Exploring
Colonial Mexico©
Exploring
Colonial Mexico©
La Generala For almost 300 years the improbably martial image of Our Lady of Charity, locally known as "La Generala", has occupied the place of honor in the church of La Caridad, in the colonial city of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas.
Thereby hangs a dismal tale of religious, social and racial conflict:
In 1708 the haughty Franciscan Alvarez de Toledo was appointed bishop of Chiapas. One of his first acts was to found a new church dedicated to Our Lady of Charity (La Caridad) adjacent to an existing hospital in the colonial city. To help pay for this project the bishop imposed a new tax on the indigenous Maya of the surrounding highland villages, then hard pressed by a raging epidemic and already onerous tribute demands.
In 1712 ,soon after the founding of the church, the miraculous image of an "Indian Virgin Mary" was discovered in the highland community of Cancuc, immediately attracting Maya worshippers from nearby villages. The local priest and the bishop refused to recognize the cult and persecuted its leaders, sparking a nativist revolt that threatened to drive the Spaniards and mixed race ladinos from the region.
Massacres of whites and ladinos began in outlying towns and as the Maya insurgents approached San Cristobal de Las Casas the terrified residents hastily summoned troops from as far away as Guatemala and Tabasco. By November, superior Spanish forces had brutally put down the rebellion and executed its leaders. The citizens of San Cristóbal credited the timely intervention of Our Lady of Charity for their salvation, joyfully parading her image through the streets as they celebrated the defeat of the Maya.
With the aid of royal patronage, the church of La Caridad was rapidly completed in her honor. The magnificent gilded baroque altarpiece, in which La Generala presides, was completed a few years later in the 1720s.
Located on the site of a former cofradia chapel of La Caridad and the former cemetery of the adjacent Dominican monastery of Santo Domingo, the church faces a tree shaded plaza where today, ironically, Maya vendors sell their crafts to visitors.
The crowned figure of Our Lady of Charity still stands in an elaborate niche at the center of the altarpiece. She clasps a general's baton and wears a military sash - a lasting monument to just one of the episodes of religious and racial violence that have plagued Chiapas from colonial to modern times.
Showcases hand crafted iron roof crosses from San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas. The first exhibition of this unique folk art in the US, now showing through November 2007, at the historic Casa de La Guerra galleries in Santa Barbara, California.
Text ©2007 by Richard D. Perry. retablo picture © ARS Sexto/Sol Thanks to Jan de Vos for information on La Caridad in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas. for more on La Caridad and the colonial churches of Chiapas, their arts and legends, see our illustrated guide, More Maya Missions Check out our other pages on the colonial churches and religious arts of Chiapas.
