Late Colonial Mexico Research Articles

Bourbon Policing in Late Colonial Mexico City - The Enlightened Patrolman: Early Law Enforcement in Mexico City. By Nicole von Germeten. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2022. Pp. 350. $99.00; $30.00 paper; $30.00 e-book.

Bourbon Policing in Late Colonial Mexico City - The Enlightened Patrolman: Early Law Enforcement in Mexico City. By Nicole von Germeten. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2022. Pp. 350. $99.00; $30.00 paper; $30.00 e-book.

William B. Taylor. Fugitive Freedom: The Improbable Lives of Two Impostors in Late Colonial Mexico.

Journal Article William B. Taylor. Fugitive Freedom: The Improbable Lives of Two Impostors in Late Colonial Mexico. Get access William B. Taylor. Fugitive Freedom: The Improbable Lives of Two Impostors in Late Colonial Mexico. Oakland: University of California Press, 2021. Pp. 224. Cloth $24.95. Fernando Cervantes Fernando Cervantes University of Bristol, England Email: f.cervantes@bristol.ac.uk Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The American Historical Review, Volume 128, Issue 2, June 2023, Pages 1064–1065, https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhad146 Published: 22 June 2023

Price sensitivity as a measure of living standards in late-colonial Mexico city

Price sensitivity as a measure of living standards in late-colonial Mexico city

Sobre William Taylor, Fugitive Freedom. The Improbable Lives of Two Impostors in Late Colonial Mexico

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Taylor, William B. (2021) Fugitive Freedom: The Improbable Lives of Two Impostors in Late Colonial Mexico, University of California Press (Oakland). 224 pp. £20.00.

Taylor, William B. (2021) <i>Fugitive Freedom: The Improbable Lives of Two Impostors in Late Colonial Mexico</i>, University of California Press (Oakland). 224 pp. £20.00.

Pícaros in Bourbon Mexico - Fugitive Freedom: The Improbable Lives of Two Impostors in Late Colonial Mexico. By William B. Taylor. Oakland: University of California Press, 2021. Pp. xiv, 207. Maps. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $24.95 cloth; $24.95 e-book.

Pícaros in Bourbon Mexico - Fugitive Freedom: The Improbable Lives of Two Impostors in Late Colonial Mexico. By William B. Taylor. Oakland: University of California Press, 2021. Pp. xiv, 207. Maps. Notes. Bibliography. Index. 24.95 e-book. - Volume 79 Issue 2

Fugitive Freedom: The Improbable Lives of Two Impostors in Late Colonial Mexico

Fugitive Freedom: The Improbable Lives of Two Impostors in Late Colonial Mexico

Sobre William B. Taylor. Fugitive Freedom: The Improbable Lives of Two Impostors in Late Colonial Mexico

Reseña sobre William B. Taylor, Fugitive Freedom: The Improbable Lives of Two Impostors in Late Colonial Mexico. Oakland: University of California Press, 2021.

Capturing the quotidian: casta paintings and demographic trends in late colonial Mexico

In 1581, Spanish magistrates near Celaya investigated the murder of Andres Vasquez at the hands of his employer, the infamous Antonio de Espejo.1 While the case itself centered on the dispute that ...

Lady of the House: Augustina Meza (ca. 1758–1819), Print Publishing, and the Women of Mexican Late Colonial Art

Using archival records of the Sagrario Metropolitano and material analysis of extant prints, the paper presents the life and work of the only known woman printmaker in viceregal New Spain, María Augustina Meza. It traces Meza and her work through two marriages to fellow engravers and a 50-year career as owner of an independent print publishing shop in Mexico City. In doing so, the paper places Meza’s print publishing business and its practices within the context of artists’ shops run by women in the mid- to late-eighteenth century. The article simultaneously extends the recognized role of women in printing and broadens our understanding of women within the business of both printmaking and painting in late colonial Mexico City. It furthermore joins the scholarship demonstrating with new empirical research that the lived realities of women in viceregal New Spain were more complex than traditional, stereotypical visions of women’s lives have previously allowed.

