Conquest and Survival in Colonial Guatemala: A Historical Geography of the Cuchumatn Highlands, 1500-1821

339 Pages·2004·25.56 MB·English

by  George Lovell

CONQUEST AND SURVIVAL IN
COLONIAL GUATEMALA
This page intentionally left blank
THIRD EDITION
Conquest and Survival in
Colonial Guatemala
A Historical Geography of
the Cuchumatan Highlands,
1500-1821
W. GEORGE LOVELL
McGill-Queen's University Press
Montreal & Kingston • London • Ithaca
© McGill-Queen's University Press 2005
ISBN 0-7735-2741-9
Legal deposit first quarter 1992
Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec
First published in cloth 1985
Second edition published in paper 1992
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Lovell, W. George (William George), 1951-
Conquest and survival in colonial Guatemala: a
historical geography of the Cuchumatan highlands,
1500-1821
Third ed.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7735-2741-9
1. Cuchumatanes Mountains Region (Guatemala) -
Historical geography. 2. Cuchumatanes Mountains
Region (Guatemala) - Colonization. 3. Indians of
Central America - Guatemala - Cuchumatanes
Mountains Region - History. 4. Guatemala - History
-To 1821. I. Title.
F1466.4. L68 1992 911'. 72817 C92-090073-9
McGill-Queen's University Press acknowledges the support of the Canada
Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the finan-
cial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry
Development Program (BPIDP) for our publishing activities.
The cover illustration by Angelika Bauer shows the "Guerra de Guatimala y
sus provincias" as depicted by Diego Murioz Camargo in the Historia de Tlax-
cala, a sixteenth-century manuscript housed in the Special Collections Depart-
ment of Glasgow University Library. Warriors from Tlaxcala are seen assisting
a mounted Spaniard, possibly meant to be Pedro de Alvarado, in the con-
quest of Guatemala.
The lines from "Little Gidding" in four Quartets are reprinted by permission
of Faber and Faber Ltd from Collected Poems 1909-1962 by T.S. Eliot and by
permission of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., from Four Quartets, copyright
1943 by T.S. Eliot; renewed 1971 by Esme Valerie Eliot. The lines from "The
Hollow Men" are reprinted by permission of Faber and Faber Ltd and Har-
court Brace Jovanovich, Inc., copyright © 1963, 1964 by T.S. Eliot.
For Maureen, editor and muse,
and in fond memory of Victor Perera (1934-2003)
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Tables / ix
Figures / xi
Preface / xiii
Plates / following xix
1 Geography and the Past / 3
PART ONE: THE REGIONAL SETTING
2 Physical and Human Geography / 11
PART TWO: CONTACT AND CONQUEST (1500-1541)
3 The Cultural Landscape on the Eve of Spanish Conquest / 37
4 Conquest and Subjugation by Imperial Spain / 58
5 The Cuchumatan Population at Spanish Contact / 67
PART THREE: THE COLONIAL EXPERIENCE (1541-1821)
6 In Pursuit of Order: Congregation and the Administration of
Empire / 75
7 Economic Demands and Ethnic Relations: Spanish Control of
the Indian Population / 95
viii Contents
8 Working the Land: Landholding Patterns and the Agricultural
Economy /118
9 Collapse and Recovery: Demographic Change in the Native
Population /140
10 Refuge in the Mountains / 173
11 Quincentennial Reflections / 177
Epilogue / 199
Glossary / 221
Notes / 225
Bibliography / 271
Index / 295
Tables
1 Population of the Cuchumatan Highlands (1973) / 23
2 Pre-Hispanic Settlements / 42
3 Archaeological Sites and Settlement Chronology / 46
4 Indian Army Sizes (1525-30) / 69
5 Towns Forming the Cuchumatan Highlands / 91
6 Cuchumatan Settlements Listed in the Cerrato Tribute
Assessment (1549) / 97
7 Repartimientos de Mercancias (1561-1813) / 109
8 Abuses Committed by Spanish Clergy (1681-1819) / 112
9 Cofmdia Assets (1770 and 1803) /114
10 Spanish Landholding (1607-1759) / 122
11 Indian Landholding at Sacapulas / 127
12 Land Grants to Indian Caciques and Principals
(1600-1711) / 128
13 Land Disputes between Indians and Non-Indians
(1705-1822) / 132
14 Land Disputes between Indian Communities (1668—1822) / 133
15 Selected Cuchumatan Populations (1570-1604) / 141
16 Population of the Cuchumatan Highlands (1520-1825) / 145
17 General Outbreaks of Disease in Highland Guatemala
(1519-1746) / 149
18 Local Outbreaks of Disease in the Cuchumatan Highlands
(ca 1550-1819) / 150
19 Mortality in Cuchumatan Towns during the Smallpox
Epidemic of 1780-1 /158
20 Smallpox in the Ixil Country (1780) / 160
21 Vaccination against Smallpox among Cuchumatan Indians
(1807) /162
22 Population and Mortality Levels around the Time of the
Typhus Epidemic of 1796-9 /165
23 Awards of Encomienda in Early Colonial Guatemala /182
24 Encomienda in the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes (1524-40) / 183