Until quite recently, ignorance of much of the workings of the world was supplemented by a belief that made divinity omnipresent in all things that happened in nature. Clearly the presence of divinity in the workings of things in the world remains a legitimate and defensible avenue. However, in this context, it was assumed that God was present in every moment, in all things, and that any natural event or disaster had a meaning that responded to the behaviour of the populations involved. For example, Jaime Bleda stated in his Chronicle of the Moors of Spain that the expulsion of the Moors was a necessary undertaking so that God would not cast terrible punishments on the peninsular coast. The 17th century was the century of natural disasters, as well as epidemics and famines, so processions, penances and trousseaus offered to the divinity multiplied. This type of social and religious behaviour was also transferred to the Indies. In this case, prayers were made to overcome a period of drought, miraculously obtaining a response to the supplications.

Collection: Texts

Chronology: XVIII

Scope: Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, University

Link: https://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/70673/1/Revista-de-Historia-Moderna_35.pdf

Resource type: Historical source

Source: (ACI) del Archivo Históricode la Ciudad de México (AHCM)

Language: Spanish

Date: 15/11/1790

Owner: Djebril Bouzidi (Modernalia)

Identifier: (ACI) del Archivo Históricode la Ciudad de México (AHCM)

Abstract: Fragment showing the prayers to the divinity in 1790 in order to make it rain in Guanjuato (Mexico)