"This outstanding collection makes available for the first time a remarkable range of primary sources that will enrich courses on women as well as Latin American history more broadly. Within these pages are captivating stories of enslaved African and indigenous women who protest abuse; of women who defend themselves from charges of witchcraft, cross-dressing, and infanticide; of women who travel throughout the empire or are left behind by the men in their lives; and of women’s strategies for making a living in a world of cross-cultural exchanges. Jaffary and Mangan's excellent Introduction and annotations provide context and guide readers to think critically about crucial issues related to the intersections of gender with conquest, religion, work, family, and the law."
—Sarah Chambers, University of Minnesota
Author(s): Nora E. Jaffary, Jane E. Mangan
Publisher: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 320
Tags: Latin America, Women, History, Primary Sources
Contents
List of Maps vii
Acknowledgments viii
Introduction xi
1. Grant of Tacuba by Hernán Cortés to Isabel Moctezuma,
Firstborn Daughter of Moctezuma II and Her Last Will and
Testament (Mexico City, 1526, 1550) 1
2. Beatríz, India’s, Lawsuit for Freedom from Slavery
(Castile, Spain, 1558–1574)
Introduction and Translation by Nancy E. van Deusen 14
3. Women’s Wills (Potosí, 1577 and 1601; La Plata,
1598 and 1658) 30
4. Midwife Francisca Díaz’s Petition to Return to Mexico
(Seville, 1566) 51
5. Life and Love in Women’s Letters to Spouses
(Spain and Mexico, 1567–1576) 60
6. Mothers and Wives in Labor Agreements
(Arequipa, 1590; La Plata, 1602; and Potosí, 1571 and 1659) 77
7. Criminal Complaint by Angela de Palacios on
Behalf of Her Daughter, Leonor Arias (Potosí, 1584) 84
8. Bárbara López, India, Accuses Her Husband of Abuse
(Santa Fe, 1612) 95
9. Sor Ana’s Travel Excerpt from Mexico to Manila
(Mexico and Manila, 1620)
Introduction and Translation by Sarah E. Owens 103
10. The Spiritual Diary of an Afro–Peruvian Mystic,
Úrsula de Jesús (Lima, 1647–1661)
Translation by Nancy E. van Deusen 115
Contents
11. Isabel Hernández, Midwife and Healer, Appears before
the Inquisition (Mexico, 1652) 128
12. Don Juan de Vargas y Orellana Accuses His Wife doña
Francisca de Marquina of Abortion (Potosí, 1703) 145
13. Founding Corpus Christi, a Convent for Indigenous
Women (Mexico City, 1723) 154
14. An African Woman Petitions for Freedom in a Colonial
Brazilian Mining Town (Vila Rica, 1766)
Introduction and Translation by Mariana Dantas 165
15. Isabel Victoria García Sues the Hacienda del Trapiche
over Land Ownership (Pamplona, Colombia, 1777) 180
16. Between Heaven and Earth: Thereza de Jesús Maria Jozé’s
Last Will and Testament (Cachoeira, Bahia, 1777)
Introduction and Translation by Caroline Garriott 193
17. Natividad, Negra, Sues Her Owner for Freedom (Lima, 1792) 205
18. A Colonial Cross-Dresser (Mexico, 1796) 214
19. Ana Gallum, Freed Slave and Property Owner (Florida, 1801)
Introduction and Translation by Jane Landers 224
20. A Female Slave Owner’s Abuse of an Enslaved Woman
(Neiva, Colombia, 1803) 240
21. María del Carmen Ventura’s Criminal Trial for Infanticide
(Zacualtipan, Mexico, 1806) 250
Glossary 265
Bibliography 273
Index 283
