Ideology and Inquisition: The World of the Censors in Early Mexico (review)

The Spanish Inquisition is arguably one of the most reviled institutions in human history. It is also one about which much nonsense has been written. In the past twenty-five years there has been a renaissance of Inquisition studies, based on sound scholarship, that has attempted to present a more balanced and nuanced picture of this controversial tribunal. Martin Austin Nesvig’s book is a major contribution to this field. This is not just another history of the Inquisition. The author’s thrust is found in the subtitle: a study of the society, mentality, theological training, and effectiveness of the book censors of the Spanish Inquisition in colonial Mexico. This makes it unique among English language studies of the Mexican Inquisition.

The author begins with an extensive analysis of the theological and juridical context of the Roman Inquisition. He is clearly at ease with Catholic theology and canon law. Some readers may find this rather difficult reading, but it will repay careful study.

Between 1521 and 1571 inquisitorial authority in New Spain was exercised by bishops. It was inevitably uneven and inefficient. The Index of Forbidden Books, 1559, was not enforced and not even well known. This changed in 1571 with the arrival of Pedro Moya de Contreras and the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition. There were attempts to control the importation of books at the ports of entry, especially Veracruz. For the first time, printers and booksellers came under the scrutiny of the new tribunal.

Out of this emerges a number of themes and conclusions that contribute substantially to our understanding of the Inquisition. One was the varied concept of what the Inquisition should be. Should the inquisitors be theologians or canon lawyers? Another was the wide variety of opinions on the nature of inquisitional authority. A very basic conclusion is that the Inquisition was not a static institution, but one that changed with time and circumstances. The tribunal was also riven by rivalries and contentions among the religious orders, especially the Dominicans and Franciscans. They fought over the question of translations of Scripture into the native languages. The Dominicans were also hostile to the Jesuits. In general, the author passes a negative judgment on the Dominicans, whom he regards as a negative, regressive influence, for example, in their opinion of the natives and their opposition to the Franciscan college of Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco. He has a similar negative opinion of Alonso de Montúfar, the second archbishop of Mexico and a Dominican. Under Montúfar there was much turbulence in the Church in New Spain. He used his inquisitorial powers as a political tool against his enemies. In these pages he emerges as a narrow-minded, tyrannical, and vindictive person. These judgments may be a little severe, although the author does present strong evidence for his case.

The Inquisition also operated as a patronage network for the criollo elite, and later in the colonial period they had come to predominate in its ranks. In the author’s opinion this fact and the fewer professional jurists involved with the tribunal led to a decline in the zeal and effectiveness of the Mexican Inquisition in the 1620s and 1630s.

Nesvig’s conclusion is that “[t]he overall picture of censorship as a tool of control was haphazard and ad hoc other than complete and effective” (p. 229).This included the attempts to prevent the importation of books at the entry ports, especially Veracruz. Religious orders, such as the Franciscans, refused to obey the various catalogs of forbidden books, and in this they were apparently successful.

Nesvig has produced a book rich in information, interpretation, and insights. It is essential for anyone interested in the workings of the Inquisition, and the social and religious history of colonial Mexico.