Diego de Landa, Bishop of Yucatán

Diego de Landa Calderón (17 March 1524 – 1579) was Bishop of Yucatán. Events 45 BC - In his last victory Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Yucatán is located in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico; Campeche and Tabasco are its suffragans He left future generations with a mixed legacy in his writings, which contain much valuable information on pre-Columbian Maya civilization, and his actions which destroyed much of that civilization's history, literature, and traditions. The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences The Maya civilization is a Mesoamerican Civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the Pre-Columbian Americas He is a major figure in the so-called "Black Legend. The Black Legend ( La Leyenda Negra) is a term coined by Julián Juderías in his 1914 book La leyenda negra y la verdad histórica ( The Black Legend "

The conversion of the Maya

Born in Cifuentes, Guadalajara, Spain, he became a Franciscan monk in 1541, and was soon sent as one of the first Franciscans to the Yucatán. Guadalajara ( Spanish pronunciation) is a city and Municipality in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain, and in the Landa was in charge of bringing the Roman Catholic faith to the Maya peoples after the Spanish conquest of Yucatán. The Maya peoples constitute a diverse range of the Native American peoples of southern Mexico and northern Central America. The Spanish Conquest of Yucatán was the campaign undertaken by the Spanish Conquistadores ' against the Late Postclassic Maya states and He presided over a spiritual monopoly granted to the Catholic order of Franciscans by the Spanish crown, and worked diligently to buttress the order's power while converting the indigenous Maya. The term Franciscan is commonly used to refer to members of Catholic His initial appointment was to the mission of San Antonio in Izamal, which served also as his primary residence while in Yucatán. Izamal is a small city in the Mexican state of Yucatán, 72 km (about 40 miles east of state capital Mérida.

He is the author of the Relación de las Cosas de Yucatán in which he catalogues the Maya language, religion, culture and writing system. This manuscript was written around 1566 on his return to Spain; however, the original copies have long since been lost. The account is known to us only as an abridgement, which in turn had undergone several iterations by various copyists. The extant version was produced around 1660, and was discovered by the nineteenth century French cleric Charles Etienne Brasseur de Bourbourg in 1862. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Abbé Charles-Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg (8 September 1814 &ndash 8 January 1874 was a noted French writer Ethnographer, Historian and Year 1862 was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting on Monday Brasseur de Bourbourg published the manuscript two years later in a bilingual French-Spanish edition, entitled Relation des choses de Yucatán de Diego de Landa.

Inquisition accusation

Surpression of the Maya

After hearing of Roman Catholic Maya who continued to practice "idol worship", he ordered an Inquisition in Mani ending with a ceremony called auto de fe. Idolatry is usually defined as Worship of any Cult image, Idea, or object, as opposed to the worship of a monotheistic God. The term Inquisition can refer to any one of several institutions charged with trying and convicting heretics within the Roman Catholic Church and Maní is a small City, and surrounding municipality of the same name in the Mexican state of Yucatán. The phrase auto de fe refers to the ritual of public Penance of condemned heretics and Apostates that took place when the Spanish Inquisition During the ceremony on July 12, 1562, a disputed number of Maya codices (or books; Landa admits to 27, other sources claim "99 times as many") and approximately 5,000 Maya cult images were burned. Events 1191 - Saladin 's garrison surrenders ending the two-year Siege of Acre. A codex ( Latin for block of wood, Book; plural codices) is a book in the format used for modern books with separate pages normally In the practice of Religion, a cult image is a man-made object that is venerated for the Deity, spirit or Daemon that it embodies or represents The actions of Landa passed into the Black Legend of the Spanish in the Americas. The Black Legend ( La Leyenda Negra) is a term coined by Julián Juderías in his 1914 book La leyenda negra y la verdad histórica ( The Black Legend

Only three Pre-Columbian "books" of Maya hieroglyphics (also known as a codex) and, perhaps, fragments of a fourth are known to have survived. The Maya script, also known as Maya hieroglyphs, was the writing system of the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica, presently A codex ( Latin for block of wood, Book; plural codices) is a book in the format used for modern books with separate pages normally Collectively, these works are known as the Maya codices. Maya codices (singular Codex) are folding Books stemming from the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization, written in Maya hieroglyphic

