The Spanish Build Missions

In this episode I want to talk about the missions that the Spanish established when they colonized Texas. I’ll talk about the reasons for the missions, how many were established, and some of the good and the bad that took place in and around the missions. Spanish explorers operated under the philosophy of the three G’s, God, Gold, and Glory, the Spanish missions in Texas are a direct result of that philosophy. How did that come about?

When Spain began to colonize the Americas, it was a Roman Catholic nation. That meant that while there was a King and a Queen (Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile) , they in fact owed their power to Rome and the Catholic Church. 

They had received Papal Dispensation for Marriage: Ferdinand and Isabella were second cousins, and under canon law, their marriage required a papal dispensation (special permission). They obtained this from Pope Sixtus IV. Once they were in power they established what we know as the Spanish Inquisition.

It was founded in 1478 with the aim of suppressing heresy within Spain and its territories. While initially focusing on individuals suspected of practicing non-Catholic beliefs, the Inquisition later targeted forced converts from Judaism and Islam (conversos and Moriscos) who were suspected of secretly practicing their former faiths.

They were granted this power to establish the Inquisition in Castile, when Pope Sixtus IV published a bull granting them the exclusive authority to name inquisitors, although the papacy retained the right to formally appoint the royal nominees.

As defenders of the Catholic Church, they believed that whenever they encountered new peoples, and that goal was to convert the natives to Catholicism.  Missions played a major role in that effort.

Once the Spanish had established settlements in Mexico they turned their vision north, in search of fabled cities of gold and between 1632 and 1793, in order to establish a foothold in their northern most territory, they sent expeditions which all had at least one Spanish friar as a member.  These teams traveled north from Mexico into present-day Texas, where they built dozens of missions and presidios.  A presidio is a military fort and usually was built in very near proximity or at the same location as the mission in order to provide security to the friars and those who lived and worked at the mission.

In all, 26 missions were established and maintained in Texas with various results. According to the Spanish belief system at the time their goals were somewhat noble. Establish Christian enclaves with communal property, labor, worship, political life, and social relations all under the guidance and supervision of the missionaries.  The missionaries and Spanish authorities sought to make life within the mission communities resemble that of any Spanish villages and echo Spanish culture.  To do so, the priests not only taught the Indians religion but also life skills, they felt the native peoples lacked.

They introduced European livestock, fruits, vegetables, and industry into the Texas area.  The introduced a very structured format for day-to-day living including a highly organized routine of prayer, work, training, meals, and relaxation. Now of course in order to round out the training the missionaries also made certain to celebrate religious holidays and they held other types of celebrations.  As I mentioned, the Spanish plan was for the natives to become productive Spanish citizens and to meet that goal they were taught several vocational skills, such as blacksmithing, masonry, carpentry, weaving, and more.

Unfortunately the results didn’t meet the expectations, for several reasons.  The day-to-day life in the missions wasn’t anything the Native Peoples had ever experienced.  The priests supervised all activities in the mission; however, when we look at their methods from our current social beliefs,