| | Lords of the Land |  | Author: Nicholas P. Cushner
Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr
Category: Book
Buy Used: $89.94
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Avg. Customer Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 3561192
Media: Paperback
Pages: 225
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.6 x 0.5
ISBN: 0873954475
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.10985
EAN: 9780873954471
ASIN: 0873954475
Publication Date: June 30, 1980
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Not easy reading, offers insight in understanding of Spanish evangelism. May 3, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This history highlights the importance of religion in Spanish colonization. The Roman Catholic Church recognized the Society of Jesus, Jesuits, as a religious order in 1540. The Jesuits were different from other orders in that they did not have a specified purpose associated with their founding. A perceived need, based on a particular time and place, would lead them to their purpose. When the Jesuits arrived in Peru in 1568, they saw the need for education and set up colleges, universities and missions.
Nicholas P Cushner investigates how the Jesuits used their extensive holding earning income to support educational activities. It is an important point to emphasize that Jesuit farming was not a way of life, but a for-profit business.
Being latecomers to Peru, land was acquired not by grant, but from donations and endowments. Jesuit haciendas did not operate in competition with each other and they "were not administered by a central owner, but by each of the colleges or other institutions." (31) Because of their wealth, the Jesuits were able to be selective and could afford to buy quality land. Their organizational efficiency improved the haciendas which they acquired. Slaves were the largest group of laborers for the haciendas and vineyards.
Cushner made a considerable effort to analyze data to create a production and profit profile for the haciendas. He concludes that "the interrelated Jesuit system of reinvestment, the use of slave and salaried labor, the large-scale production for a market, is a clear example of the early development of agrarian capitalism." (132) However their success made them vulnerable to criticism from competing lay estate owners.
The Jesuits "were zealous, educated men who as Spaniards of their times believed that saving of the souls of the Indians was their primary responsibility." (137) They did this through education at colleges, not only located in Peru but also in other places throughout Latin America. A trade network developed between these economic centers. Again this engendered opposition from competing merchants. Resentment against the Jesuits culminated in their expulsion from Spanish domains in 1767.
Cushner used confiscated material from when the Jesuits were expelled as soutce material. This information is widely scattered however. Useful records of land purchases and previous owners were found at the Archivo General de la Nacion (AGN) in Mexico City. The Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu (ARSI) in Rome has economic data. Other references were found in the archives and libraries of Argentina, Peru, and Spain.
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