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The Devil, Women, and the Body in Seventeenth-Century Puebla
ConventsAuthor(s): Rosalva Loreto LpezReviewed work(s):Source: The
Americas, Vol. 59, No. 2, The Devil in Latin America (Oct., 2002),
pp. 181-199Published by: Academy of American Franciscan
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The Americas 59:2 October 2002, 181-199 Copyright by the Academy
of American Franciscan History
THE DEVIL, WOMEN, AND THE BODY IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PUEBLA
CONVENTS*
The mystical and supernatural experiences that many nuns faced
in seventeenth-century convents in Puebla shaped New Spain's
spiritu- ality. These experiences and the way they were recounted
provided
the elements for an archetype of conduct and for socially
accepted virtues. Using their imagination, these nuns, servants of
God, enlightened and morally exemplary, maintained a direct
relationship between the convent, the supernatural world, and
colonial society.
Anthropological studies of popular religion have emphasized,
almost exclusively, the collective and public aspects of religious
expression but have ignored private, individual piety.1 Yet
collective and private religious expressions have been linked
throughout history. When individual manifes- tations of religious
expression were socially endorsed, these private forms of piety
influenced the creation of identity and models of behavior. Because
these archetypes of religious conduct were so important within
colonial cul- ture as a whole, it is important to gain an
understanding of the events that led to their formation and the way
in which they travelled from the culture of the convent to that of
the larger society.
In this article I focus upon the lives of individual nuns and
how events in their lives influenced the creation of a religious
identity and an ideal of fem- inine conduct in the colonial period.
I concentrate upon the way in which some seventeenth-century
Poblano nuns struggled against the Devil, espe- cially as he
appeared in animal form. These battles occurred within the norms of
the prevailing cultural imagination and religiously accepted
prac-
* Translated by Sonya Lipsett-Rivera 1 For a critique dealing
with Spain please see Elias Zamora Acosta, "Aproximaci6n a la
religiosidad
popular en el mundo urbano: El culto a los santos en la ciudad
de Sevilla," in La religiosidad popular, edited by Alvarez Santal6
et al. (Spain: T.I., 1989), p. 528.
181
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182 THE DEVIL IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PUEBLA CONVENTS
tices. Out of their victories over the Devil, these nuns and
their adherents created a prototype of desired female bodily
control and constructed models of accepted feminine gestures.
In the local culture of seventeenth-century Puebla, residents
identified with the nuns' private lives and accepted these women as
symbols of reli- gious perfection. The convent's cultural influence
linked individual nuns to the community around them. This culture
provided a framework within which individual nuns' feats became
extremely significant for society at large. It was in this way that
particular religious practices that developed behind the convent's
cloistered walls were communicated and became an important part of
local religiosity. The supernatural experiences reported by nuns
were apparently rare, but they became part of the local urban
devotion and Creole culture. The hagiographies of nuns emphasized
these apparitions as part of a cultural process. The supernatural
events, properly interpreted, directed women towards the kind of
goals, methods, and values to which they should aspire in order to
conform to the model of ideal femininity established by the
nuns.
The sources for this study consist primarily of letters written
by the nuns' friends or companions who were following their
confessors' orders. These documents differ from the printed
hagiographies in that the authors were closer to the protagonists
and their writings are therefore more revealing. In the biographies
that came at a latter stage, confessors interpreted this mate- rial
and adjusted it to the pertinent religious canons. Although the
confessors who wrote biographies of the nuns used the materials
produced within the convents, they left aside many aspects of the
"marvellous." They tended to focus on the ordering of information
to convey the story and the miracles that supported doctrinal
conventions.
Three nuns who experienced these visions, and who were
recognised as visionaries by the society of Puebla and the official
church, took their vows and lived in the convents of la Purisima
Concepciin, Santa Teresa, and Santa M~nica. Some of the other nuns
who wrote about Isabel de la Encarnacifn2 and Maria de Jesus3 did
so at the behest and under the direction of their mutual con-
2 She was born in 1596 in the city of Puebla de los Angeles, the
daughter of Melchor de Bonilla and Maria de Pifia, both originally
from Brihuega. On May 19, 1614, she took her vows in the convent of
the Discalced Carmelites and she died as an exemplary nun on
February 2, 1633.
3 Maria de Jestis Tomellin was the daughter of the captain
Sebastian Tomellin and Francisca Campos. She professed her vows as
a nun of veil and choir on May 7, 1599 and she died in 1637. Her
sister was Ana de San Sebastian who was a nun in the same convent.
The first references to her life were compiled and transcribed by
her cell companion Agustina de Santa Teresa who took her vows
twenty years later. These materials became the basis for several
biographies after her death. For this study I have relied upon
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ROSALVA LORETO L6PEZ 183
fessor and spiritual director, Father Miguel Godinez.4 The life
of Maria de San Jos6 (1656-1719) also provides some examples of
supernatural manifestations. She joined the cloistered Augustinians
in the Convent of Santa M6nica.5
These documents are generally extremely rich in detail but they
all share one fundamental and invariable feature: they report the
astounding events that formed the basis of the Convents'
constructed imagery. The supernatu- ral manifestations experienced
by these visionary nuns6 were a fundamental part of the path
towards a life of perfection.7
Apparitions, visions,8 and revelations9 reproduced the culture
of the mar- vellous in the convents. In the seventeenth century the
supernatural formed
the interpretation of Jestis Maria de Felix Vida, virtudes y
dones sobrenaturales de la Ven. Sierva de Dios, Sor Maria de
Jestis, religiosa profesa en el V monasterio de la Inmaculada
Concepcidn de la Puebla de los Angeles de las Indias Occidentales,
sacadas de los procesos formados para la causa de su beatifi-
cacidn y canonizacidn (Rome: Imprenta de Joseph y Phelipe Rossi,
1756).
