Mexican Christianity
Consistent with the Latin American experience, the history of Mexican Christianity began with conquest. Christianity arrived in Mexico at the hands of the conquistadores and priests associated with the subjugating Spanish culture. After the exploratory efforts of Francisco de Córdoba (1517) and Juan de Grijalva (1518), Hernán Cortés attempted a more extensive expedition in 1519, which saw him land on the island of Cozumel and subsequently the mainland, first on the Yucatan Peninsula, then Cholula, and finally the capital of the Aztec empire, Tenochtitlán. During his first encounters with the Amerindian cultures, Cortés insisted that the natives accept Christianity; when they refused, Cortés and his men tore down their idols and replaced them with crosses and images of the Virgin Mary. Such demands stemmed partly from the idolatry the Europeans saw among the natives as well as the loathsome characteristics of some of their practices, especially human sacrifice. Given Spain's experience with the Moors, however, it is clear that Cortés was using the church to promote the kind of cultural hegemony that he thought necessary in the establishment of what would be known as “New Spain.” In short, Christianity became the default religion that went hand in hand with the experience of conquest for Mesoamerican life from the 16th century onwards.
