The Mexican Church and Disease in the 16th century with Jennifer Hughes
Episode 91 - May 9, 2022
Jennifer Hughes joins Merle and Lee to discuss her work on empire, society and church in 16th century Mexico. After Jennifer sets up the conversation with some background, the discussion focuses on the growth of the Catholic church in Mexico through the Spanish Empire against a backdrop of periodic epidemic disease, examining changes through both imperial and indigenous perspectives. The discussion covers themes such as the economic impact of disease, conversion to Christianity, and the indigenous response to cataclysmic epidemics. Jennifer also presents the range of attitudes and responses on the Spanish side.
Further Reading
- Hughes, Jennifer Scheper (2021). The Church of the Dead: The Epidemic of 1576 and the Birth of Christianity in the Americas. NYU Press.
- Hughes, Jennifer Scheper (2020). "The Colony as the Mystical Body of Christ," Social Analysis (64(4), 21-41.
- Paul Ramírez, “Like Herod's Massacre”: Quarantines, Bourbon Reform, and Popular Protest in Oaxaca's Smallpox Epidemic, 1796-1797," The Americas 69 (2): 2012.
- Rodolfo Acuña Soto, et al. "Megadrought and Megadeath in 16th century Mexico," Emerging Infectious Diseases 8 (4): 2002.
Our Guest
Jennifer Hughes
Professor – Department of History – University of California, Riverside
