AN IDOL IN THE MANUAL DE MINISTROS DE INDIOS BY JACINTO DE LA SERNA (1656). PROOF OF IDOLATROUS ABOMINATION IN THE EYES OF AN EXTIRPATOR

Abstract

This research aims to demonstrate that behind the document proving idolatry, included in Jacinto de la Serna's Manual de ministros de indios (1656), lies an ideological model hidden by the author. Theoretical omissions in the text support the criteria for identifying this document, which is analyzed through an iconographic and linguistic methodology. It confirms that anti-superstition literature from the 16th and 17th centuries and Mexican conciliar regulations influenced de la Serna's writing. The study traces the literary and legal origins of idolatry as a pact of vassalage from biblical times and classifies the document as a "roster" according to the theory of superstitio. It also distinguishes between the "ritual specialist" (author of the roster) and the "evangelical agent" (extirpator of idolatry). The analysis reveals that anti-superstition strategies failed to fully replace pre-Hispanic beliefs, as shown by the iconographic mixture and persistence of indigenous terms in the document. A closer look at the Nahuatl text, ignored by de la Serna for ideological reasons, suggests the emergence of a new social category: the "true Christian," represented by a Christianized indigenous group devoted in their own way.