4 A Jesuit priest originally from Ireland, Father Godinez
(1591-1644) had a master's degree in phi- losophy and was the
prefect of study in the Seminary of San Pedro y San Pablo in the
city of Puebla. His best known work is the Prdctica de teologia
that was translated into Latin by Ignacio de la Reguera. Around
1620, as the confessor of the Carmelite Isabel de la Encarnaci6n,
he also published an original manuscript entitled "Dichos del Padre
Miguel Godinez, var6n muy espiritual de la Compafifa acerca de la
vida y virtudes de la Venerable M. Isabel de la Encarnaci6n cuyo
padre espiritual fue." For more infor- mation on Miguel Godinez and
Isabel de la Encarnaci6n, see Manuel Ramos Medina, "Isabel de la
Encarnaci6n, monja posesa del siglo XVII," in Manifestaciones
religiosas en el mundo colonial ameri- cano (Mexico City:
Universidad Iberoamericana, Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e
Historia and Con- dumex, 1994), pp. 41-51.
5 Maria de San Jos6 was the daughter of Luis Palacios y
Sol6rzano and Antonia Berruecos, both the children of Spanish
immigrants. She professed as a nun of veil and choir in the Convent
of Santa M6nica and later left this Convent to found another in
Oaxaca. She wrote autobiographical material at the orders of
various people including the Bishop of Puebla, Manuel Fernindez de
Santa Cruz and her confessors. See Kathleen Myers, Word from New
Spain. The Spiritual Autobiography of Madre Maria de San Josd
(1656-1719) (Liverpool: University Press, 1993). For this part of
the article I consulted the first five sec- tions of Myers'
transcription.
6 The term Illuminati, used to refer to these visionary nuns,
refers to the processes that were theo- logically recognized as
"Illuminativa." In this definition the supernatural phenomena are
more palpable and are presented as part of the proofs that lead to
the mystical phenomena characteristic of the 'unitive' life. See A.
Tanquerey, Compendio de teologia ascdtica y mistica (Madrid:
Sociedad de San Juan Evan- gelista, 1930), p. 622.
7 The life of perfection is also known as 'unitive' and is
defined as the habitual and intimate union with God. Such a life
presupposes that the individual in question has previously
experienced a series of stages of purification and ordeals in their
exercise of moral and theological virtues to reach a stage in which
they live solely for God. See Tanquerey, p. 822.
8 Visions represent the supernatural perception of objects that
are normally invisible to humans. They are not revelations unless
they reveal some hidden truth. Visions that are felt physically are
also called apparitions. The vision does not need to be physical;
it can also involve the perception of a luminous form. See
Tanquerey, pp. 952-3. The etymological roots of these visions
suggest that they are funda- mental to the notion of apparitions.
See Jacques LeGoff, Lo maravilloso y lo cotidiano en el Occidente
medieval (Spain: Gedisa, 1986), p. 13.
9 Divine revelations are the supernatural manifestations of
hidden truths that God does by three means: visions, supernatural
speech, and divine touch. See Tanquerey, pp. 952-3.
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184 THE DEVIL IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PUEBLA CONVENTS
the core of this set of ideas. The confrontations of visionary
nuns with the actions of beings and objects of a diabolical or a
celestial nature were of fun- damental importance. Only God could
be the cause of these confrontations. Isabel de la Encarnaci6n, in
an exemplary fashion, "had a great appreciation for the way of the
cross, which she wanted to experience." In her desire to die or
suffer, "which God granted her," she followed the example of her
mother, Saint Teresa of Avila. As her confessor and biographer
Miguel Godinez notes: "there are few souls about whom we read in
ancient history who suffered more than Mother Isabel de la
Encarnaci6n." He relates that when it appeared that she was dying,
"it seemed that the demons hurried there in order to torment her,
but Our Lord permitted them to do so."'o
Religious authorities from the Holy See examined and endorsed
the var- ious supernatural expressions that came to be considered
divine manifesta- tions upon the human consciousness. This
symbolic-religious experience was always characterized as coming
from the celestial world, something given by "divine grace" and not
inherent to the nun. Godinez recognized that "revelations are not
essential or integral parts of the spiritual life, as Saint
Bonaventure noted quite clearly, because they are not acts of
virtue, nor are they meritorious ... but rather they are an
accidental ornament of the spiri- tual life.""
Theologians recognized the nuns' visions as a valid mechanism
for com- munication with God. These visions became part of the
convent's culture and that of the monastic community as a whole.
The nuns aimed to use the lessons imparted by these sacred
messages. But since they were integrated into the theological model
of punishment and mercy, these supernatural manifestations also
served to reaffirm the convent's methods of devotion.
Dreams, metamorphoses, hallucinations, sensations, and trips to
and visits from these other worlds were the source of the marvelous
in the nuns' hagiographies. These supernatural manifestations were
categorized and defined symbolically and culturally. They formed an
important element of New Spain's religious culture because it was
through this culture that the secular as well as the religious
lives of Christians were given shape.12
In the nuns' visions, typically, one or more divine figures
appeared. These divine figures would talk and, sometimes, touch the
nuns. Very frequently
10 Miguel Godinez, "Escrito del Padre Miguel Godinez, c. 1630
(unfoliated). " Ibid. 12 Josep Maria Feriglia, "Bases para entender
una prospectiva de la religi6n," in Santal6 Op. cit.
1989, p. 594.
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ROSALVA LORETO L6PEZ 185
they would walk beside the nuns and would show them things or
entrust them with sacred objects. Those who experienced these
apparitions felt emotions, sensations, and bodily reactions that
supplemented the visions. Emotions, such as fear or solace, were
evidence that the visions were benev- olent. Certain manifestations
seemed to have moral significance; for exam- ple, pain in the
heart, a sensation particularly cherished by the nuns. But such
pains were not real in themselves. Like dreams, they were part of
their contact with God and a type of divine message to
decipher.
These unusual sensations were part of a moral etiology in which
illnesses or other physical symptoms were part of a divine logic.
In the seventeenth century, this set of attitudes was part of the
road toward a life of perfection leading towards the consummation
of a spiritual marriage--the transform- ing union in which the life
of the nun was fused to that of her Beloved.'3
For these women such supernatural manifestations were external
and formed part of their individual corporeal experience. They were
part of a practice of mental control; the products of training and
preparation in which images were ranked in order to establish
systems of communication. The power to perceive these visions, or
to have extraordinary bodily experiences on an individual basis,
presupposed the possibility of separating the real world from that
of the imagination. At the same time one had to be able to
articulate this imaginary world within oneself. Messages received
could be differentiated, but they all formed part of one field of
significance: the supernatural world. In this context, the nuns
functioned as intermediaries between God, the convent community,
and society. As receptors of the divine message, the nuns could
decode God's word and apply it to their everyday existence.14
Catholicism deliberately encouraged these mental images through
its promotion of the saints' lives as models. In the saints'
hagiographies, the miraculous and the wonderful were possible.
