From Spain to Zacatecas (and Jalisco, Aguascalientes, etc.)

Jose Antonio Michel
Hi Arturo; I'm a new member, so you might alresdy be familiar with this book. Catalogo de pasajeros a Indias. I know it is available from the UC San Diego library, Spanish version. It list passengers coming from Spain to the new world in the 16th and 17th century. Their names, names of their parents and children, their land of origen, what port they embarked at, their area of destination in the new world. Their profession, their relatives in the Indies, etc... I hope this helps.

Agon123,

Google "the Spanish in the New World", and it will bring up several articles to answer some of your questions.

I also found this link helpful: www.aasd.k12.wi.us/Staff/reedmarlyce/ChapterOutlines/Ch02.pdf
(Europeans encounter the New World).

Columbus landed in the Bahamas and it was decades later that Cortez made inroads into Mexico. The Spaniards were in competition also with the Portuguese mostly and other Europeans who were mainly motivated by greed and the desire to exploit the natural resources of the New World.

Probably the most numerous class of Europeans to journey to the new world were middle class, merchants and craftsmen and soldiers: Iron workers, mining engineers, cartographers, clergy, navigators, those who knew how to work with firearms, horses, wheeled vehicles, ships, etc.

Emilie
Port Orchard, WA

> To: general@lists.nuestrosranchos.org
> From: agon123@gmail.com
> Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2010 07:43:41 -0700
> Subject: [Nuestros Ranchos] From Spain to Zacatecas (and Jalisco, Aguascalientes, etc.)
>
> Hello Group,
> this is more of a history question, but it pertains directly to genealogy. I'm curious what books are available that talk about the process/journey that the Spanish immigrants took when they first arrived, then settled where they did? In others, where did they embark from Spain? Who were the people that immigrated (they weren't all Dukes and wealthy landowners!)? Where did they land in Mexico? Did they already have a destination in mind or did they have to make their own way? What was the role of the Spanish crown/government (such as for soldiers and landless folk?).
>
> If anyone can recommend some books that answers some of these questions, I'd appreciate it. Oh yeah, I guess I should mention that I can't really read Spanish beyond an elementary level.
>
> Saludos,
> Arturo
>

Hola Arturo,

I have found a couple of interesting volumes that add insight into the immigration process that some of our Spanish ancestors went through to get into Nueva España.

You're right, they had to land SOMEWHERE via boat - and Nueva Galicia is in the middle of the mainland! Here a couple of texts that bring to light the lives of these courageous immigrants, and the circumstances in which they traveled here:

1) La Vida Cotidiana en la America Española en Tiempos de Felipe II, Siglo XVI - by Georges Baudot (I only found it in Spanish, has a great chapter that describes the boat trip and travel conditions).

2) Cartas Privadas de Emigrantes a Indias, 1540-1616 - by Enrique Otte (there is an English language version, "Letters and People of the Spanish Indies, Sixteenth Century," also by Otte, but it only has 38 letters, vs. the 650 private correspondence exposed in the Spanish language version).

The above two works don't necessarily concentrate on Zacatecas personalities, but do give a realistic insight into the lives, thoughts, desires, hopes, and intentions of many Spanish immigrants. And you're right again! The vast majority of them were not Dukes or Hidalgos...most of them were poor and struggling back home. They were persuaded by their relatives who were already in the Indies to take the perilous trip. They did so with stories of land of milk-and-honey...

In addition to the "Land and Society" work by Chevalier, already mentioned here - there are the following texts, which give us insight into the lives of the folks living in Zacatecas:

3) Soldiers, Indians & Silver: The Northward Advance of New Spain, 1550-1600 - by Philip Wayne Powell

4) Silver Mining and Society in Colonial Mexico, Zacatecas, 1546-1700 - by P.J. Bakewell

5) Los Señores de Zacatecas: Una Aristocracia Minera del Siglo XVIII Novohispano - by Frederique Langue (again, I've only found this text in Spanish)

#4 and #5 above are heavy reads - they are academic texts, with lots of analytical data - but I have found a few invaluable nuggets of information that have been helpful in my searches.

---AND...naturally, your next step after the above, will be wanting to learn about the lives of your Spanish ancestors WHILE THEY LIVED IN SPAIN...if that's the case, then I recommend:

6) Spanish Society: 1400-1600 - by Teofilo F. Ruiz (a very insightful, easy read, that tells of the social, religious and political structures in Spain in the period of the migration to the Indies.

--Good luck, and happy searching!

-C

There are a number of books on the topic. One I read that was very helpful
was LAND AND SOCIETY IN COLONIAL MEXICO: The Great Hacienda BY FRANCOIS
CHEVALIER

Berkeley and Los Angeles

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

-Esperanza

> Hello Group,
> this is more of a history question, but it pertains directly to genealogy.
> I'm curious what books are available that talk about the process/journey
> that the Spanish immigrants took when they first arrived, then settled
> where they did? In others, where did they embark from Spain? Who were the
> people that immigrated (they weren't all Dukes and wealthy landowners!)?
> Where did they land in Mexico? Did they already have a destination in mind
> or did they have to make their own way? What was the role of the Spanish
> crown/government (such as for soldiers and landless folk?).
>
> If anyone can recommend some books that answers some of these questions,
> I'd appreciate it. Oh yeah, I guess I should mention that I can't really
> read Spanish beyond an elementary level.
>
> Saludos,
> Arturo
>