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Land in Spanish Enterprise: Colonial Morelos 1522-1547

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

G. Micheal Riley
G. Micheal Riley*
Affiliation:
Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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Extract

THE state of Morelos in today's México comprised two rich and important provinces within the Aztec Confederacy when Spanish forces penetrated it for the first time in March of 1521. In that year of conflict, the Tlahuica and Xochimilca peoples who dominated the numerous settlements and fertile, well-watered, volcanic soils of its mountain-surrounded valleys were producing large quantities of valued agrarian and other goods. For generations, dating back 8,000 or more years, they and their predecessors had done so. The laborers among them—the commoners or macehuales, the serf-like, soil-bound mayeques, and the slaves—used valleys in the high-altitude, temperate to semitropical and semi-arid north and in the less-elevated, tropically hot and humid south to grow maize, beans, chile, tomatoes, peppers, squashes, some fruits, chía (a species of sage), huautli (amaranth), cotton and, perhaps, cacao.

Type
Dedication
Information
The Americas , Volume 27 , Issue 3 , January 1971 , pp. 233 - 251
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1971

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References

1 In the preparation of this essay, the author relied upon funding provided by the Social Science Research Council and the University of New Mexico, and the much-appreciated advice of France V. Scholes, Research Professor Emeritus in the University of New Mexico. For consideration of land utilization, pre- and post-conquest, in Colonial México other than in the Morelos area (for which specific citations are made), the author made use of the following: Caso, Alfonso, “La tenencía de la tierra entre los antiguos Mexicanos,” Memoria de el colegio naciónal, 4 (1958–1960)Google Scholar; Chevalier, François, La formación de los grandes latifundios en México (México, 1956)Google Scholar; Gibson, Charles, “The Aztec Aristocracy in Colonial Mexico,” Comparative Studies in Society and History, 2 (1960) and The Aztecs Under Spanish Rule: A History of the Indians of the Valley of México, 1519–1810 (Stanford, California, 1964)Google Scholar; and Kirchoff, Paul, “Land Tenure in Ancient México: A Preliminary Sketch,” Revista mexicana de estudios antropológicos, 16 (1954–1955).Google Scholar

2 See the discussion of the Morelos area as a part of the Aztecan state in Riley, G. Micheal, “The Estate of Femando Cortés in the Cuernavaca Area of México, 1522–1547” (Doctoral Dissertation, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, 1965), pp. 1–15, 184–189.Google Scholar

3 See Gibson, , The Aztecs, pp. 257–270 Google Scholar; and following paragraphs herein.

4 See Riley, G. Micheal, “Fernando Cortés and the Cuernavaca Encomiendas, 1522–1547,” The Americas, 25, # 1 (July, 1968), 3–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

5 Ibid.

6 It is possible that the possessors of the encomiendas of Tetela de Volcán, Hueyapan and later Totolapa secured minimal landholdings in the area, but, in review of some of the materials pertinent thereto, the author concluded otherwise.

7 Gibson, , The Aztecs, pp. 257–264.Google Scholar

8 Chevalier, , La formación, pp. 18–26.Google Scholar

9 Garza, Beatriz Arteaga, y San Vicente, Guadalupe Pérez (eds.), Cedulario Cortésiano (México, 1949), pp. 103–105.Google Scholar

10 AGN, Hospital de Jesús 289, exp. 100, Proceso de Tepuztlan y Yautepeque contra el Marqués sobre que no pueden complir [con sus tributos], 1551; Hospital de Jesús 289, exp. 102, Proceso de la villa de Cuernavaca contra el Marqués del Valle sobre que no pueden complir [con sus tributos], 1551; and Hospital de Jesús 377, exp. 1, Razón de ciertos pueblos del Marqués del Valle, 1536.

11 AGN, Hospital de Jesús 293, exp. 144, Proceso de Don Hernando, indio de Cuernavaca contra el Marqués del Valle [sobre tierras].