Individuals could reproduce the saints' experiences by stopping the
normal functioning of their nervous system and preventing it from
controlling their senses. They did so through fasts, penance, and
the wearing of hair shirts or spiked belts. The images that
individuals perceived were ranked in a hierarchy of significance.
The vision- ary nun accepted what she saw as a valid experience,
endorsed by the reli-
13 Manuel Espinoza, La religiosa mortificada (Madrid: Imprenta
Real, por Pedro Juliin Pereyra, Impresor de Cdmara de S.M., 1799),
p. 298.
14 According to Feriglia, the nuns discerned the dimension of
the world in which they lived and interpreted the messages that
they received in their imagination and translated them into
ordinary lan- guage (p. 591).
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186 THE DEVIL IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PUEBLA CONVENTS
gious system, and confessors played an important role by
encouraging these experiences.15
For the visionary nuns these interior images were as real as the
things they saw around them. The apparitions could be spontaneous
and they could include dreamlike visions. It was important to
analyze the elements of these visions in order to categorize and
rank them according to their symbolism. One night, for instance,
Mother Maria de Jes6s opened her eyes and saw a beautiful vision of
the child Jesus. Upon seeing it, she immediately knelt down and
received the blessing that this divine visit imparted. The child
Jesus dis- appeared and "she was filled with so much strength. It
was as if she had expe- rienced beautiful dreams all night." Before
the child disappeared, he made her understand what the colors of
his tunic meant: "White signified purity and that He suffered,
purple meant love..,. and red signified the compassion of gen-
erous redemption that He provided with the spilling of His
blood."6
When the vision's information was interpreted, it became part of
a system of categories that were thematically organized. The
biography of Isabel de la Encarnaci6n, for example, had a section
that specifically explained "the various guises under which demons
appeared and the innumerable torments that they caused."'17 These
apparitions provided a medium for the construc- tion of a sacred
world.
THE DEVIL AS A CHARACTER IN THE CONVENT'S MARVELOUS IMAGES
As the instigator of the apparitions and miracles, God
controlled and reg- ulated all of the nuns' supernatural
experiences. The system of symbolism permitted specific functions
for each character that formed part of the con- vent's images. As
well as Christ and the Virgin Mary, the saints, the souls in
purgatory, and the angelic soldiers also mediated the nuns'
experiences with the Devil and the demons.
Apparitions, hallucinations, temptations, and diabolical
torments were constant elements of the nuns' imagination. Because
they were on the path
15 Godinez warned of the dangers these visionary nuns could risk
if they fell into the hands of an unin- formed confessor. Isabel de
la Encarnaci6n had some confessors who "harmed her considerably
because they did not recognize her spirit. It is a terrible thing
to put an uplifted and extraordinary spirit in the hands of an
uninformed confessor... ibid non est scientia animae... non ests
bonum where there is no science and knowledge of the soul there is
no good for the poor penitent, rather when God puts the soul in...
some terrible purgatory, afterwards the same God feels obliged to
save that soul from such a person and direct the soul to
experienced people who understand and console that person," Godinez
(unfoliated).
'6 Agustina de Santa Teresa, "Cuaderno primero sobre la vida de
la Venerable Madre Maria de Jestis" c. 1630, fol 4.
17 Godinez (unfoliated).
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ROSALVA LORETO LOPEZ 187
to perfection, the nuns were sensitive to visions and
supernatural phenom- ena. God took advantage of their obsession as
a purifying mechanism and used it to prepare them for their
mystical union with Him.18 In this way the Devil was part of the
divine plan because Satan's torments "seemed to increase in
proportion to the degree of virtue and patience with which they are
tolerated."'19 Father Godinez noted that "demons are like God's
ministers in that they carry out His orders; sometimes God assigns
them power over His servants' bodies reserving their souls for
Himself."20 This was often the case in the experiences of the nuns
studied in this article.
The early modem development of concepts surrounding the Devil
and demons was part of a long process that included the
transformation of the culture of magic and the supernatural through
a Christian spirituality that tended towards introspection and
individual internalization.21 Outside of sensuality, in particular
the temptations that could threaten purity and chastity, the Devil
was powerless. As long as the Devil only tormented his victims
physically, this suffering was part of a divine plan. The Devil
could defy the laws of nature. He was not, for example, governed by
gravity, and he could move people from one place to another in a
moment and transform them into animals.22
One of the Devil's "pemrnicious" qualities was to provoke false
visions. St Vincent Ferrer had warned in two chapters of his
Tratado de la vida espiri- tual that visions, revelations,
hallucinations, and demonic temptations could be false. Most other
spiritual manuals of the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- turies were
equally cautious.23 This logic dictated that, at any given moment,
the Devil could, through an angel's intervention, negotiate for
either the freedom of his victims or the degree of torment applied.
Mortification,
18 See Rosalva Loreto L6pez, "La sensibilidad y el cuerpo en el
imaginario de las monjas poblanas del siglo XVII" in Actas del II
Congreso Internacional del Monacato Femenino en el Imperio Espafiol
(Mexico City: CONDUMEX, 1995), pp. 542-3.
9 Fernando Cervantes, "El demonismo en la espiritualidad barroca
novohispana:" in Manifestaciones religiosas en el mundo colonial
americano, ed. Clara Garcia Ayluardo and Manuel Ramos (Mexico City:
Universidad Iberoamericana, Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e
Historia and Condumex, 1993), p. 132.
20 Godinez (unfoliated). 21 Fernando Cervantes The Idea of the
Devil and the Problem of the Indian. The Case of Mexico in
the Sixteenth Century (London: Institute of Latin American
Studies, 1991) and "El demonismo en la espiritualidad barroca
novohispana," in Ramos Medina op cit., p. 139, also states that
this transformation was brought about because of a shift from a
system based on the seven capital sins to one based the Ten
Commandments. The obsession with the Devil coincided with the
establishment of the Decalogue as the center of Christianity's
moral system.
