The First Abbey in the New World – an Expression of Power and Ideology

Summary

Every empire needs an ideology, and the Spanish Crown and the Catholic Church found their sense of justifying mission in the obligations to uphold and extend their faith and by extension a civilized way of life.

Lacking lucrative mineral resources, Jamaica was destined to become the first primarily agricultural colony established by the Spanish during the contact period. Founded in 1509 as the capital of the island, Sevilla la Nueva prospered briefly as a supply base for other Spanish colonizing ventures in the region. Over the past 40 years archaeologists have discovered the remains of a fort, sugar mill, numerous workshops and an abbey. This paper will present the results of the excavation and preliminary analysis of the remains of the first Catholic Abbey in the New World, the construction of which commenced in 1524. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Bleeding Heart: The Spanish Colonies and their Legacy   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 76