Cofradías and cargos: an historical perspective on the Mesoamerican civil‐religious hierarchy

Abstract

Most accounts of the Mesoamerican civil‐religious hierarchy assume either a pre‐Hispanic or colonial formation of the system, despite the lack of convincing evidence. This paper presents unpublished archival data on colonial cofradias and civil cargos from four regions of Mexico: Jalisco, central Mexico, the Valley of Oaxaca, and the Sierra Zapoteca of Oaxaca. It is argued that while a civil hierarchy was well developed in colonial times, the civil‐religious hierarchy was mainly a post‐independence development. Changes in the functions of the hierarchy and its mode of articulation with the larger society are also discussed. [Mesoamerica, peasant society, ethnohistory, religion, political organization]