The Expansion of Nahuatl as a Lingua Franca among Priests in Sixteenth-Century Mexico

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2736104
AutoresJohn F Schwaller (autor correspondente)
Ano2012
Volume59
Fascículo4
Páginas675-690
Data de publicação2012-10-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoEthnohistory (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0014-1801 • E-ISSN: 1527-5477
EditoraDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1215/00141801-1642707
OpenAlexW2319142948
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas22

This article examines the practice of ordaining young men because of their personal language ability, a process referred to as an ordination a título de lengua. As a result of reforms codified by the Catholic Church in the Council of Trent, prospective priests were required to support themselves without assistance from the Church, a requirement called a title. This requirement was satisfied if an ordinand enjoyed a benefice or a chantry. Because of the need to have as many priests who knew native languages as possible, the crown ordered that the ability to speak a native language could be used in lieu of a title. Starting in the 1560s the bishops of Mexico began to keep track of clergy according to their ability to speak a native language. When the system of oposiciones (competitive placement exams) began in the 1580s, candidates for benefices would be tested on their language ability. This article traces the development of a bilingual secular clergy in order to evaluate whether royal officials responded to the widespread use of Nahuatl at the time of contact or whether those same officials encouraged the spread of Nahuatl through their policies

Archaeology · Art · Bishops · Humanities · Lingua franca · Nahuatl · Political science · Sociology · Historical Studies in Latin America · History · Latin American history and culture · Law