22 JOS6 Sanchez Lora, "Claves migicas de la religiosidad
barroca," in Santal6 Op.cit., pp. 126-45. See also Jean Delumeau,
El Medio en occidente (Madrid: Taurus, 1989).
23 William Christian, Apariciones en Castilla y Cataluiha
(siglos XIV-XVI) (Madrid: Nerea, 1990), p. 244.
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188 THE DEVIL IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PUEBLA CONVENTS
sacred relics, holy water, or the cross could sometimes limit
his power. On the other hand, since a human soul was the Devil's
most precious prisoner, the loss of a soul through the intercession
of the nuns' prayers was a great defeat for the fiend.
Certain images that were used to represent the Devil in the
baroque period-animals, dark-skinned men, imaginary beings such as
dragons, goblins, or griffins--were part of a medieval heritage.
Table 1 provides a breakdown of the most common ways that the Devil
appeared to seven- teenth-century nuns in Puebla, including his
actions, assaults, the location of the events and, finally, the
defensive strategy used by the nun.
This article will focus specifically upon the animal forms that
the Devil could take. These representations exemplified a
particular stage in the images used in convents and they were a
partial medieval heritage that was adapted in the Baroque period to
concrete local situations in Mexican con- vents.24 The analysis and
iconographic interpretation of animals within dif- ferent cultures
as well as within their art is a hugely complex topic. For our
purpose it will suffice to point out that one single animal could
have values that are in opposition. As Olivier Beigbeder notes, if
"we examine bestiaries seriously it is obvious that the animals
most frequently represented are most of all lions, snakes, and
dragons, which ordinarily have a double meaning: they alternate
between good and evil, harmful and benevolent."'25 For the sake of
clarity, the animals will be placed within the context in which
they appeared to the nuns.26
As part of the natural order, beast-like natures had certain
symbolic ele- ments that were related to pejorative or punitive
aspects. Savage animals were generally used as their
representations since they were the incarnation of fear,27 evil, or
uncertainty. Within this model, animals performed a double
function. On the one hand, they represented a direct assault on the
bodily nature of the nun. On the other, they represented a moral
confrontation with
24 Seventeenth-century visual representations of the Devil used
in this article seem to be derived from the Old Testament. Bad
demons are described in a language stemming from pagan religions
that portrayed them as animals like hyenas, wild cats and owls and
refers to their lairs. (Is 34, 14), G. Barbaglio and S. Dianich,
Nuevo Diccionario de Teologia (Madrid: Ediciones Cristianidad,
1982), p. 965.
25 Olivier Beigbeder, LIxico de simbolos (Madrid: Ediciones
Encuentro, 1989, vol. 15), p. 45. 26 In the analysis of
architecture, "what is most important before all else..,. is the
disposition of the
animals, whatever their nature." Beigdeber, p. 46. This
principle can be applied equally well to the exam- ples in this
article.
27 From a psychoanalytical perspective, animals that appear in
the zoological phobias of children substitute the father, just as
in ancient times they were related to a totemic animal. Sigmund
Freud, "Una neurosis demoniaca en el siglo XVII" in Psicoanalisis
aplicado y tecnica psicoanalitica (Madrid: Alianza Editorial,
1974), p. 71.
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ROSALVA LORETO LOPEZ 189
TABLE 1 Location Defensive
Figure Action or Assault Strategy Man sin-knock down cell prayer
Nude black death corridor holy water man
Satan sin sin mortifications Ghost confuse mental prayer Demon
sicken body blessed cross Hermit noise brain holy water Boy assault
strangle prayer Dog rip apart bite Scarabs torment brain holy
relics Flies swarm abcess Worms chew wounds Bull immobilize stairs
Cicadas deafen choir loft Horse avenge cell holy water Tigers
avenge cell Lions avenge cell Serpents encircle head Sources:
Miguel Godinez, "Escrito del Padre Miguel Godinez, var6n muy
espiritual de la Compafifa acerca de la vida y virtudes de la
Venerable M. Isabel de la Encarnaci6n cuyo padre espiritual fue." c
1630, Agustina de Santa Teresa, "Cuaderno primero sobre la vida de
la Venerable Madre Maria de Jests." c 1630, Francisca de la
Natividad, "Su vida de la Madre Francisca de la Natividad escrita
sobre ella misma." c 1620.
the nun's human nature: as a result of the animal's assault, the
nuns no longer stood straight, but adopted positions and gestures
that brought into question their humanity through the adoption of
conduct that was morpho- logically like that of an animal.
The nuns tried to fight the animal-like nature of their bodies
suggested through the Devil's actions. The way in which the Devil
entered into their imagination in animal form certainly reinforced
the bodily attitudes and norms of behavior that were considered
correct in terms of posture and ges- ture. The scenes that the nuns
described inspired fear more because of their form than because of
their content. They were associated with irrational thoughts that
directly threatened the human sentiments of the nuns.
The documents provide multi-faceted semantic values to the
animals rep- resented. What was most fearful was not so much the
animal itself as its action upon the victim's body. Domestic
animals inspired sentiments that
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190 THE DEVIL IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PUEBLA CONVENTS
differed from those of aggressive animals, the latter provoking
powerful emotions that were beast-like and hostile. The multiple
animal descriptions in the visions of the nuns embodied a discourse
on evil's many faces. They were "one of the many figures that
devils had" and the cause of "inter- minable torments."28 Thus the
narratives of the nuns often portrayed these animals as a threat to
the eternal order.