12 Códice municipal de Cuernavaca. Anónimo del siglo XVI (Mexico, 1951).

13 AGN, Hospital de Jesús 289, exp. 100; and Hospital de Jesús 289, exp. 102.

14 See Riley, , “The Estate,” pp. 29–36.Google Scholar

15 AGN, Hospital de Jesús 289, exp. 100; and Hospital de Jesús 289, exp. 102.

16 Riley, , “Fernando Cortés,” pp. 15–16.Google Scholar

17 AGI, Justicia 118, no. 2, Proceso de Antonio Serrano, regidor de Mexico con D. Hernando Cortés sobre derecho a un pueblo de Indios, 1532. See also Riley, “Fernando Cortés,” Note 13.

18 AGI, Justicia 118, no. 2.

19 Riley, , “Fernando Cortés,” p. 22.Google Scholar

20 AGI, Justicia 118, no. 2 and AGN, Hospital de Jesús 9, exp. 31, Proceso de Antonio Serrano de Cardona contra el Marqués del Valle sobre ciertos pesos … e sobre la madera, 1531.

21 AGI, Justicia 146, no. 4, El Marqués del Valle con Antonio de la Cardona y Isabel de Hojeda sobre ciertos aprovechamientos de leña y agua de un ingenio [Atlacomulco], 1547.

22 AGI, Justicia 146, no. 4; AGN, Hospital de Jesús 9, exp. 31.

23 For instance, AGI, Justicia 174, no. 3, Don Martín Cortés, Marqués del Valle con Isabel de Ojeda, viuda vecina de la ciudad de México, sobre el ingenio de azúcar de Atlacomulco, 1568.

24 AGN, Hospital de Jesús 398, exp. 1, Proceso de Doña Maria viuda mujer que fué de Don Hernando de Cuernavaca, contra el Marqués sobre las cañas y tributos de Amanalco y otras cosas; and Hospital de Jesús 293, exp. 144.

25 AGN, Hospital de Jesús 293, exp. 144.

26 Ibid.

27 del Paso, Francisco y Troncoso (ed.), Epistolario de Nueva España (16 vols.; México, 1939–1942), 3, 120–123 Google Scholar; Colección de documentos inéditos relativos al descubrimiento, conquista, y organización de las antiguas posesiones españolas de América y Oceania (42 vols.; Madrid, 1864–1884), XVII, 1427147; and AGN, Hospital de Jesús 289, exp. 100.

28 AGN, Hospital de Jesús 398, exp. 1.

29 Sandoval, Fernando B., La industría del azúcar en Nueva España (México, 1951), pp. 30–31 Google Scholar; and Gilcrease, Hispanic Documents, Cortés Papers (Conway Collection), 95–2a.

30 See the preceding paragraphs and, for a discussion of the agrarian goods Cortés received as tribute from his Morelos encomiendas, Riley, , “The Estate,” pp. 75–120.Google Scholar

31 Borah, Woodrow, Silk Raising in Colonial México (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1943), pp. 5–6 Google Scholar; and Sandoval, , La industría, pp. 23–27.Google Scholar

32 Paso, y Troncoso (ed.), Epistolario, 1, 136–152 Google Scholar; AGN, Hospital de Jesús 289, exp. 100 and Hospital de Jesús 289, exp. 102.

