Diego Fernández de Córdoba
Diego Fernández de Córdoba, 1578-1630
Overview for Chapter F: In most world history texts, Latin America in the seventeenth century is overlooked. This expansive chapter, however, considers the life of the Spanish viceroy of both New Spain (Mexico) and Peru. It describes Fernández’s behavior and decisions during an era that was influenced by the Inquisition, Catholic religious orders, Jews and Judaism, and strained race relations between various racial groups. The chapter also includes analyses of local rebellion and resistance, the status of colonial women, ceremonies and festivals, the Spanish trade in the Pacific, the mita system, and the importance of Potosí silver to Spain’s economy and its global empire.
additional resources and scholarship
Discussion Questions and Writing Prompts:
1. Compare the experience of conversos to other groups in history which have not been able to express their identity openly.
2. Why do you think the audiencia staged a coup against Fernández? Was it justified?
3. Do you see Fernández as a reasonable administrator effectively managed divergent constituencies, an administrator who did the minimum or as something else?
Classroom Activities:
1. Determine what happened to Potosí's silver once it left the Viceroyalty of Peru.
2. Compare the Tepehan Rebellion to another indigenous protest elsewhere, such as the Mapuche Uprising of 1655. What similarities and differences do you see?
Links to New Scholarship
• For a case study in the ways Jews in New Spain hid their religious identity, see: David M. Gitlitz, Living in Silverado: Secret Jews in the Silver Mining Towns of Colonial Mexico (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2019), https://books.google.com
• For an examination of the mita and its long-term effects (including poverty today), see:
Miguel Oujo González, “Colonial Mining in the Viceroyalty of Peru as an Example of Extractive Activity: Lat Mita and its Effects Today,” Livro Actas 4˚Forum, December 2019, Universidade de Lisboa, 145-173, https://www.repository.utl.pt/bitstream/10400.5/19043/4/LivroActasForum4.pdf#page=147
Photo Gallery FOR CHAPTER F:
Map for Chapter F: This map by the author is in the print edition of the book and shows many of the important places in New Spain and Peru that were important to Fernández during his terms as viceroy.
Map for Chapter F: This map by the author is in the print edition of the book and shows additional places in New Spain that were important palaces to Fernández during this term as viceroy.
“Diego Fernández de Córdoba, 1st Marquess of Guadalcázar,” painting by unknown artist, unknown date,
“King of Spain Philip and Queen Margaret of Austria,” print by Johann Ammon, 1648, Klebebände (Band 1), page 33, courtesy of Fürstlich Waldecksche Hofbibliothek and the University of Kassel, accessed June 2020, https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/fwhb/klebeband1.
“Four Views of Mexico City,” print by unknown artist, c.1680 – 1725, courtesy of Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, RP-P-1910-4056-4.
“Portrait of Hasekura Tsunenaga,” print by Raphael Sadeler, 1615, courtesy of Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam