were a series of elaborate questionnaires distributed to the lands of King

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

in the

Viceroyalty of New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. They were done so, upon his command, from 1579–1585. This was a direct response to the reforms imposed by the , ordinances, of 1573.

Format

These

questionnaire A questionnaire is a research instrument that consists of a set of questions (or other types of prompts) for the purpose of gathering information from respondents through survey or statistical study. A research questionnaire is typically a mix of ...

s had upward of fifty questions that requested information on various aspects of the Spanish colonial life in each region or major town, in order to govern it more effectively. Thus, these questionnaires had more of an administrative and functional purpose as opposed to intellectual gain. These questionnaires are oftentimes considered the first statistical study of the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

, since they attempted to chart the lands, peoples, and trade routes. The value of these questionnaires continues to grow over time due to these surveys being first-person information.

Purpose

These extensive questionnaires have provided incredibly rich information with regard to 16th century ethnic groups in

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

. These questionnaires included questions regarding politics, taxes paid, the natural environment and resources, population history, settlement patterns, the language, markets and trade, native history and customs, maps, and the progress of the missionary work program. These maps were created by indigenous people, sailors, local officials, and other individuals in New Spain. Some of them that were requested were often commissioned by artists and have now been linked to the

Casta () is a term which means "Lineage (anthropology), lineage" in Spanish and Portuguese and has historically been used as a racial and social identifier. In the context of the Spanish America, Spanish Empire in the Americas, the term also refer ...

paintings of the period.

Result

These surveys were reported back to Spain's King Phillip II and allowed the Spanish monarchy to have better control over the people and the politics in New Spain. However, not all major cities and regions are accounted for because not all local officials returned the questionnaire or perhaps their response did not survive. Along with this, since all people were allowed to send in a map it showed the bias of each social class and represented common issues of the time. Nevertheless, this scientific process of data collection and statistics essentially built a bridge between two continents. Today, many of the manuscript versions of these questionnaires are found in four different locations: The

General Archive of the Indies The ''Archivo General de Indias'' (; standard abbreviation AGI; ), often simply called the Archive of the Indies, was created by Carlos III of Spain, Carlos III and inaugurated in 1785. It is housed in the former Consulado de mercaderes, merchan ...

in Seville, the

Real Academia de la Historia The Royal Academy of History (, RAH) is a Spanish institution in Madrid that studies history "ancient and modern, political, civil, ecclesiastical, military, scientific, of letters and arts, that is to say, the different branches of life, of c ...

in Madrid, the Benson Library at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, and the University of Glasgow Library.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Relaciones geograficas History of New Spain Data collection Philip II of Spain Race in Latin America 1579 in New Spain 1580s in New Spain

Format

Purpose

Result

See also

Further reading

References