BIOGRAPHY
Currently, I am an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. From fall 2008 - spring 2010, I served as the Burton Postdoctoral Fellow at St. Joseph's University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.) I earned my Ph.D. in May 2008 from the Department of History at the University of Texas at Austin where I specialized in the study of medieval and early modern Spain, transatlantic migration, and religious minorities under Islamic and Catholic rule (in particular, conversos and Jews.)
Relying on my specialized training in Spanish paleography and Spanish and Portuguese language expertise, I conducted research in over 25 local, ecclesiastical, provincial, and national archives in Spain, Mexico, and the United States for my dissertation. I am the fortunate recipient of several research fellowships and awards, including ones provided by the Mellon Foundation, Council for European Studies, Spanish Ministry of Culture, UT-Austin College of Liberal Arts, UT-Austin Department of History, and UT-Austin Medieval Studies Program.
Prior to returning to the university, I worked for eight years in the public sector, including research and consulting positions at the Institute for the Future, the Texas Legislature, and MGT of America. Lastly, I hold a Bachelor of Arts in the Humanities from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley, and I am a PPIA Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.
Conncect Via
October 2011 Presentation at the Sixteenth Century Society Conference
Paper Title: Blood, Faith, and Fate: Jews, Conversos, and Old Christians in Early Modern Spain and Colonial Spanish America
The crux of my paper focuses on understanding the breadth of an identity-transforming family partnership and gamble that was initiated during the anti-Jewish pogroms of the 1390s. Hailing initially from Old Christian roots, the Carvajals family of Plasencia, Spain, radically redesigned themselves from lesser knights into ecclesiastical leaders and royal administrators through their intermarriage with the converso Santa María clan. The Santa Marías, better known as the former Ha-Levi rabbinic family of Burgos, facilitated the occupational and social transition of the Carvajals even as religious intolerance mounted against them. These blended families continued to acknowledge their hidden Jewish identity by secretly paying homage to their Sephardic roots—in their family religious endowments and church activities—as well as by vigorously defending the family’s secrets—using their leadership positions in the Catholic Church to quash Inquisition investigations when possible, and if not, participating in the Inquisition’s execution of family members who had jeopardized the survival of the entire clan. This paper unravels long-held historical misconceptions about the identities and interrelations of Castilian families that hailed from Old Christian, Jewish, and converso ancestries. It explores the complex familial, political, patronage, religious, and socio-economic networks that bound these families together. Further, it argues that while expansive anti-Jewish initiatives and culturally destructive blood purity laws had a chilling effect on clan and political collaborations, the transformative impact of interreligious marriage and social alliances created an equally powerful counterweight. Their story reveals that certain Old Christian families chose converso futures even as religious biases and persecution of converso and Jewish communities accelerated in Spain and the New World.
View all of the presentation slides.
New Course Offerings for 2011-2013
The College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences at UCCS recently approved five of my courses for inclusion in the permanent course catalog. I hope you will consider taking one of these classes:
- HIST 3480 Ideas, Identities, and Indiscretions: Transformations in Early Modern Europe (1400-1800 c.e.)
- HIST 4130 From Baghdad to Burgos: Jews, Christians,and Muslims in the Medieval Mediterranean World (600-1500 c.e.)
- HIST 4150 Astrolabes, Arms, and Azuelos (tiles): Medieval Science, Technology, and Material Culture (600-1500 c.e.)
- HIST 4160 A Crossroads of Civilizations: Medieval Spain and North Africa (600-1500 c.e.)
- HIST 4280 Beyond the Pillars of Hercules: The Trans-Atlantic Empires of Spain and Portugal (1450-1750 c.e.)
An Update on Digitalization at the Achivo General de Indias (Sevilla) -- Modifying Your Search Technique May Yield Access to More Digitalized Documents
Dear Colleagues,
Overview
I just returned from a short March 2011 research trip to the Achivo General de Indias (Sevilla) after a hiatus of several years and was pleased to learn about some new ways of finding hidden digitized manuscripts using PARES (http://pares.mcu.es/). Perhaps, this information will help you collect substantial documentation at home, while saving research trips to find more obscure resources.
Photo: AGI-Sevilla, March 2011
The Problem – PARES does not always report that collections are digitalized—but they are!
As you know, PARES is the online search catalogue for locating many of the items held in the collections of the national archives of Spain. While PARES is not a comprehensive tool, it is an ideal resource to begin one’s search for manuscripts. One specific limitation, at this moment, of PARES is that often it will locate a document and report a “signatura” for that document, but PARES will show that a digital copy is not available. That is, only the original document is available for physical viewing at the AGI-Sevilla or by ordering a reproduction. However, often PARES reports incomplete information on access to digital documents. Thus, you may need to modify your search methods to find hidden pathways to electronic copies of your documents.
