Idolatry and the Construction of the Spanish Empire by Mina García Soormally

Author:Mina García Soormally [Soormally, Mina García]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781607328018
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
Published: 2019-01-21T00:00:00+00:00

Y a diez años

de que fue conquistada el agua, el monte,

la ciudad de México,

ya reposó la flecha, el escudo,

por todas partes estaban en paz

en los varios pueblos.

No ya sólo brotó,

ya verdea, abre su corola

la creencia, el conocimiento

del Dador de la vida, verdadero Dios.237 (León-Portilla 2000: 93–94)

Following in this environment of confrontation, we have already mentioned above one of the most immediate consequences every time that the difference in religion becomes an issue: the substitution of the symbols of the conquered for those of conquering forces and, in the context we are looking at, the substitution of mosques by Christian churches in the Spain of the Reconquista and its counterpart in the New World: the replacement of native divinities by Christian figures.

Cantiga 229 focuses on the miracle performed by the Virgin in order to avoid the destruction of the church devoted to her in Vila-Sirga. The same topic centers the attention of the Cantiga 292, where the policy of substitution is stated: “When he [King Don Fernando] conquered some city from the Moors, he placed Her statue [the Virgin’s] in the portico of the mosque.” Slightly different is the situation discussed in Cantiga 169, where the emphasis is put on the conquering Moors rather than on the Christian forces. In this case it is the Moors who try to eliminate a church dedicated to the Virgin, and though they have all the rights for it (it is in their territory, and they have requested all the necessary permits), they do not dare go against the temple in case they become the object of the Virgin’s wrath. Their respect for this borrowed symbol is made apparent.

In the Mexican case, the substitution of Tonantzin by a generic Immaculate is almost immediate: the pagan temple is replaced by a Christian church, and Christianity starts spreading among the indigenous population. But, in this case, and since the substitution is carried out without further consequences to the Spaniards, we are led to assume that the change was positive; that is, there were no punishments for the Spaniards or miraculous intervention of the pagan deities in order to avoid the substitution, allowing us to believe, according to the conquering eyes, that the Christian symbols were always meant to be there.

Finally, there is a corpus of cantigas in which the image of the Virgin acquires relevance; that is, not the Virgin herself but her image, whether in the form of a statue or as a painting. Some of these poems show the severe punishments that are reserved for those who dare attack the image of the Virgin. In cantiga 34, a Jew steals an image of the Virgin. He takes it home, places it in his basement, and periodically insults it. The Virgin allows the Devil to murder the Jew for his actions. Meanwhile, a Christian finds the image and returns it to the glory that it deserves. In Cantiga 99, a parallel story is told in which the Virgin also administers death to the Moors who had desecrated her church and stolen her image.

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