ABOUT THIS BOOK

A Mother who nurtures, empathizes, and heals... a Warrior who defends, empowers, and resists oppression... the Virgin Mary plays many roles for the peoples of Spain and Spanish-speaking America. Devotion to the Virgin inspired and sustained medieval and Renaissance Spaniards as they liberated Spain from the Moors and set about the conquest of the New World. Devotion to the Virgin still inspires and sustains millions of believers today throughout the Americas.

This wide-ranging and highly readable book explores the veneration of the Virgin Mary in Spain and the Americas from the colonial period to the present. Linda Hall begins the story in Spain and follows it through the conquest and colonization of the New World, with a special focus on Mexico and the Andean highlands in Peru and Bolivia, where Marian devotion became combined with indigenous beliefs and rituals. Moving into the nineteenth century, Hall looks at national cults of the Virgin in Mexico, Bolivia, and Argentina, which were tied to independence movements. In the twentieth century, she examines how Eva Perón linked herself with Mary in the popular imagination; visits contemporary festivals with significant Marian content in Spain, Peru, and Mexico; and considers how Latinos/as in the United States draw on Marian devotion to maintain familial and cultural ties.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Linda B. Hall is Distinguished Professor of History at the University of New Mexico.

REVIEWS

. . a magnificent overview of the complex phenomenon of Marianism in the Hispanic World, from the Islamic frontier of medieval Spain to the teeming barrios of the American Southwest.

— Luis Martín

In a brief review it is difficult to do justice to the richness of this book and its insights. It is well researched, well written, and enhanced by illustrations that truly support the text.

— The Americas

The book is an impressive and very welcome contribution to the history of Marian devotion and, more broadly, of religious culture in the Hispanic World.

— Journal of Latin American Studies

Linda Hall presents an outstanding comparative work on Spanish and American devotion to Mary. She skillfully handles a diversity of Marian imagery, moving with ease from one instance to the next, describing the theological, dogmatic, and even regional differences of each cult.... The book makes for a valuable and fascinating read.

— Theological Studies

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A Note on Translation and Orthography
Acknowledgments
Chapter I. Introduction
Chapter II. The Spanish Reverence
Chapter III. Discoverers, Conquerors, and Mary
Chapter IV. Our Lady in Mexico: Catechisms, Confessions, Dramas, and Visions
Chapter V. Mexico: Images, Fiestas, Miracles, and Apparitions
Chapter VI. The Andean Virgin
Chapter VII. The Virgin as National Symbol: The Cases of Bolivia, Mexico, and Argentina
Chapter VIII. Evita and María: Religious Reverence and Political Resonance in Argentina
Chapter IX. Marian Celebrations at the Turn of the Millennium
Chapter X. Mary Moves North: Aspects of National Identity and Cultural Dissemination
Chapter XI. Conclusion
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography of Works Cited
Index