FRAY BERNARDINO DE SAHAGÚN: BIOGRAPHY, WORKS AND CONTRIBUTIONS - ARTE - 2024

Fray Bernardino de Sahagún (1499-1590), also known as Bernardo de Rivera, was a Spanish priest and historian who belonged to the Order of the Lesser Brothers, an institution created by Saint Francis of Assisi. The religious stood out for his studies on the Nahuatl language.

Sahagún's written work was aimed at highlighting the value of the history of Mexico and the Catholic religion. Many of his works were written in Latin, Nahuatl, and Spanish, and among his most prominent titles were the General History of New Spain and Christian Psalmodia.

Portrait of Bernardino de Sahagún. Source: http://www.elmundo.es/ladh/numero14/sahagun.html, via Wikimedia Commons

The Franciscan priest also dedicated himself to missions in various towns in the Mexican territory, such as Puebla and Tepeapulco. During his life he had to face the questions of religious and intellectuals who criticized the value he gave to the culture of the indigenous people.

Biography

Birth of Bernardino de Sahagún

Bernardo was born in Spain, specifically in the town of Sahagún in the Kingdom of León, in 1499. Like many of the religious and intellectuals of the 16th century, there are few records on Sahagún's family data, but nevertheless his life is known as a missionary and historian.

Education of fray Bernardino

Fray Bernardino's primary education probably took place in his native city. In 1520, when he was twenty-one years old, he went to study theology, philosophy and history at the University of Salamanca; later he entered the Order of the Lesser Brothers and was ordained in 1527.

Trip to New Spain

Sahagún made his first trip to New Spain, Mexico, in 1529 with the purpose of evangelizing indigenous peoples. Once he arrived in America, he spent two years, between 1530 and 1532, in the town of Tlalmanalco. Three years later he moved to Xochimilco to work in the convent.

Life in Tlatelolco

Bernardino de Sahagún began to dedicate himself to teaching in 1536, at the Colegio de la Santa Cruz in Tlatelolco. There he taught Latin classes, and his performance and vocation were so remarkable that he later succeeded in having his students become part of his research team. Among them Antonio Valeriano stood out.

That educational center had been created under the orders of the King of Spain with the aim of educating and teaching the children of the Nahua nobility about the Catholic religion. It became the first academy to offer higher education to the indigenous people of New Spain.

Sahagún as a missionary

For almost twenty years, between 1539 and 1559, Fray Bernardino dedicated himself to missionary work, especially in the towns of Tula, Tepeapulco, and Puebla. Through his Christian teachings, he earned the respect and appreciation of the indigenous people.

He became interested in knowing the history and culture of the populations and indigenous people and to achieve this effectively he dedicated himself to learning the Nahuatl language. All the information he obtained was translated into Spanish, and with the passage of time he collected enough material to dedicate himself to writing about the most relevant events in Mexico.

Dedication to research

Sahagún was attracted by the history of Mexico and the traditions of the aborigines, and for this reason he dedicated himself to writing about it from 1547. His writings were based on historical and anthropological investigations of the main indigenous cultures, with special emphasis on knowledge of Nahuatl.

The Fray went through difficult times from the moment he began writing his works. Outstanding among these adversities is the fact that many of his relatives disagreed with his work and considered his estranged from the evangelizing task, for which reason his work was taken from him and never returned.

Reasons why his work was confiscated

Just as a part of the religious sector did not agree with the investigative work of Bernardino de Sahagún, politically it was not welcomed either. This was due to the fact that many settlers had rebelled against the Spanish impositions, and the fray was considered an agitator.

It was in 1577 that his work was taken from him, and as a punishment he was constantly moved. However, the priest had support from some religious, as well as from the different indigenous populations of New Spain to whom he had taught the catechism.

Death of Bernardino de Sahagún

During the last years of his life, Bernardino de Sahagún remained firmly interested in the history and anthropology of Mexico. Of all his works, he could only witness the publication of Christian Psalmodia. The priest died on February 5, 1590 in Tlatelolco, New Spain, at the age of ninety-one.

Portrait of Bernardino de Sahagun writing. Source: The original uploader was JunK at German Wikipedia., via Wikimedia Commons

Plays

-Short description of his works

General history of the things of New Spain

This work was the most important and well-known of Bernardino de Sahagún, which he was writing for more than forty-five years, between 1540 and 1585. It was based on historical and anthropological research on Mexico, from his own observations and his direct coexistence with the natives.

Sahagún was complementing the development of the work after the visits he made to the different towns of Mexico in his work as a missionary. The main objective of the fray was to leave knowledge about the culture and history of the indigenous people so that the new evangelizers could approach them.

Structure

This work by Sahagún was also known as the Florentine Codex, because it was preserved in the city of Florence, Italy. The book was written in Latin, Spanish, and Nahualt. It consisted of twelve books, in four volumes with religious, astrological, social and conquest themes.

There were more than one thousand eight hundred images that complemented the work, all of them made by the Indians. In the text, the reflection of the beliefs that the Friar had regarding the daily life of the autochthonous peoples and his observation as a missionary before the process of conquest was observed.

Content

Volume I

It consisted of five books whose main themes were the natural gods worshiped by the natives, festivals, sacrifices and astrology. It also covered the superstitions they had regarding some animals used to predict the future.

