center, in Lilongwe in the early 1980s, and exhibited his works throughout Malawi from 1970s on, finding success worldwide. In recent years Mede is known for his fluorescent tube white garden and his purely white artworks.

Download Full-text