Fugitive Freedom: The improbable lives of two imposters in late colonial Mexico by William B. Taylor

Reviewed by: Fugitive Freedom: The improbable lives of two imposters in late colonial Mexico by William B. Taylor Matt O'Hara Fugitive Freedom: The improbable lives of two imposters in late colonial Mexico By William B. Taylor. Berkeley; Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2021 William Taylor is a distinguished historian of early Mexican history, whose award-winning previous work has reconstructed diverse histories from the landed estate to social unrest and religious life. In this work, he turns his attention to a subject that glances off many of these previous topics: the history of impostors. In a slender and readable volume, he examines the lives of two swindlers, Joseph Aguayo and Juan Atondo, who roamed widely throughout central Mexico in the late colonial period (Aguayo in second half of the eighteenth century and Atondo in the first decades of the nineteenth century). Among many other deceptions, both were serial impostors of priests, and used the social capital that came with the clerical identity in attempts to better their lot. After a robust introduction that situates imposture in the history of New Spain, the first two chapters narrate Aguayo's and Atondo's careers as swindlers, based largely on documents from their many run-ins with the Inquisition. While the historical literature on early modern Spain and New Spain often refers to drifters and impostors as "social types," it is uncommon to find much detail about their lives. Taylor, in contrast, gives the reader rich descriptions of these men and their circumstances, thanks to the extensive records that documented their escapades, and offers the reader just the right amount of detail to bring a scene to life. He also uses their stories to examine a number of key themes in early Mexican history, such as the shifting meaning of freedom during this period, the social currency of religious symbols and ritual, and the limited power of institutions to shape the social order. Chapter Three takes a step back from the ramblings of Atondo and Aguayo to survey the picaresque literature of early modern Spain and New Spain. As Taylor notes, the main characters in picaresque fiction drifted "like corks in a turbulent stream, going where the current takes them… they keep bobbing back to the surface, soaking wet but not much the worse for the wear," much like the real-life rogues Aguayo and Atondo. In the final chapter, Taylor then uses the pícaro type to consider the lives of his two swindlers. All the available evidence suggests that Aguayo was a consummate fraud, adept at his craft, always on the move, and showing little true remorse for his deceptions. Atondo was also a career scoundrel, at one point abandoning his wife and child, and even stealing his wife's best clothes on the way out the door. But Atondo was a rogue with an "unruly" heart. At times he seemed genuinely called to the religious life, even though his wandering ways meant that he was never able to achieve it, beyond multiple acts of priestly imposture, which included taking the confessions of penitents unaware of his true identity. The result of this creative structure is an extremely rewarding book full of Taylor's careful and thorough research. It is also written in a lively style that will appeal to non-specialists and undergraduates. Taylor makes references to contemporary cons and grifters, current understanding of bipolar disorder (which Atondo might have struggled with), and playful contemporary references to drive home his historical points (the Diners Club card and Wile E. Coyote even make appearances). Above all, the book is characterized by Taylor's insightful historical analysis, which brings the past to life but always treats its own terms and in all of its complexity. Combined, these many fine qualities will make Fugitive Freedoms an excellent choice for adoption in undergraduate or graduate courses on colonial Mexico or early Latin America. I look forward to talking about it with my students, but also discussing it with fellow specialists. Matt O'Hara University of California, Santa Cruz Copyright © 2021 Matt O'Hara and The Johns Hopkins University Press

Talking back: nuns, beatas, and colegialas invoke rights and constitutional principles in late colonial and early nineteenth-century Mexico

In the spirit of the now-substantial body of scholarship that reveals the feistiness and political savviness of people formerly thought to have none, this article focuses on the ways that cloistere...

Elite Coalitions, Limited Government, and Fiscal Capacity Development: Evidence from Bourbon Mexico

Limited government supported by elite coalitions can facilitate the development of fiscal capacity by tying rulers’ hands and enhancing their credibility. This paper presents evidence of the effect of the Mining Tribunal, an institution for the mining elite in late colonial Mexico that credibly constrained the Spanish Crown, on the development of fiscal capacity. The mining elite resisted the development of a strong fiscal state that was controlled by unconstrained Crown authorities. However, when mine owners were granted the ability to organize and protect their economic interests through a corporation, they ceased resisting. This enabled the Crown to invest in strengthening its fiscal capacity and raise more taxes from sectors other than mining. Difference-in-differences estimates using detailed fiscal data from regional royal treasuries indicate that this institution led to a substantial increase in the resources assigned to civil administration, as well as in revenues from nonmining production and trade.