In the nuns' dreams or imagination, these animals were
invertebrates, mammals, or reptiles. The invertebrates were
associated with an accelerated motion-movements that were
synonymous with ant-like agitation,29 swarming and chaotic. It was
a projection of anguish about change and destruction which was
associated with the departure of animals connected with devastating
actions. The move of the Discalced Carmelites to Puebla provides a
very clear example of this type of image. Among the reasons for
leaving Veracruz, the nuns mentioned that in that port city "the
climate is very hot and the earth very humid which, along with the
heat, causes cor- ruption." They noted that their residence was
afflicted with a "blight:"
of ants that of all kinds is the most bothersome and damaging,
because they explore and upset the whole house, and those they call
chichimecas cause a great burning and stinging sensation when they
bite, that can be alleviated with coolness
.... [T]he ants became so numerous that it became impossible to
keep the food needed for sustenance from one day to the next; the
ants even ate some oranges that were in the patio: afflicted by
this blight, we prayed for the protection of... Saint Joseph .. and
with an admirable success, the ants all fled.. .30
The nuns imagined that, apart from the capacity to swarm,
insects were able to enter a victim's body and inflict damage upon
it. One description noted that a nun "felt swarms of beetles in her
brain that tormented her head gravely. The demons definitely ...
grabbed the fabric of her brain and man- aged to twist it, causing
excruciating pain, and producing intense agony."31
28 Godinez (unfoliated). 29 One of the early manifestations of
this phenomenon was the characterization of the anthill empha-
sizing the dynamic swarming action of the ants rather than their
work. On the positive side the ants pro- vide an example of hard
work and foresight because they store provisions for the winter
over the course of the summer. Serafin Ausejo, Diccionario de la
Biblia (Barcelona: Editorial Herder, 1966), p. 872.
30 The miracle consisted in the departure of all ants except for
one ant colony in the patio. These ants, known as arrieras, became
a kind of pet for the nuns. They threw them bread and biscuit
crumbs to feed them and the ants harmed no one. From that time, the
nuns dedicated themselves to Saint Joseph. Joseph G6mez de la
Parra, Fundacidn y Primer siglo, del muy religioso convento de Sr.
S. Joseph de Religiosas Carmelitas Descalzas de la ciudad de Puebla
de los Angeles en la Nueva Espatia, el primero que se fundd en la
Amedrica Septentrional, 27 de Diziembre de 1604 (Puebla: Miguel de
Ortega en el Portal de las Flores, 1731), p. 29-30.
31 Francisca de la Natividad, 1614, folio 5v.
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ROSALVA LORETO L6PEZ 191
The nuns' bodies thus became a kind of battleground for the
prevention of a beast-like nature. As part of this struggle,
diabolical beings were capa- ble of provoking anarchy from within
the victims' bodies. It was the disor- derly movements of the
afflicted that revealed, at first, the animal-like nature of their
imagination, and suggested a pejorative attitude towards those
organisms that were agitating inside the body. These descriptions
allow for a drifting of the imagination towards animals, such as
flies, that were asso- ciated with sin.32 Those individuals who
were tormented by flies could demonstrate "their great and
unbeatable patience." If God willed it, "not only were they
tormented by great pains but even in the very wounds where demons
caused most agony." The demons then became flies. They afflicted
the nun so unbearably that "she called on God... asking for his
mercy and grace to help her endure this torment, as it was so great
and caused her to scream many times and fall unconscious . . .
because of the sheer agony."33
The image of swarming that came to represent the Devil's actions
pre- vented any kind of verbal or bodily communication that
followed a logical and coherent pattern. In some of his victims the
Devil's intervention became obvious to the religious community
because they could no longer perform the daily activities that
required the bodily control demanded by the rules. One such example
was assistance in the choir. A victim described how "as I was
praying the divine office ... it seemed that there were so many
cicadas in my head and their noise deafened me so that I could not
hear a word. Other times it seemed that beetles were swarming in my
brain."34 In this case the animals symbolized internal chaos. While
Hell was portrayed in iconography as a chaotic and disturbed place,
in these passages bodily putre- faction also symbolized a clear and
disturbing discordance with the sacred.
Swarming animals were associated with the body's material
destruction in a concrete manner--in fact they "ate" it and caused
putrefaction.35 The
32 Ancient demonology always used flies to symbolize demons.
Artists usually depicted them next to the ear of a Christian who
was in the process of being tempted by Satan-they were "lending an
ear" as Saint Gregory said "of the carnal desires." There are two
infernal entities--although they are really one and the
same-Asmodeus and Beelzebub who were represented as flies. L.
Charbonneau-Lassay, El bestiario de Cristo. El simbolismo animal en
la antigiiedad y la edad media (Barcelona: Editorial Sophia
Perennos, 1997, vol. II), p. 869. Flies are also emblematic of
discomfort, anxiety, or disgust. They sym- bolize constant
persecution; buzzing and hovering without ceasing. They multiply in
decay and putre- faction and transmit the worst germs. Iguacen,
1992, p. 598.
33 Natividad, folio 3. 34 Textual citation from a note that
Isabel gave to her confessor. Godinez (unfoliated). 35 Many times
demons "caused [Isabel] to throw up bits of abscess and other times
to vomit worms
that were gnawing her day and night." Natividad, folio 3v. In
this passage the worm fits into the sym- bolism of the "voice of
conscience" that repeats a reproach in order to bring about
repentance. Charbon- neau-Lassay, p. 841.
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192 THE DEVIL IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PUEBLA CONVENTS
forms in which animals presented themselves were not only
imaginary. Per- sonal experience, through the mortification of the
flesh, endowed them with attributes which were quite common in the
narratives of the period and allowed them to be directly
represented in such a way. Maria de San Jose, for example, wrote
that when she first put on her spiked belt, it was so large that
much of it was left over. She continued to cinch it tighter and
tighter so that over time "the spikes bit into my flesh." She had
numerous fleas living in the spiked belt "although this was more
common for those who wore wool or linen and Holland cloth." As a
result she suffered greatly; she could feel the insects "walk
around like ants in the wounds around my waist. They were nearly
eating me to my chest bones. I would wake up in puddles of pus that
flowed from my wounds onto the floor where I slept."36
Among the larger animals, it was the horse that was most often
represented. Horses were commonly associated with funeral corteges
or with the under- world.37 Isabel de la Encarnaci6n, for instance,
made just such a connection when she described death's omen as
"demons in the form of naked black men on horseback." They rode
through the cloister and, as they came parallel with the cross,
they all fled; but some entered the sacristy where she was, grabbed
her and attacked her with such cruelty that a short while later she
died.38
The horse was particularly feared during this time because it
represented movement, and also because in daily life horses were
associated with the noise of constant trotting. Metaphorically,
"demons traveled like carts" over the top of Isabel de la
Encarnaci6n's cell, while "below it they opened the walls with
picks and made such noise that they bothered all the sisters who
thought they were thieves. They walked in circles like a pack of
mares threshing."39
The bull represented a further set of natural symbols. Because
of its bellow, people associated the bull with thunder or a furious
hurricane. A pas- sage from Marfa de Jes6s's narrative uses
elements of the symbolism of both bulls and horses to represent
evil under different guises. She combines dif- ferent symbolic
images, but a humanized "demon" in the form of naked black man
provides the active voice of communication with her. She recounted
that one day, at ten o'clock, after a flagellation exercise, she
was
36 Cited by Kathleen Myers, Word from New Spain, p. 117. Isabel
de la Encarnaci6n provides a sim- ilar description. Godinez
(unfoliated).