For example, go to the PARES website (http://pares.mcu.es/) and click on the “BÚSQUEDA AVANZADA” link. Let us say that you are interested in the Mendoza family in colonial Peru or Bolivia during the later part of the 16th century. To locate some documents, you decide to perform a search for the terms “Mendoza” and “Charcas” (knowing that you might find documentation pertaining to the Audiencia de Charcas). In the “Fecha” or date fields you note the range of “1570” to “1600”. Lastly, we decide to limit our search to the AGI-Sevilla by selecting “Archivo General de Indias” from the “FILTRO POR ARCHIVO” field. Subsequently, you click “Buscar” and behold we find many documents under the “Audiencia de Charcas” listing.
The first item on the list of located items is, “Constancia de haberse despachado una cédula para que el presidente y oficiales de Sevilla dejen llevar al licenciado Montealegre, a quien se ha proveído por oidor de la Audiencia de los Charcas, a don Cristóbal de Mendoza, su yerno, llevando éste consigo a su mujer, dando informaciones” and it is noted under the signatura “CHARCAS,415,L.1,F.143V(1)”. Clicking the link for this document will subsequently bring up the unique descriptive record for the document, BUT IT REPORTS THAT THE DOCUMENT IS NOT AVAILABLE AS A DIGITAL ITEM. THAT IS, THERE IS NO CAMERA ICON TO CLICK ON TO SEE THE DIGITAL DOCUMENT.
The Solution – As the AGI-Sevilla staff demonstrated to me, finding all digitalized documents sometimes requires you to perform a second search on PARES.
One might believe that many of the documents you are searching for and locating using PARES are not digitalized -- but they are digitalized. In order to access the electronic copies, you need to perform a secondary search on PARES for the volume of the collection that you wish to review.
Returning to our example from above relating to the Mendoza family in colonial Peru and Bolivia, look closely at the unique descriptive record for the document relating to Cristóbal de Mendoza. The “Código de Referencia:” reports “ES.41091.AGI/ 16403.7.723// CHARCAS,415,L.1,F.143V(1)” At this point you may believe that the document is not digitalized because there is no icon of a camera (the nomenclature that PARES uses to let you know there is an electronic document available). Yet, there is a digital document, but you need to search for it differently.
Determining if the document is in digital format requires a review of the “Signatura Histórico”. In the case of our example, we see that this reference number is “CHARCAS,415,L.1,F.143V(1)” Here are your keys to this digital kingdom! Now, you should perform a new search on PARES, but only for the book (libro), bundle (legajo), or number (numero) that you are seeking to locate. Returning to the PARES’ “BÚSQUEDA AVANZADA” link, we now can do a search for only the libro, or “CHARCAS,415,L.1”. Again, be sure to limit your search to the AGI-Sevilla by selecting “Archivo General de Indias” from the “FILTRO POR ARCHIVO” field. Subsequently, in the “FILTRO POR SIGNATURA” field you should type in “CHARCAS,415,L.1”. (Be sure that you DO NOT put any spaces in between letters, commas, and numbers.) Lastly, click on “Buscar”. Again, a sub-link to “Audiencia de Charcas” will appear and you should select it.
Behold! The next screen will report that you have digital access to the ENTIRE LIBRO, the title “Registro de oficio y partes para la Audiencia de Charcas” and signatura “CHARCAS,415,L.1”. Click on the camera icon or “Ver imagenes" and you can now view the entire book, and more importantly, browse your way to “F.143v” or folio 143 verso to see your document. I think it is safe to use this over used word at this time – “Amazing!”
Opportunities – As a rule of thumb, it appears that almost ALL “Libros” are digitalized, while other resources are still only available on paper and vellum.
During my time at the AGI-Sevilla, I learned that most, if not all “LIBROS” in collections are digitalized. I cannot verify that all libros are digital, but among those that can be viewed online include:
Audiencia de Charcas – all libros, such as “CHARCAS,415,L.1”
Audiencia de Mexico – all libros, such as “MEXICO,1088,L.1”
Audiencia de Lima – all libros, such as “LIMA,567,L.7”
Audiencia de Panama – all libros, such as “PANAMA,233,L.1”
Casa de Contratacion – all libros, such as “CONTRATACION,5536,L.3”
Indiferente – all libros, such as “INDIFERENTE,422,L.16”
Additionally, it appears that some other resources such as “numeros” in “Indiferente” are available in digital form, so it is worthwhile to use this same search technique for other signaturas.
I hope you found this update useful and my best to each of you for a productive and healthy year.
“SEPHARDIC MEMORY AND MOVEMENT” CONFERENCE
March 10-11, 2011 @ The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
http://sephardicmemory.eventbrite.com/
The program will be a two-day (March 10-11, 2011) cultural and scholarly event held at UCCS that highlights the history of the Sephardic Jews and their contributions to the American Southwest. In addition to engaging scholarly lectures, there will be an evening performance of medieval and contemporary Sephardic music and a showing of crypto-Jewish glasswares. This free event will feature Ms. Vanessa Paloma, Dr. Stanley Hordes, Dr. Seth Ward, Dr. Ofer Ben-Amots, Ms. Sonya Loya, Dr. Abe Minzer, and our keynote speaker, Dr. Seth Kunin. More information at http://sephardicmemory.eventbrite.com/
Freshman Seminar Clue