Jesuits at the margins: missions and missionaries in the Mariana Islands (1668–1769)

Abstract

This work studies the complexities of Jesuit missionisation in the Mariana Islands. On the one hand, it grounds the analysis in the transoceanic relationship of the archipelago and the Viceroyalty of New Spain, which included the Philippines. And on the other hand, it brings the local dimension to the fore by analyzing native agency in resisting and adapting to impositions from the missionaries, thereby constructing new identities in the long run. While canonical historiography has generally accepted narratives of utter conquest and successful evangelization of the Marianas, I adopt a theoretical position (“glocalization”) who sees the Society of Jesus as a vanguard in a context of production and dissemination of missionary knowledge on a global scale.