37 In the Apocalypse, death's horse is remarkably similar to a
lion and has the teeth of a dragon. The horses of exterminating
angels have "lions' heads" and their power is located in their
mouth and neck. They are also connected with evil and death. In the
Apocalypse, death is mounted on an emaciated horse. Ausejo, p.
250-251.
38 Godinez (unfoliated). 39 Ibid.
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ROSALVA LORETO L6PEZ 193
in her cell when she saw three demons enter. One demon had taken
the guise of a horse, another one of a bull, and the last of a
large, naked black man. She was terrified. One of the demons began
to call her. The demons dis- guised as the horse and the bull
attacked her and the black man told them not to give up. The other
two pointed out that "she had flesh from our enemy, and that it was
the flesh of St Teresa of Avila," because one of Maria de Jes6s's
relics was indeed from this holy woman.40
Animal symbolism was accompanied discursively with metaphorical
mes- sages that complemented the connection between animal actions,
substances, and qualities. For example, in order to stop a
procession that he "hated," the Devil "put the figure of a black
bull in the street where it [the procession] would pass ...
paralyzing Isabel in such a way that the nuns could not move her
from that spot. The procession had to pass ahead, leaving her
there, like a statue, until she was finally able to move."41 The
image of Isabel, lying in the street, recalls the weight, the
texture, and the temperature of death. The symbolism of both
bulls42 and horses was associated with the anxiety caused by
certain attributes of nature. The noise of thunder and hurricanes
could be interpreted as a manifestation of God's anger and, at
times, as a collective punishment. On one occasion, Isabel de la
Encarnaci6n "saw the Devil... in the figure of a black bull..,.
foaming at the mouth, and angrily going up the stairs towards the
upper dormitory." The nun warned her prelate that "the Devil, in
the guise of a black bull, was going upstairs..,. and a short while
later the convent was subjected to a terrible storm."43
Because of actions such as clawing, as well as their sounds,
groans, and sinister howls, dogs and felines represented the
concentration of all the ter- rifying nightmares that animals could
evoke. More aggressive animals were often portrayed in the form of
dogs, lions, and tigers. There was a very clear association between
the bite of these mammals and the fear of their attrib- utes, which
could be easily connected with the Devil's desire for vengeance and
punishment. His goal was to destroy, to "tear apart" those who
stood between good and evil-in this case, the nuns. The way the
nuns could inter- vene to prevent the Devil's triumph is
illustrated in an example recounted by
40 Agustina de Santa Teresa, "Cuaderno primero sobre la vida de
la Venerable Madre Maria de Jests" circa 1630, folio 14-14v.
41 The procession in question was for the Virgin's Assumption.
It was held every three years. Godinez (unfoliated).
42 In polytheistic cults the bull was a symbol of virility. In
Antiquity, its sacredness was linked to fecundity. The association
of harmful powers with the negative values of animal symbolism can
be observed in the way that so many demons are seen as the freed
spirits of animals, especially those feared by humans. See Ausejo,
passim.
43 Godinez (unfoliated).
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194 THE DEVIL IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PUEBLA CONVENTS
Francisca de la Natividad. A group of people, she tells us, went
by day and by night to the house of a couple to play cards "to the
great offense of God" who showed them to her "hugging each other at
the gates of Hell." In response, Francisca asked the community to
pray for them in order to save them from this danger. The nuns did
so very earnestly. Through the prayers of Francisca and the other
nuns, they were able to wrench these souls from the demons' grip.
"The demons avenged themselves for this assault. As a result two
demons in the form of tigers came and attacked Francisca and they
tore at her with such fury that they ripped her to pieces taking
out their vengeance on her because she saved these souls."44
Snakes represented fear of evil45 and the three nuns studied in
this article constantly discussed their appearance. They could hide
death's secret, fertil- ity, and the life cycle.46 The structure
and shape of their body and its move- ments made them seem like
animals that could enter into the nuns' intimacy. They could also
attack the nuns' heads making them lose proper bodily con- trol and
position. Indeed, the Devil, under various animal guises, affected
different parts of the nuns' bodies depending upon the shape he
took. Isabel de la Encarnaci6n, for example, recounted that she was
once in the presence of three individuals, two of whom were demons.
One took the form of a snake and "encircled her forehead making her
bray." The other turned into a leach and "entered her eyes and
sometimes her nose, moving about in her nostrils." Because of her
terrible torments, she made a horrible sound and the other nuns had
to take her to the furthest comrner of the convent where she could
"bray, and shout, and throw her head around like those with
rabies," while biting her own hands and furiously attacking her own
body.47
Other beings taken from the medieval traditions such as
mermaids, griffins, and dragons, also appeared in the nuns'
accounts but less frequently. The devil tormented Isabel de la
Encarnaci6n as God willed it, "so that His servant would act as an
example of what happened to souls who suffer." Our Lord gave the
demons plenty of latitude to persecute her under various guises.
They appeared in the figure of a dog, a pig, a cat, a bull, a
turtle, a cicada, a lion, a grasshopper, a black soldier, a naked
man, and a beautiful
44 Natividad, fols. 10-1lv. 45 In ancient mythology, the snake
was often a demonic image or a cosmic monster of chaos. In Gen-
esis 3 it is represented as a symbol of sexuality and human
ambition. The Apocalypse identifies Satan as the snake in Genesis,
cf. Barbaglio, p. 966.
46 Ausejo, pp. 1835-1839. 47 Natividad, fol. 25v. In a similar
incident, demons attacked Isabel de la Encarnaci6n "first in the
face
as a snake encircled her forehead and head tormenting her senses
and making it hard for her to breathe... and the demon entered her
ears and tormented her to such a degree that it was as if a dagger
had been plunged into her brain, so that she could not move any
limbs and was as if dead." Godinez (unfoliated).
