The Faces of Honor: Sex, Shame, and Violence in Colonial Latin America

A contemporary of Columbus noted, "Those crazy Spaniards have more regard for a bit of honor than for a thousand lives." This obsession flourished in the New World, where status, privilege, and rank became cornerstones of the colonial social order. Honor had many faces. To a freed black woman in Brazil it proscribed spousal abuse and permitted her to petition the Church for permission to leave her husband. To a high church official charged with sodomy in Alto Peru, honor signified the privileges and legal exceptions available to those of his background and social position. These nine original essays assess the role and importance men and women of all races and social classes accorded honor throughout colonial Latin America.