Identity and Empire in Colonial Maps of Mexico, 1524-1600

• Other Authors: Steinhilper, Diantha M. (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Art > History
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-8033

This study examines sixteenth-century cartographic documents that chronicle the cultural exchange between the old and new worlds. Maps included in this work come from Spain, dating between 1524 and 1579, from the Valley of Puebla, from 1535 to 1560, and from the collection known as the Relaciones Geográficas, made between 1579 and 1581. Both the Spanish monarchy and the native nobility made these maps for having joined with the other and they created them for similar purposes - to negotiate the rapidly changing sociopolitical climate and their status within it on their respective continents. Charles V and his son Philip II bolstered Spain's reputation with maps that narrated for Europeans the unfolding story about the extent and wealth of the New World. The native lords commissioned maps that made declarations of fealty and negotiated their retention of privilege, rulership, and their ancient identities under colonialization. Identities of empire and Christianity pervade this group of maps and I focus on these two constructs. For Spain, conquering the Mexica Empire coalesced with Charles I elevation to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. These two events catapulted Spain to the forefront of European political power and maps of its territory helped document this rise. Facing a yet uncertain future, the native nobility of New Spain made maps that negotiated their claims to rulership at a local level while investing themselves in Spanish authority. They did this by appropriating Spanish symbols of empire embedded in maps with otherwise traditional iconography. The Amerindian people worshiped a pantheon of false gods and made human sacrifices; a behavior that caused Spain to launch a second spiritual conquest. Spain had obligations to convert the native population and colonial maps became a medium to claim this Christianization. By the 1540s, demonstrating their new faith, at least its overt expressions, appealed as much to the native aristocracy as it did to Spanish authorities. I establish the Cortés Map as a harbinger of subsequent performance. I conceive it as part of the continuing rhetoric with which Spain had defined itself during the Reconquista and the role the Spanish monarchy assumed as defender of the Catholic faith. I argue that the image, as printed in the Praeclara Ferdinadi Cortesii and coupled with a portrait of Clement VII, created a simulacrum of a foundation medal that celebrated the founding of New Spain as Christian. The Praeclara Cortesii Ferdinadi, brought to Europe's attention at a time of religious rebellion, created a consequential position for the Spanish monarchy that compelled it to fulfill its promise to convert the people. Later maps, such as the Hispaniae novae sivae magnae récens et vera descriptio, suggested, with 162 church buildings, a completed Christianization, yet corroboration of this fact had not yet been heard from the Americas. The numerous maps of the Relaciones Geográficas that included conventos or simple church buildings offered, with a native voice, this proof. I expand the existing dialogue on a handful of maps from the Valley of Puebla, produced in the first half of the sixteenth century, to demonstrate how they reconstructed powerful colonial identities for the nobility, based on the authority of their ancestors and through strong ties with the Spanish. Maps such as the Lienzo de Quauhquechollan (1535-40) and the Lienzo de Tlaxcala (1550-54) adopted Hapsburg imperial symbols to show allegiance to Spain while simultaneously appealing for privileged status due to the towns' military contributions towards the conquest. Both Lienzos prominently display the Hapsburg Double Eagle, the personal symbol of Charles V, in their opening scenes. I explore the context of this emblem's use, the implications of the alterations made to it, and its meaning within the lexicon of Mesoamerican visual language. While scholars have scrupulously examined the images on the Mapa de Cuauhtinchan No. 2 (1540s), they sought its overall meanings and similarities with other codicil images. Although well acknowledged, most attribute the adoption of European technique to the mendicant training native artists received. I suggest reasons other than the implementation of newly learned techniques. Especially in the migration histories from Cuauhtinchan, intertwining the native style with European technique reflected allegiance to Imperial Spain and a new transformation--the maps no longer depicted the tribe's founding migration, but its transition from a Tenochcan altepetl to a colonial cabecera. === A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Art History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. === Spring Semester, 2013. === March 18, 2013. === cartography, Cortes Map, maps, New Spain, Relaciones Geographicas, Spain === Includes bibliographical references.