33 Ibid.

34 See preceding paragraphs.

35 Documentos inéditos relativos a Hernán Cortés y su familia (México, 1935), 284–286.

36 AGN, Hospital de Jesús 289, exp. 100; and Documentos inéditos, p. 281.

37 AGN, Hospital de Jesús 289, exp. 100; Hospital de Jesús 289, exp. 102; Hospital de Jesús 377, exp. 1; and Borah, , Silk, p. 18.Google Scholar

38 Borah, , Silk, p. 19 Google Scholar; and: Documentos inéditos, pp. 291–297.

39 AGN, Hospital de Jesús 289, exp. 100; and Borah, , Silk, p. 19.Google Scholar

40 Documentos inéditos, pp. 291–297.

41 Borah, , Silk, p. 19 Google Scholar; and Sandoval, , La industría, p. 27.Google Scholar

42 Sandoval, , La industría, pp. 27–29.Google Scholar

43 See preceding paragraphs.

44 See Riley, “Fernando Cortés.”

45 AGN, Hospital de Jesús 377, exp. 1; and AGI, Justicia 108, no. 1, Antonio Serrano regidor y vecino de México, con Hernando Cortés, Marqués del Valle, sobre derecho al pueblo de Cuernavaca y sus sujetos, 1530.

46 See preceding paragraphs.

47 Documentos inéditos, p. 242; and Sandoval, , La industría, pp. 27–29.Google Scholar

48 AGN, Hospital de Jesús 235, exp. 10: 11, Cuenta de los azúcares y algodón que ha recibido García de Morón para la contratación. Ingenio de Cuernavaca, 1540–1543.

49 Ibid. These account sheets kept by Morón show that the sugar was delivered in arrobas and Castillian pounds by types of sugar, viz., bianco (refined white), mascabado (raw and unrefined), and espumas y panelas (slightly refined and brown). The price of azúcar blanco is listed as three pesos de oro de minas per arroba with three arrobas of azúcar mascabado equal to two of azúcar blanco, and two of espumas y panelas equal to one of azúcar blanco.

50 See Riley, “Fernando Cortés.”

51 AGN, Hospital de Jesús 228, exp. 3, Relación de los testimonios de azúcares que parece haber venido de la Nueva España hechas desde 1 Sep. 1544 hasta 12 Sep. 1548 y la recibido, los factores de Leonardo Lomelín en el dicho tiempo, 1548; and Pike, Ruth, Enterprise and Adventure: The Genoese in Sevilla and the Opening of the New World (Ithaca, New York, 19661), pp. 65–67.Google Scholar

52 AGN, Hospital de Jesús 335, exp. 1, Autos seguidos por la parte del Marqués del Valle contra Leonardo Lomelín sobre azúcares, 1548; and Pike, , Enterprise, pp. 65–67.Google Scholar

53 AGN, Hospital de Jesús 228, exp. 3.

54 A comparison of the cultivated acreage supporting the Atlacomulco mill with that supporting the Tlaltenango operation provided the basis for the computation of this figure (see accompanying table).

55 AGN, Hospital de Jesús 289, exp. 100.

56 AGN, Hospital de Jesús 289, exp. 100.

57 See accompanying table.

58 Documentos inéditos, pp. 246, 248, 268, 285, 288–291.

59 Sandoval, , La industría, pp. 31, 47.Google Scholar

60 See note 3.

61 Documentos inéditos, pp. 225–299.

62 Borah, , Silk, pp. 18–19, 72.Google Scholar

63 See note 29.

64 See note 17.

65 See notes 1, 24 and 30.

66 Cline, Howard, México: Revolution to Evolution, 1940–1960 (New York, 1963), p. 333 Google Scholar (Table 1); Tamayo, Jorge L., Geografía General de México (4 vols.; México, 1962), 5:Google Scholar Geografía Economía, pp. 64–65 (Table); and Whetten, Nathan L., Rural México (Chicago, 1948), p. 575 (Table I).Google Scholar

67 Lockhart, James, “Encomienda and Hacienda: The Evolution of the Great Estate in the Spanish Indies,” Hispanic American Historical Review, 49, # 3 (August, 1969), 411–429 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Zavala, Silvio, La encomienda indiana (Madrid, 1935)Google Scholar; Simpson, Lesley B., The Encomienda in New Spain: The Beginning of Spanish México (Berkeley, 1966)Google Scholar; Chevalier, La formación; and Gibson, The Aztecs (see note 1).