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ROSALVA LORETO L6PEZ 195
mermaid from the sea.48 The animals that appeared in the nuns'
narratives served as an incarnation of the struggle between good
and evil; this was their most important role. Thanks to the
spiritual strength of the nuns, their patience and virtue, and
God's grace, lust was vanquished and an orderly daily life was
reestablished in the convents.
THE DEVIL, BODIES, AND DEPORTMENT
One of the Devil's most persistent tricks was to oppose and
frustrate the nuns' efforts to control their own bodies. As they
tried to exert bodily disci- pline through a subordination of body
language, the Devil upset this poise by continually unbalancing
their movements. The struggle to control their own bodies was also
reflected in the images used by members of the con- vent. Its
importance lay in the fact that the feelings and the emotions of
the individual and the group were expressed through the way they
held their bodies.
In the narratives consulted, the nuns took particular pains to
specify the body's dynamic and to create a selective vocabulary of
bodily movements. The reader must then decipher these movements
within a coded system. A straight body, for example, indicated
"superiority" in contrast with a fallen, lowly, or inferior one.
These contrasts entered into the judgements made by the nuns about
themselves and about their sisters. Images of a fall or the loss of
an erect position, for instance, could represent human anxiety; the
act of falling often functioned as a metaphor for hell and
perdition. For vertical bipeds such as humans, the feeling caused
by a fall brought to mind a fear of their resemblance with animals.
Thus, the Devil threw Isabel de la Encar- naci6n to the floor and
"under the guise of a horrible ghost, from on top of her body, he
grabbed her wrists and made her so cold that she got goose
bumps."49
For the nuns, an erect body faithfully reflected their human
nature, and the maintenance of a straight position was part of the
training imparted in all cloisters.5? The loss of the proper bodily
position did not necessarily mean that the nun had to lie on the
floor. Rather, as soon as her vertical axis was deformed, the body
took on a more animal-like quality. The following exam- ple shows
how, metaphorically, the Devil acted upon one of the body's
most
48 Godinez, (unfoliated). In this case the animals symbolize the
deceit and seduction associated with the Devil. See Damiin Iguacen,
Diccionario del patrimonio cultural de la Iglesia (Madrid,
Ediciones, 1991), p. 897.
49 Godinez states that, since her childhood, she received a
special assistance from God to fool the Devil and triumph over his
"schemes" (unfoliated).
50 See Kendon Adam, Conducting Interactive Patterns of Behavior
in Focussed Encounters (London, Cambridge University Press,
1990).
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196 THE DEVIL IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PUEBLA CONVENTS
vulnerable points, the neck. In this case, the Devil's action
made the nun's head rotate in such a way as to resemble a spool of
thread:
The Devil places many obstacles in my way. When I pray the
Divine Office or when I enter the choir loft, he makes my head burn
so that I lose my bal- ance and my head becomes so heavy that I
have to lower it because I cannot hold it straight.... On other
occasions he makes my head whip around with such speed that it
seems to be a bobbin, and when people look at me, they think my
head was disappearing and if they succeeded in holding my head
still, I would lose consciousness.51
The sense of "falling" was directly related to the body's
centers of equilib- rium. The Devil's object was to upset any of
the bodily postures that were accepted as correct.
Along with the head and the neck, the waist was considered one
of the most important centers of a female body. Because it
represented the central axis of vertical balance, a woman's waist
played an important role in the maintenance of a proper erect
position whether standing, seating, or kneel- ing. When the waist
was out of line, bodily discomposure was the direct consequence.
Isabel de la Encarnaci6n suffered greatly because of "the demons
who tried to stop her from participating in the convent's
devotions. When she was about to bow before the Blessed Sacrament,
the Devil bent her body backwards with such speed and violence that
an abscess inside her body broke."52
Feet, although appearing infrequently, represent the other
extreme of the loss of equilibrium. Apart from being necessary for
movement, feet sup- ported the body. They could fail by causing
uneven or disjointed steps, by not keeping the body erect, or by an
unsteady rhythm. In causing such fail- ures, the Devil could
intervene through actions, objects or animals. Agustina de Santa
Teresa, for example, recounted that on the feast day of the Holy
Innocents, after praying to prepare herself for communion, she
tried to leave her dormitory but "in front of these holy martyrs"
she felt the Devil's pres- ence and fell down. Because of the pain
she could not put on her shoes. Yet, despite the pain, with
assistance, she took communion and offered it to the others, and
"Our Lord demonstrated His benevolence."53
5' Godinez (unfoliated). 52 Godinez (unfoliated). 53 Santa
Teresa, fol. 19. Another vengeful demon showed up in the Carmelite
convent where "the
demons made Isabel feel the consequences of any good acts
accomplished in the convent. There were demons that tormented the
sisters, who walked among them, some in the form of dogs, others as
cats. But the demons made all the nuns demented by tripping them
and making them fall." Natividad, fols. 6v-7.
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ROSALVA LORETO L6PEZ 197
Apart from its connection with body parts, the symbolism of the
body was linked to its functions-breathing, the circulation of the
blood, diges- tion, etc.- and to the senses. The following example
illustrates how this cor- relation was constructed. The Devil would
place himself "under her soles and from beneath she would feel an
infernal gasping. Then her feet would become inflamed, and the
humors would become unbalanced. She became gravely ill until she
was able to evacuate this influence."'54
Falling was associated with walking quickly and moving rapidly.
Isabel de la Encarnaci6n, for instance, felt the very agitation of
the underworld as it "beat her head and throat so rapidly, with
such speed, and excessive harsh- ness . . . that the other nuns
were not able to help her." The nuns watched how, "with such speed,
her head went back and forth for so long and with such violence,
that her brains seemed to rattle in her head like nuts." On one of
these occasions, one of the sisters tried to stop her head's
movement with her hand. The moment she touched Isabel's head, the
nun fell unconscious. From then on, when this happened, the nuns
did not touch Isabel "despite the extreme torments she
suffered."55
Falling meant loss of an upright position. Vertigo was a
particular threat to proper posture and, as such, behavior.
