Cather’s Treatment of Colonial and 19th- Century History and Ideology in Death Comes for the Archbishop

Inhaltsangabe oder Einleitung

Spanish Colonial History of New Mexico Alluded to in Narrative:
ð references to Spanish Colonial History in the narrative are mostly of mythological character,
mainly concerning the achievements of Spanish Catholic Missionaries and their struggles with
the native population
ð “Our Spanish fathers made good martyrs” (p. 8) → Spanish Franciscans were among the first
to explore the southwest pueblo country in the 16th century and persisted in their efforts
preaching Christianity and establishing missions, though many of them suffered martyrdom
(killed by the natives) → by 1630 they had converted about 20000 Indians and established
more than 50 missions in the Rio Grande Valley
ð Great Indian Revolt of 1680 (p.152) → close to 400 settlers and 21 of 33 priests massacred by
Pueblo Indians under the leadership of Popé → missionary work was destroyed until the reconquest
of the territory by Don Diego de Vargas in 1692-93
ð Church at Àcoma → built in early 17th century by Fray Ramirez and his followers → Cather
seems to criticize this missioners through the figure of Latour , who expresses the suspicion
that Fray Ramirez let the Àcoma build the church out of his worldly ambition and not according
to the needs of the Indians [...]