Charity for and by the Poor: Franciscan-Indigenous Confraternities in Mexico, 1527–1700

Abstract

Particularly examining Indigenous confraternities sponsored by Franciscan friars in New Spain, this work makes the contention that Indigenous peoples eagerly supported the early proliferation and enduring persistence of religious sodalities because they provided valuable aid and services. The work highlights European scholarship on confraternities, mainly covering Hapsburg realms, that centers on what these institutions purported to do for communities. Laura Dierksmeier sees the alliances between Franciscan friars and Indigenous communities as built on mutual aid and support mediated through the institution of the confraternity. The work's emphasis on the appeal of confraternities' designed functionality provides a useful contribution. The author seeks to explain that Indigenous peoples found value in confraternities because of their capacity to offer assistance to fellow members and the larger community through mutual aid—specifically, burial services for confraternity members and the poor, charity, low-cost loans, hospital administration, and assistance to the incarcerated.The core of the book is divided into six thematically organized chapters that contextualize the evangelization projects in central New Spain from 1527 to 1700, the institution of the confraternity in Europe and in the Americas, the purpose of confraternities, how Nahuas adapted the institution culturally, confraternities' hospital and care functions, and finally their service to the “moral economy.” The book is richly illustrated with photographs of material culture, reproduced documents, and codex images. It also contains useful tabular data, which organize some of the evidence. The appendixes generously share information about specific parishes in central Mexico. The research examined financial and constitutional records discovered in archives in Europe, Mexico, and the United States.The work engages with and contributes to an emerging historiography on Nahua Christianity, building on the work of Louise Burkhart, Jonathan Truitt, and Mark Christensen for New Spain and the Nahuas and the work on Italian sodalities by Christopher Black. For New Spain, Dierksmeier's book, focusing closely on Nahuatl texts, complements the work of others who have elucidated how Nahuas and other Indigenous groups adapted Christianity to their own understanding of the divine. Importantly, Dierksmeier utilizes sources in both Spanish and Nahuatl, relying heavily on previous work of other philologists, particularly to see how Nahuas adopted the new religion on their own terms. Dierksmeier, following Burkhart, emphasizes that because “linguistic variations between languages made many abstract concepts difficult to translate,” Nahuatl functioned as a medium to convey the ideas of Christianity, not “as a replacement for Spanish” (p. 54). Supporting Christensen's arguments and focus on Nahua Christianity, Dierksmeier's work extends the conclusion that specific community-building and affirming aspects of Christianity drew Nahuas to the faith, but on their own terms and when they chose. The confraternity, therefore, represents another place where Nahuas found appeal in Christianity.The work is strongest when conveying the stated function of confraternities and communicating why Indigenous peoples used them, arguing that the benefits that confraternities made available to communities and their members were desirable and necessary. Confraternities provided more than just a means to build community. The book argues that had the institutions failed to provide something useful, Native peoples would have abandoned them. Yet, as Dierksmeier demonstrates, some Indigenous people joined more than one, despite the expense. The research also revealed that some became members when sick or as they approached death to take advantage of hospital care and burial services that membership provided, even though it cost more to join for those older or sicker than for people younger and healthier (p. 71). Confraternities thus provided useful services and a sense of identity and community belonging for Native peoples. Members paraded wearing regalia and symbolic cords to indicate their membership and status. Confraternities, although often organized by ethnicity, did not segregate based on status. Ultimately, communities gravitated toward these institutions because they served a need.The limitations of the book are few. It could have focused on the early formation of specific confraternities in Indigenous communities. As written, the work reads as a detailed survey of the topic rather than showcasing specific microhistories. The research may not have lent itself to such an approach. The argument, therefore, seems to rely heavily on what confraternities said they would do, the nature of membership, and the financial dealings within confraternities. The work also seems to discount Indigenous political organizations such as Native cabildos, which also provided space for Native leadership (p. 6). The book demonstrates effectively, however, that Native peoples quickly engaged with and continued to use confraternities into the eighteenth century.The book offers for both a general readership and a specialist audience a fine introduction to confraternities while at the same time engaging clearly and effectively with historiographical discussions and offering fresh insights. Furthermore, Dierksmeier conveys the strong analysis derived from a deep reading of European scholarship that enriches works done on confraternities as they developed in the Americas.