Commonly associated with illness, it was a warning to sinners of
women's fragility. On one occasion, for instance, Mother Maria de
Jests was at the grille, talking to her mother and a letrado who
fell in love with her and tried very hard to convince her to
reciprocate. In the end, he accepted that all he could expect was
merely to see her once in a while. One day, he was at the grille
with his sister, "when Our Lord appeared to the holy Maria de Jests
and she felt herself drop. She left the grille and never again
spoke to the letrado."56
The snake, also a symbol of penetration and of the Devil,
appeared within the cell's intimacy with a sinuous anarchic motion.
When Isabel de la Encar- naci6n "felt these different kinds of
torment, certain chosen nuns always rushed over to help her. They
tried to hold her while she levitated, moving her body like a snake
.... Some demons lifted her in the air so that it seemed that she
would break through the cell's roof while others threw her against
the walls."'57
54 Godinez (unfoliated). 55 Ibid. 56 Santa Teresa, folios 9-9V.
57 "It took many nuns, with all their strength, to prevent her from
hitting the walls, so much so, that
when I was walking with the same nuns, she would throw us all to
the ground, and jump. She hit her head against the wall so many
times that it was pitiful. It took so much strength to hold her so
that she would not hit herself any more." Natividad, folios
4-4v.
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198 THE DEVIL IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PUEBLA CONVENTS
A fall represented all of nature's feared elements and the
feeling of imbal- ance caused by losing contact with the earth.
Circles, circular objects or cir- cular body movements expressed
time and instability. For example, one account stated that "this
particular night, before sunrise, the demons began to torment her
furiously. They lifted her body in the air as if it was a feather
caught in an eddy. They turned her around so many times that it
seemed that they wanted to rip apart her body from her soul."58
Other similar metaphors portrayed the body rolling like a sphere or
a ball of wool.59
Clearly, the body was not only the place where the battle
between good and evil took place but also an object of great
tension upon which the nuns' imagination centered. In their
imitation of Christ and their search for per- fection, women
blended metaphors and genders in their most profound experiences.
In a way, it could be said that they could become Christ's body
because, to a certain extent, they experienced Christ in their own
bodies.
CONCLUSION
My contention has been that the particular events that occurred
privately to some nuns in the convents of Puebla had a larger
significance for seven- teenth and eighteenth-century society as a
whole. The publication and re- editing of the nuns' lengthy
biographies during the eighteenth century, the many attempts to
beatify some of these women, and the numerous contem- porary
references to these women in the writings of Poblanos themselves
confirms their cultural significance.
Resistance to the Devil and its symbolism has been a recurring
image of these narratives. The evidence suggests that gender is of
primary signifi- cance in the analysis of this phenomenon since the
experiences described occurred particularly to women. The
connection between bodily weakness and women was accepted as a
historical constant and contrasted with the religious state of the
virtuous nuns who always triumphed over the Devil. Gender was also
implicated in the product of these struggles. The nuns' con- duct
became an idealized feminine model in which bodily behavior played
an important role. The regulation of the body as well as the battle
to main- tain these positions became associated with certain types
of actions and values. Just as there were bodily gestures
associated with evil, others were considered adequate for virtuous
and religious women.
58 Godinez (unfoliated). 59 Some of the other torments included
trying to choke her, dragging her along the ground, playing
with her as if she were a ball, making her bustle about,
"finally they treated her like another Job, caus- ing her more pain
than she could ever explain in words." Godinez (unfoliated).
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ROSALVA LORETO L6PEZ 199
The conversion of a private, individual, and feminine event into
a socially accepted cultural value (in a public and collective way)
required a certain process. First, the apparitions, despite their
inherent threatening nature, had to fulfil certain religious and
cultural conditions for the community to con- sider them valid and
believable. The Church had a whole set of procedures to accept or
reject the inclusion of supernatural events within the framework of
faith. The publication of the nuns' biographies suggests that the
events described in them conformed to certain requirements that had
been previ- ously agreed upon. If they had not, then they would not
have been made available to the public in the seventeenth- and
eighteenth-century New Spain. This suggests that, between the
events that these nuns experienced and their transformation into a
socially accepted archetype, there was a pre- vious process. At a
first level, the community within the convent judged whether a
supernatural event was valid and worthy of consideration. The
Church, through its system of censorship and the authority of
confessors and biographers, provided the next and most decisive
stage for the acceptance and then the propagation of the event and
its implications. It is in this way that we can explain how the
very private and individual events that occurred to a particular
group of women became transformed into the elements of a widely
socially accepted model of feminine virtue.
Benemefrita Universidad Aut6noma de Puebla ROSALVA LORETO
L6PEZ
Article
Contentsp.181p.182p.183p.184p.185p.186p.187p.188p.189p.190p.191p.192p.193p.194p.195p.196p.197p.198p.199
Issue Table of ContentsThe Americas, Vol. 59, No. 2, The Devil
in Latin America (Oct., 2002), pp. i-vi+153-284Front Matter
[pp.i-vi]Introduction [pp.153-159]The Devil and Deviance in Native
Criminal Narratives from Early Mexico [pp.161-179]The Devil, Women,
and the Body in Seventeenth-Century Puebla Convents
[pp.181-199]Mira Lo Que Hace El Diablo: The Devil in Mexican
Popular Culture, 1750-1856 [pp.201-219]The Devil and Modernity in
Late Nineteenth-Century Buenos Aires [pp.221-233]Inter-American
Notes [pp.235-241]Book Reviewsuntitled [pp.243-244]untitled
[pp.244-246]untitled [pp.246-247]untitled [pp.248-249]untitled
[pp.249-251]untitled [pp.251-252]untitled [pp.252-254]untitled
[pp.254-256]untitled [pp.256-258]untitled [pp.258-259]untitled
[pp.260-261]untitled [pp.261-263]untitled [pp.263-265]untitled
[pp.265-267]untitled [pp.267-268]untitled [pp.268-269]untitled
[pp.270-271]untitled [pp.271-272]untitled [pp.272-274]untitled
[pp.274-276]untitled [pp.276-277]untitled [pp.277-279]untitled
[pp.279-280]untitled [pp.280-282]untitled [pp.282-283]
Back Matter [pp.284-284]