The Catechism of Time Discipline in the Franciscan Missions of La Florida

Summary

Franciscan missions in La Florida have been characterized as struggling between an unresolved duality between their Christian obligations and their mandated support functions for the larger colony. We suggest that there was a dialectical symmetry between these demands. Catholicism introduced a new set of rhythms into the daily life of Indigenous communities centered on prayer, study, the sacraments, feast days, and other ongoing religious observances. This periodization of time and behavior coincided with the requirements of missions to provision St. Augustine and the colony under the system of repartimiento. The depiction of friars as “agricultural extension agents” underscores the ability of clergy to foster a philosophy and practice of ecclesiastical time management that melded ontologies of surplus labor and spiritual rites. Archaeological and ethnohistorical evidence suggests that this process was highly uneven, marked by conformity, subtle resistance, and outright revolt.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Mediating Spirit Worlds in Native North America

Keywords

Spatial Coverage