Chains of virtue: Seventeenth-century saints in Spanish colonial Lima

dc.contributor.advisorStroup, John M.en_US
dc.creatorWood, Alice Landruen_US
dc.date.accessioned2009-06-04T08:15:54Zen_US
dc.date.available2009-06-04T08:15:54Zen_US
dc.date.issued1997en_US
dc.description.abstractSeventeenth-century Lives of colonial saints in Peru reflect the Spanish colony's growing independence and changing missionary strategies. Lives of saints Luis Bertran, Francis Solano, Toribio Alfonso de Mogrovejo, Juan Macias, Rose of Lima, Martin de Porras and the unrecognized Nicolas de Ayllon reveal the symbolic resolution of alterity as a dominant theme. Concern with alterity appears most prominently in discourses about language and bodies. Hagiography provided Creole communities with religious narratives of self-legitimization and self-definition. This questions a general scholarly assumption that saints of the Early Modern period are the creations of the ecclesiastical powers in Rome. Likewise, the assertion that hagiography is written in order to provide exemplars of virtue for ordinary people is qualified by my study. The Lives mirror two phases of colonial development: the first phase described Spanish evangelization and confrontation with native populations. Saints were strongly identified with Europe and their Lives reflected the cultural struggle with external others and the need to justify Christian missions. Hagiographers focused on the power or language and gave little attention to the physical world of bodies. The second phase was marked by an increasing sense of Creole identity. Hagiographers shifted the focus from words and language--now treated as suspect--to the body itself. Lives of these saints showcased mortifications of the body in order to dissociate the saints from inferiorities associated with their race or gender.en_US
dc.format.extent233 p.en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.callnoTHESIS RELI. 1997 WOODen_US
dc.identifier.citationWood, Alice Landru. "Chains of virtue: Seventeenth-century saints in Spanish colonial Lima." (1997) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/19230">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/19230</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/19230en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectReligious historyen_US
dc.subjectChurch historyen_US
dc.subjectLatin American historyen_US
dc.titleChains of virtue: Seventeenth-century saints in Spanish colonial Limaen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentReligious Studiesen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineHumanitiesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
9727625.PDF
Size:
9.68 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format