The Society of Jesus in Mexico: education, good government and literate groups (16th and 17th centuries)

Author(s)

Anderson Roberti dos Reis

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2012-02-03

Examining board members

Janice Theodoro da Silva; Beatriz Helena Domingues; José Alves de Freitas Neto; Leandro Karnal; Carlos Alberto de Moura Ribeiro Zeron

• Advisor: Janice Theodoro da Silva

Abstract

This thesis aims to analyze the peculiarities involved in the organization of the trip, the installation and the beginning of the missions of the Jesuits in Mexico since 1572. Given the dedication of Jesuit towards education and urban activities during the first three decades after their arrival, this study examines the rationale that guided the teaching projects in their colegios in the capital of the viceroyalty. We start with the premise that those religious shared a certain notion of good government that supported their educational and missionary practices. Drawing on this principle, we propose here a reflection on the participation and influence of the Jesuits in Mexican society in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries through their urban activities, as lawyers, and collegians, as teachers and forgers of literate groups. (AU)