The Inquisition and prohibited sexual artwork in late colonial Mexico

The manufacturing or distribution of pornographic materials was among the many crimes pursued by the Holy Office. Twenty-one denunciations of illicit sexual artwork from 1750 to 1820 are housed in Mexico's Archivo General de la Nación. The items range from illustrations and prints of men and women in sexualized poses to elaborate and ingenious etchings and paintings on watches and jewelry boxes. The protagonists in this article include denouncers, witnesses, and suspects, inquisitors, qualifiers, and other church agents, and producers, sellers, and consumers of prohibited artwork. These cases provide valuable information on the sexual culture of Mexico City's urban leisure class. Those accused of selling and purchasing illegal art did not view themselves as libertines or free thinkers who advocated sexual experimentation. Nor did they advocate anti-Christian or anti-establishment sentiments. Inquisitors did not demonstrate the same fears and anxieties about erotic drawings and artwork that they did with prohibited books, nor did they conflate eroticism and licentiousness with heresy and treason. The consumers of prohibited sexual artwork in late colonial Mexico City seem to have mostly reveled in the excitement of seeing and owning prohibited materials and sharing a good laugh with friends. Neither they nor inquisitors took these items too seriously.

William Taylor. Marvels and Miracles in Late Colonial Mexico. Three Texts in Context

William Taylor. <i>Marvels and Miracles in Late Colonial Mexico. Three Texts in Context</i>

Beyond Networks: Transatlantic Immigration and Wealth in Late Colonial Mexico City

AbstractThis article explores the relation between transatlantic immigration and wealth accumulation in late colonial Mexico City, the chief destination for transatlantic emigrants from Spain. In contrast to the prevalent focus in the literature on networks and transatlantic ties, I argue that economic mobility and thus entry into the upper classes of colonial society depended on the social background of immigrants in their home regions in the peninsula. Human capital rather than social capital was the key determinant explaining why certain regional groups, notably the Basques, succeeded economically as merchants and miners, challenging traditional notions of networks and interconnectedness in Atlantic history and beyond. The findings are grounded in quantitative datasets of Spanish immigrants, overcoming both the biases of anecdotal sources and the methodological intricacy of disentangling the causal relationship between wealth accumulation and social ties.

William Taylor. Marvels and Miracles in Late Colonial Mexico. Three Texts in Context

Crítica genética y literatura latinoamericana

WILLIAM TAYLOR. Marvels and Miracles in Late Colonial Mexico. Three Texts in Context. Albuquerque: The University of New Mexico Press, 2011

WILLIAM TAYLOR. Marvels and Miracles in Late Colonial Mexico. Three Texts in Context. Albuquerque: The University of New Mexico Press, 2011

Intimate Devotions and Local Histories: Archival Approaches to the Study of Colonial Mexican ReligionShrines and Miraculous Images: Religious Life in Mexico before the Reforma. ByWilliam B. Taylor. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2010. Pp. xv+288. $37.95.Marvels and Miracles in Late Colonial Mexico: Three Texts in Context. By William B. Taylor. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2011. Pp. 160.

Previous articleNext article No AccessReview ArticleIntimate Devotions and Local Histories: Archival Approaches to the Study of Colonial Mexican Religion Shrines and Miraculous Images: Religious Life in Mexico before the Reforma. ByWilliam B. Taylor. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2010. Pp. xv+288. $37.95. Marvels and Miracles in Late Colonial Mexico: Three Texts in Context. By William B. Taylor. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2011. Pp. 160. $50.00.Jennifer Scheper HughesJennifer Scheper HughesUniversity of California, Riverside Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by History of Religions Volume 54, Number 1August 2014 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/676511 Views: 49Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Amores perritos: Puppies, Laughter and Popular Catholicism in Bourbon Mexico City

AbstractIn late eighteenth-century Mexico City, Spanish colonials, particularly members of the urban middle and popular classes, performed a number of weddings and baptisms on puppies (which were wearing clothes or bejewelled collars) in the context offandangosor dance parties. These ceremonies were not radical challenges to orthodoxy or conservative reactions in the face of significant economic, political, religious and cultural Bourbon reforms emanating from Spain. Employing Inquisitorial investigations of these ceremonies, this article explores the rise of pet keeping, the meanings of early modern laughter and the implications of the cultural and religious components of the Enlightenment-inspired Bourbon reforms in late colonial Mexico.