Schools of Castilian in the Early 19th Century at the Bishopric of Antequera, Mexico: Aims and Results

Abstract

This text deals with the case of the Castilian language schools in the Indigenous villages of the bishopric of Antequera at the beginning of the 19th century and their objective of teaching this language to the population and instructing them in the ‘mysteries’ of the Catholic religion. The work is based on two of the questions in a questionnaire that Bishop Antonio Bergosa y Jordán sent between 1802-1804 to the parish priests of the diocese and that are in relation to the languages spoken and the functioning of the schools.
The questionnaire presents information about the linguistic and school situation at the parish level, as well as the perceptions of the priests, and those they attribute to the Indigenous population, regarding the schools and its purposes. In most cases, it is mentioned that poverty and the ‘resistance’ of the Indigenous people, as well as the non-attendance of children at school, did not allow the schools’ objective to be achieved. The analysis allows us to observe two ways of thinking ‘in opposition’ about the same phenomenon.