ABSTRACT
The process of conversion, or “spiritual conquest,” has been studied primarily from the point of view of the Spanish religious. The methods and techniques of the first generation of Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians in Mexico were examined by Robert Ricard in the early part of this century. More recently, some scholars have challenged the Ricardian view as incomplete, and have begun exploring indigenous viewpoints using selected texts produced by the friars. The set of early sixteenth-century Nahuatl censuses covers six Morelos communities: Huitzillan, Quauhchichinollan, Tepoztlan, Molotlan, Tepetenchic, and Panchimalco. The baptism patterns for households differed slightly between Quauhchichinollan and Huitzillan. In Quauhchichinollan the most common household situation was that just one person was baptized. The outward signs of Christian practice, measured by baptism and Christian marriage, thus show great variation from place to place within a given region a generation after the military conquest of Mexico in 1521.
