Hofman1

Brianna Hofman

His 392 Paper 2

Professor Cromwell

The Key to Honor

During the times of colonial Latin America, to determine ones place in the social

hierarchy, much of it had to do with how much or how little honor a person had. The

Spanish Empire really believed in a class system and hierarchy to establish a sense of

control in society. Besides for a persons wealth and their race, a persons place on the

hierarchy was determined whether or not they had great honor. Typically this was very

public knowledge if a person did or did not have honor. However, a person could gain or

lose their honor very easily. One wrong act and a persons honor could be ruined or one

righteous act a persons honor could be gained. The honor of a person can be determined

by their religious vocation, the truthfulness one gives, and the moral conduct of a person

defines the way in which people in the colonial Latin America are able to live their lives.

One of the many ways that determined how much honor one had was if they had a

religious vocation or good religious standing within the church. Religion, more

specifically Catholicism, was an important aspect in the lives of people during the time of

colonial Latin America. They based their lives and society on the guidelines of

Catholicism and the church. People of the church, especially priests and nuns, were seen

as such esteemed and virtuous positions. This can be seen in the court case against of

Francisco Noguerol and Beatriz who was his first wife. Noguerol was trying to find

evidence saying that he did not know Beatriz was still alive when he had married his

second wife because when he was in the New World, and his sisters, who were nuns,
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wrote to him saying that she had passed away. At first Noguerol was having much

difficulty proving that he had no knowledge of Beatriz being alive when he married

Catalina, his second wife, since he did not have the original letter his sisters wrote to him.

Noguerol was then able to get his sisters to give their testimony in order to testify and

authenticate the letters they had written to Noguerol of Beatrizs death (Cook & Cook,

112-114). Some men in a nearby area wrote on the purity and character of the sisters,

praised the women as very honest, and he certainly would trust anything they said (Cook

& Cook, 114). Even without the sisters standing directly in court, the court took their

statement with high virtue because of their religious vocation as nuns. Dona Ynes and

dona Francisca were reputable women whose communication should have been accepted

without a doubt, and Noguerol had been clearly justified in regarding their letters as

satisfactory proof of his wifes death (Cook & Cook, 114). This shows that even in court

cases people, who have a role in the church are taken in much more consideration

because people with religious vocations are seen as people with incredibly high honor

since they are so dedicated to the church.

There are a couple cases that some may say that a person with a religious vocation

acted unjustly but since they are of such great honor, they do not get reprimanded at all or

not as significantly. In the documents that Matthew Restall brings together, it shows a

group of Mayan parishioners of different Cabildos of Maya areas petitioning that their

padre Mexia was abusing women or wouldnt let them confess (Restall, 25). Even

though the Mayan parishioners had evidence, the priest barely got reprimanded, he was

neither imprisoned nor expelled from the church, but merely exiled for two years from

Yucatan, fined 200 pesos, and banned for good from hearing confessions of women
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(Restall, 23). This shows that the priest had even some influence and power in the court

system because the priests religious vocation is seen as an honorable position.

Another way a person can gain honor is by always being truthful. If a person has

been truthful and the public knows of their truthfulness, they would be seen as a person

with honor, which can positively affect their public reputation. In the court case of Ysabel

Allay Suyo, she is petitioning to get her marriage annulled because she says that she was

forced into the marriage and did not give her consent to marry Diego Andres. She had

many witnesses that testified for her like Domingo de Aricola who said Ysabel Allay

Suyo is a good Christian and under no circumstances would she try to seek a legal

separation if she had not been forced to marry against her will (Deusen, 134). This

shows that Ysabel Allay Suyo would never lie and try to get out of a marriage unless she

did not consent because of how much of a virtuous Christian she was. Andres Chanta also

testifies a similar statement by saying he knows that Ysabel Allay Suyo is a good

Christian; he has seen her doing good works, and she has lived honorably and virtuously

(Deusen, 137). The fact that more than two people testified for her by remarking on her

good Christian and honorable life, shows that her public reputation is very positive and

well known. When a persons public reputation is positive and known throughout, that

person is seen by society as a very honorable person. That is exactly what the court saw

as well. The court declared for their marriage to be annulled because Ysabel Allay Suyo

proved that she did not give consent to the marriage and that she was forced into it

(Deusen, 138). Since Ysabel Allay Suyo was a known honorable person to society and

had a good public reputation she was able to get what she wanted. Ysabel Allay Suyos

honor from being truthful allowed her to have an influence and power within the court.
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As with being religious and truthful, one must also have moral conduct within

society in order to have good honor. If a person had poor moral conduct in society, they

would not only have poor honor, but their public reputation would be reflected

negatively. A person who has good standing honor and does an act that goes against

having moral conduct, like having sex before marriage, can lose their honor very quickly

and be casted down upon to society. In the documents of the court case regarding

Catarina Maria petitioning the court saying that Juan Teioa had deflowered her, shows

exactly how negative public perception of someones honor can negatively affect a

persons life. Juan Teioa brought in many witnesses to testify for him and against

Catarina Maria. One witness says in his testimony he knows she was not a doncella

(virgin), since this was common knowledge in all of barrio San Nicolas (Boyer, 163). He

even though he is not denying the fact that Catarina Maria and Juan had a sexual

interaction, consent or not consented, he is claiming that it was public knowledge that

Catarina Maria was not a virgin and that she had had sex before this interaction. Juan

Teioa makes a similar statement as well (Boyer, 161). Because of these statements and

claims that Catarina Maria was not pure before this interaction, her status of honor

greatly decreased. The case resulted in Catarina Maria not getting all that she petitioned

for because of the statements that were made regarding her provocative behavior

(Boyer, 164). Her decrease of honor, because of her moral conduct, resulted with her

having less power or influence in society.

Another way bad honor can negatively affect someone through moral conduct,

was through someone else not acting in a moral way. This was especially true for men

with wives. What their wife did in public not only affected the women personally, but
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also the husbands received the consequence. In the documents revolving around court

case with Ysabel Allay Suyo, her husband, Diego Andres, tried writing a love letter to

Ysabel and in one part at the end of the letter he states, told me that you were walking

around free and unconfined, and evidently, it was understood that you were causing me to

lose my honor and self-esteem (Deusen, 136). By saying this sentence, he not only was

trying to make her seem like she did not have honor, but he was trying to make it seem

like what she was doing in public was ruining his honor and public reputation when he

has done nothing wrong. The moral conduct of a person and how they are perceived

within the public determines their honor and influence in society.

The level of honor one held was determined by a persons religious vocation, the

truthfulness of a person, and how a person morally conducts his/her-self in society during

the colonial Latin America. If a person exceeds in one or more of these areas their honor

can seen has very virtuous and have a positive impact of his or her life. However, if a

person fails to act upon one or more of these areas, their life can be negatively affected

and can be looked down upon by society. To have great honor meant to have great

influence or power in society within the Spanish Empire. The more honor one has, the

more influence and power they will gain for themselves. It can be said that the goal of

many people of the Spanish Empire was to gain as much honor and virtue as they could.
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Works Cited

Boyer, Richard E., and Geoffrey Spurling. Colonial Lives: Documents

on Latin American History, 1550-1850. New York: Oxford UP,
2000. Print.

Cook, Alexandra Parma, and Noble David Cook. Good Faith and
Truthful Ignorance: A Case of Transatlantic Bigamy. Durham:
Duke UP, 1991. Kindle