New World Civitas, Contested Jurisdictions and Intercultural Conversation in the Construction of the Spanish Monarchy

Jurisdictional frontiers were created, contested, and negotiated among a wide range of actors, including native Americans and Europeans, with reference to the cities founded in Castilla del Oro (roughly present-day Panama). This research deals, first, with the reshaping of the concept of a city in the New World, based on its inhabitants' sense of civitas. It analyses, secondly, the creation and redefinition of jurisdiction during political conflicts and, third, the construction and maintenance of jurisdiction through local relations with indigenous populations described as "conversation". The analysis of the creation and preservation of local jurisdictions allows for an interpretation of the complexities involved in the configuration of political power and political space from below in the territories claimed by the Spanish Monarchy.Art Empir

A Seventeenth-Century Confraternity in Santa Ana, San Salvador. What It Can Tell Us about That Era

The colonial settlement of Santa Ana has been somewhat neglected by authorities and historians. This article looks at the founding there in 1672–73 of a confraternity dedicated to Saint Rose of Lima and how this illustrates several aspects of life at that time. When the bishop of Guatemala imposed full Tridentine authority on Santa Ana, many confraternities tried to avoid it. Quiet struggles over the roles of the local priest, supervision of the elections of office holders, the location of the new altar, ethnic and gender memberships, and the changing nature of the multiethnic settlement, all led to readjustments. These contentions continued throughout the colonial period and after