Living in Silverado : Secret Jews in the Silver Mining Towns of Colonial Mexico

In this thoroughly researched work David M. Gitlitz traces the lives and fortunes of three clusters of sixteenth-century crypto-Jews in Mexico's silver mining towns. Previous studies of sixteenth-century Mexican crypto-Jews focus on the merchant community centered in Mexico City, but here Gitlitz looks beyond Mexico's major population center to explore how clandestine religious communities were established in the reales , the hinterland mining camps, and how they differed from those of the capital in their struggles to retain their Jewish identity in a world dominated economically by silver and religiously by the Catholic Church. In Living in Silverado Gitlitz paints an unusually vivid portrait of the lives of Mexico's early settlers. Unlike traditional scholarship that has focused mainly on macro issues of the silver boom, Gitlitz closely analyzes the complex workings of the haciendas that mined and refined silver, and in doing so he provides a wonderfully detailed sense of the daily experiences of Mexico's early secret Jews.

In this thoroughly researched work, David M. Gitlitz traces the lives and fortunes of three clusters of sixteenth-century crypto-Jews in Mexico’s silver mining towns. Previous studies of sixteenth-century Mexican crypto-Jews focus on the merchant community centered in Mexico City, but here Gitlitz looks beyond Mexico’s major population center to explore how clandestine religious communities were established in the reales, the hinterland mining camps, and how they differed from those of the capital in their struggles to retain their Jewish identity in a world dominated economically by silver and religiously by the Catholic Church.

In Living in Silverado Gitlitz paints an unusually vivid portrait of the lives of Mexico’s early settlers. Unlike traditional scholarship that has focused mainly on macro issues of the silver boom, Gitlitz closely analyzes the complex workings of the haciendas that mined and refined silver, and in doing so he provides a wonderfully detailed sense of the daily experiences of Mexico’s early secret Jews.

Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Table of Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1. Beginnings in the Raya de Portugal Chapter 2. Going to Mexico Chapter 3. The Castellano’s Jewish Life in Mexico City in the 1530s and 1540s Chapter 4. Tomás’s First Mine Chapter 5. Tomás de Fonseca’s Pachuca Mine and the Mining Revolution Chapter 6. Tomás’s Mine in Tlalpujahua Chapter 7. Tomás de Fonseca Reconnects Chapter 8. The Portuguese Come to America Chapter 9. From Solitary Worship to Community Chapter 10. The Taxco Miners Chapter 11. The Jewish Life of the Taxco Miners Chapter 12. Pachuca and Manuel de Lucena’s General Store Chapter 13. Lucena’s Judaizing Community in Mexico City and Pachuca Chapter 14. Judaizing from Tlalpujahua Chapter 15. Destruction and Survival Chapter 16. Some Conclusions Appendix 1. Origins and Arrivals Appendix 2. Holiday Observances Appendix 3. Enríquez-Lucena Holiday Attendees Notes Bibliography Index "In this painstakingly researched study David Gitlitz traces the lives and fortunes of three clusters of sixteenth-century crypto-Jews in Mexico's silver mining towns. His narrative paints a vivid portrait of their struggles to retain their identity in a world dominated economically by silver and religiously by the Catholic Church. Most studies of 16th-century Mexican crypto-Jews have focused on the merchant community centered in Mexico City, but Gitlitz looks beyond Mexico's major population center to explore how clandestine religious communities were established in the resales, the hinterland mining camps. Similarly, Gitlitz challenges traditional scholarship that has focused solely on macro issues. He combines those issues with close analysis of the complex workings of the haciendas that mined and refined silver to provide a wonderfully detailed sense of the daily experiences of secret Jews"-- Provided by publisher