Defying the Inquisition in Colonial New Mexico: Miguel de Quintana's Life and Writings

Francisco A. Lomelí , Editor and translator
Clark A. Colahan , Editor and translator

Foreword by Luis Leal

Miguel de Quintana was among those arriving in New Mexico with Diego de Vargas in 1694. He was active in his village of Santa Cruz de la Cañada where he was a notary and secretary to the alcalde mayor, functioning as a quasi-attorney. Being unusually literate, he also wrote personal poetry for himself and religious plays for his community. His conflicted life with local authorities began in 1734, when he was accused of being a heretic. What unfolded was a personal drama of intrigue before the colonial Inquisition.

Francisco A. Lomelí and Clark Colahan dug deep into Inquisition archives to recover Quintana's writings, the second earliest in Hispanic New Mexico's literary heritage. First, they present an essay focused on Church and society in colonial New Mexico and on Quintana's life. The second portion is a translation of and critical look at Quintana's poetry and religious plays.

"Lomelí and Colahan's translation breathes life into Quintana's poems and prose."--American Catholic Studies

"This excellent work is a very welcome addition to the historiography of colonial New Mexico."--The Journal of Arizona History

"We are in debt to Francisco Lomeli and Clark Colahan for rediscovering an author who certainly deserves a place in the history of literature in New Mexico, the Spanish borderlands, and Chicano/Latino culture in general."--Hispanic American Historical Review

Francisco A. Lomelí is professor of Spanish and Portuguese and Chicana/Chicano studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was awarded the 2006 Critica Nueva Award by University of New Mexico Libraries. The award was established by Rudolfo and Patrica Anaya to recognize the foremost scholars in Chicana/Chicano literary criticism.

Clark Colahan is professor of Spanish at Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington. He is also the author of The Visions of Sor Maria de Agreda: Writing Knowledge and Power.

Paso Por Aqui Series on the Nuevomexicano Literary Heritage

6 x 9 242 pages 17 halftones, 1 map