Image of the page from Relación de las Cosas de Yucatán, in which de Landa describes his Maya "alphabet", which was to prove instrumental in the mid-20th C. breakthrough in Maya hieroglyphics decipherment. The Maya script, also known as Maya hieroglyphs, was the writing system of the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica, presently

Landa's Inquisition showered a level of physical abuse upon the indigenous Maya that many viewed as excessive, and was at the very least unusual. Scores of Maya nobles were jailed pending interrogation, and large numbers of Maya nobles and commoners were subjected to examination under "hoisting. " During hoisting, a victim's hands were bound and looped over an extended line that was then raised until the victim's entire body was suspended in the air. Often, stone weights were added to the ankles or lashes applied to the back during interrogation.

Some contemporary observers were troubled by this widespread use of torture. Crown fiat had earlier exempted indigenous peoples from the authority of the Inquisition, on the grounds that their understanding of Christianity was "too childish" to be held culpable for heresies. Additionally, Landa dispensed with much of the extensive formal procedure and documentation that accompanied Spanish torture and interrogation.

Landa’s Justifications

Scholars have argued Mexican inquisitions showed little concern to eradicate magic or convict individuals for heterodox beliefs,^[1], and that witchcraft was treated more as a religious problem capable of being resolved through confession and absolution. Diego de Landa, however was “monomaniacal in his fervor”^[2] against it. Landa believed a huge underground network of apostasies^[3], led by displaced indigenous priests, were jealous of the power the Church enjoyed and sought to reclaim it for themselves. These apostates, Landa surmised, had launched a counteroffensive against the Church and he believed it was his duty to expose the evil before it could revert the population to their old heathen ways.

Landa claims he had discovered evidence of human sacrifice and other idolatrous practices while rooting out native idolatry. Although one of the alleged victims of said sacrifices, Mani encomendero Dasbatés, was later found to be alive and Landa’s enemies contested his right to run an inquisition^[4], Landa insisted the Papal Bull Exponi nobis justified his actions^[5].

Lopez de Cogolludo, Landa’s chief Franciscan biographer, wrote of Landa’s first hand experiences with human sacrifices. When Landa first came to the Yucatan, he made it his mission to walk the breadth of the peninsula and preach to the most remote villages^[6]. While passing through Cupules, he came upon a group numbering 300 that was about to sacrifice a young boy. Enraged, Landa stormed through the crowd, released the boy, smashed the idols and began preaching with such zeal and sincerity that they begged him to remain in the land and teach them more.

Landa was remarkable in that he was willing to go where no others would. He entered lands only recently conquered where native resentment of Spaniards was still very intense. Armed with nothing but the conviction to learn as much of native culture as he could, so that it would be easier for him to destroy it the future^[7], Landa formulated an intimate contact with natives. Natives placed him in such an esteemed position they were willing to show him some of their sacred writings that had been transcribed on deerskin books^[8]. To Landa and the other Franciscan friars, the very existence of these Mayan codices was proof of diabolical practices. In references to these books, Landa has said:

We found a large number of books in these characters and, as they contained nothing in which were not to be seen as superstition and lies of the devil, we burned them all, which they (the Maya) regretted to an amazing degree, and which caused them much affliction. ^[9]

Landa’s insistence of wide-spread cults throughout the Yucatan is backed by ample evidence. Rituals the Spanish conquerors could not understand were labeled as idolatry, superstition or even devil worship. One such ritual involved clay idols that were used in a strange combination of Catholicism and indigenous religion^[10]. During these ceremonies, individuals would be crucified, then have their hearts removed from their chest and their blood smeared onto the idols. Such ceremonies were practiced throughout the Yucatan up to 45 years after the arrival of the Spaniards.

Landa himself was never in doubt of the necessity of his inquisition. Whether magic and idolatry were being practiced or not, there can be little doubt Landa was “possessed” by fantasies of demonic power in a new land^[11]. Landa, like most Franciscans of the time, subscribed to millenarian ideas ^[12], which demanded the mass conversion of as many souls as possible before the turn of the century. Eliminating evil and pagan practices, Landa believed, would usher the Second Coming of Christ that much sooner.

