Abstract:
The 1692 biography of the Indian slave and religious figure Catarina de San Juan by her confessor Juan Castillo Grajeda constructs a vision of Catarina, and by proxy Asians in New Spain, as inherently servile and humble, reinforcing their place in the caste hierarchy. Catarina's position as an incredibly popular religious figure and eventual emblem of Puebla's religious legitimacy, however, also challenged that hierarchy.