Volume II

This section of the work consisted of only one book. The content was related to the prayers that the Mexican Indians expressed to their gods in order to get some kind of favor.

Volume III

It was made up of four books. One related to the meaning of the Moon, the Sun and the stars as guides for measuring time. The remainder had to do with the political and economic structure, and with moral and spiritual values.

Volume IV

It was made up of the last two books. Book number eleven referred to the benefits and importance that birds, plants and metals had for the Mexican aborigines. The last book, meanwhile, dealt with the development of the Spanish conquest in Mexico and its consequences.

Fragment

“When the moon is born again it looks like a small arch of thin wire; not yet glowing; little by little it grows. After fifteen days it is full; and when it is already full, it leaves from the east to the door of the sun.

It looks like a big mill wheel, very round and very red; and when it goes up, it stops white or resplendent; it looks like a rabbit in the middle of it; and if there are no clouds, it shines almost like the sun ”.

Christian Psalmody

This work by Sahagún was very significant, both for its content and for being the only one published when he was still alive. The writing was done with the intention that the evangelizing missionaries and the indigenous people understand each other. The work was written in Nahuatl.

Bernardino de Sahagún intended with this writing that the Native Americans understand the Catholic Psalms in their own language. At the same time he wanted to make known to the Spanish catechists the cultural characteristics of the indigenous people of New Spain or Mexico.

Cover of Psalmodia Christiana, 1583. Source: John Carter Brown Library, via Wikimedia Commons

Structure

The text of the Spanish friar was divided into two parts. The first was composed of a doctrine or method to learn the psalms, while the second had as its content the psalms and songs according to the months that made up the year.

Fragments in Spanish and Nahuatl about the Ave Maria

Oh dear, oh dear lord, oh christian, oh dear son

spiritual! Meet and admire yourself

of your spiritual crown of flowers, of your various necklaces of gold, intertwined, of your flowery paper

with what your mother adorns you, the holy church, the fact that several

extremely perfect flowers that

they lie shining and glittering

like golden jades: they are the Ave Maria and the Salve Regina.

… to you who are the Virgin, that you are Santa Maria, that you are

perfectly virgin, that you are the

Mother of God, we sinners

we beg you to beg for

us before God now and now

moment of our death… ”.

In Nahuatl

"Tlazotle, tlazoitlacatle

christiano, teuiutica tlazopille, ma

xiquiximati, ma xicamahuizo in

teuiutica mocpacsuchiuh, in nepapan tlacuzcapetlazotl

moxochiamauh, init mitzmochichihuilia

in monantzin sancta church

tlazomahuistic, cenquizca acic

nepapan suchitl in tlachihualli, teucuitlachalchiuhpepeiociotoc, tonatimani. Ca iehoatl in Aue

Maria, ihuan in Salue regina.

… In tichpuchtli, in

tisancta Maria, in ticenquizca

ichpuchtli, in tinantzin God, timitztottlatlauhtilia in

titlacoani, ma topan ximotlatoli, in

ispantzinco God: in axcan, ihuan

in ie tomiquiztempan… ”.

Fragment of

“Know yourself that this one true God is exceedingly wise: he knows all things; everything past, present and to come; he knows all the thoughts of men, angels and demons, he has a memory of all the works and words that have been done and spoken since the beginning of the world… ”.

Other contributions

Bernardino de Sahagún left several contributions to humanity. One of them was the amount of information and documentation that he managed to compile on the history and culture of the first inhabitants of Mexico. On this in particular, what gave him the most value was the fact that he wrote it in Nahuatl.

Evangeliary in Mexican language from the first half of the 16th century. Source: Tecnológico de Monterrey, via Wikimedia Commons

Another of the important contributions of the Franciscan friar was the way in which he collected the data of his research. That laid the foundation for future anthropological studies. He drew up questions, went to the indigenous populations and learned their language and later left a cultural and historical legacy.

Sahagún's procedure in his studies

In the first place, he gave value to the Nahuatl language and used it as a means of communication. Later, to learn more about the culture of the Indians, he made contact with the elders and proceeded to learn about the texts they had, as well as their different paintings.

Sahagún leaned on his students, who helped him transcribe. He also elaborated questions to learn about the cultural, human and historical aspects of the indigenous people. Finally, he focused on the characteristics of the language and compared the results of his research.

His legacy

After his different studies and research on the indigenous peoples of Mexico, Bernardino de Sahagún has been considered one of the first anthropologists in history. His work made clear the importance of fully engaging with the object of study.

On the other hand, his legacy also centered on the possibility of interacting with different races through a genuine interest. Dialogue and understanding of traditions was important to him, since only in this way could he teach and complete his work as a transmitter of new forms and beliefs.

References

1. Bernardino de Sahagún. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: wikipedia.org.
2. Tamaro, E. (2004-2019). Fray Bernardino de Sahagún. (N / a): Biographies and Lives. Recovered from: biografiasyvidas.com.
3. León-Portilla, M. (1999). Anthropological Sahagún. Your contribution questioned. Mexico: Free Letters. Recovered from: letraslibres.com.
4. Ballán, R. (S. f.). Bernardino de Sahagún (-1590). (N / a): Franciscan Encyclopedia. Recovered from: franciscanos.org.
5. León-Portilla, M. (S. f). Bernardino de Sahagún. Pioneer of anthropology. Mexico: Mexican Archeology. Recovered from: arqueologiamexicana.mx.