Many historians believe there can be little doubt old traditions would continue even during Spanish rule, and because of “the resilience of the old social order, and the determination of its custodians to sustain the old ways, some human killings persisted into the post-conquest period…^[13]” While it was likely that Landa did coerce exaggerated confessions through the use of torture, he believed so fully that human sacrifice was occurring around him that he was willing to murder a handful of sinners to save overall community^[14].

Landa’s Relacion De Las Cosas De Yucatan is about as complete a treatment of Mayan religion as we are likely to ever have^[15]. While controversy surrounds Landa’s use of force in the conversion process, few scholars would debate the general accuracy of his recordings. Allen Wells calls his work an “ethnographic masterpiece”^[16], while William J. Folan, Laraine A. Fletcher and Ellen R. Kintz have written that Landa‘s account of Maya social organization and towns before conquest is a “gem. ^[17]” Landa’s writings are our main contemporary source for Mayan history^[18], without which our collective knowledge of Mayan ethnology would be devastatingly small^[19]. While Landa might have exaggerated some claims to justify his actions to his accusers, his intimate contact with natives and all around accuracy in other fields heavily implies his version of events has at least some truth in it.

Landa consecrated as bishop

Landa was sent back to Spain by Bishop Toral, to stand trial for conducting an illegal Inquisition. His actions were strongly condemned before the Council of the Indies. This resulted in a "committee of doctors" being commissioned to investigate Landa's alleged crimes. In 1569 the committee absolved Landa of his crimes. Bishop Toral died in Mexico in 1571, allowing King Phillip II of Spain to appoint Landa as the fourth appointed bishop of Yucatán. Philip II (Felipe II de España Filipe I ( May 21, 1527 &ndash September 13 1598) was King of Spain from 1556 until 1598

Landa and contemporary Mayan studies

Landa's Relación also created a valuable record of the Mayan writing system, which despite its inaccuracies was later to prove instrumental in the later decipherment of the writing system. A writing system is a type of Symbolic system used to represent elements or statements expressible in Language. Landa asked his informants (his primary sources were two Maya individuals descended from a ruling Maya dynasty, literate in the script) to write down the glyphic symbols corresponding to each of the letters of the (Spanish) alphabet, in the belief that there ought to be a one-to-one correspondence between them. A glyph is an element of writing Two or more glyphs representing the same symbol whether interchangeable or context-dependent are called Allographs the abstract unit they The results were faithfully reproduced by Landa in his later account, although he recognised that the set contained apparent inconsistencies and duplicates, which he was unable to explain. Later researchers reviewing this material also formed the view that the "de Landa alphabet" was inaccurate or fanciful, and many subsequent attempts to use this transcription remained unconvincing. The de Landa alphabet is the correspondence of Spanish letters and Glyphs written in the Pre-Columbian Maya script, which the 16th century Bishop It was not until much later, in the mid-twentieth century, when it was realised and then confirmed that it was not a transcription of an alphabet, as Landa and others had originally supposed, but was rather a syllabary. An alphabet is a standardized set of letters basic written symbols each of which roughly represents a Phoneme, a Spoken language, either A syllabary is a set of written symbols that represent (or approximate Syllables which make up Words A symbol in a syllabary typically represents an optional Confirmation of this was only to be established by the work of Russian linguist Yuri Knorozov in the 1950s, and the succeeding generation of Mayanists. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Yuri Valentinovich Knorozov (alternatively Knorosov; Russian Юрий Валентинович Кнорозов; b The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive Mayanist is a term which has been in widespread use from the late 19th century onwards to refer to scholars who have specialised in research and study of the Central American

Notes

References

• Clendinnen, Inga. Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatan, 1517-1570. 2 ed. 2003. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
• Marshall E. Durbin, 1969. An Interpretation of Bishop Diego De Landa's Maya Alphabet (Philological and Documentary Studies, 2/4)
• (Diego de Landa) William Gates, translator, (1937) 1978. Yucatan Before and After the Conquest An English translation of Landa's Relación
• —, 2002. Relacion de las cosas de Yucatan/The relationship of the things of the Yucatan ( in series Cronicas De America)
• —, (Alfred M. Tozze, tr. ) 1941. Relación de las cosas de Yucatán: A translation, (Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, v. 18).

External links

• A biography