Laura Léon Llerena (Durham): Numbers, Knots, and the Negotiation of Colonization in Early Modern Peru
Vortrag im Rahmen des Oberseminars Frühe Neuzeit
19.04.2021
Numbers mattered for Spanish colonizers as well as for native Andeans under their rule from the early 1530s in the viceroyalty of Peru. New units of measurement, modes of valuation, and methods of accounting were shaping colonial society, from labor relations to commercial exchanges and even Catholic evangelization practices. But whereas colonizers confidently pointed to alphabetic literacy as the cornerstone of their moral and political superiority over native Andeans, their self-assurance staggered when it came to numeracy. Focusing on documents of a legal challenge brought by Andean villagers against their priest in 1607, this presentation emphasizes the ways in which numeracy practices and the quantification of social relations could be used by natives to keep colonial power in check.
- Zeit: 16-18 Uhr c.t.