«AMARÁS A DIOS SOBRE TODAS LAS COSAS»: SUPERSTICIÓN, IDOLATRÍA Y DISCIPLINA SOCIAL EN LOS MANUALES DE CONFESORES NOVOHISPANOS.

The prosecution of superstition and idolatry was one of the central elements of cultural and religious domination in XVI and XVII centuries Mexico. This essay explores the conceptualization and persecution of these transgressions through two New Spain manuals for confessors: Advertencias para los confessores de los naturales (1600) by Fray Juan Bautista de Viseo and Luz y méthodo de confesar idólatras y destierro de idolatrías by Diego Jaimes Ricardo Villavicencio (1692). These manuals are highly substantial in terms of analyzing the legal and social outlook of their colonial time. Their significance and integration as part of legal literature are also stressed, as well as their value as a source of analysis of social discipline systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]